The ceiling fan hanging from the roof of the schoolroom was
panting in the scorching heat of the summer month of May.
Probably, it needed more self-care than others to relieve itself
from the burning heat of this month. Like this, for the past one
month, this act of it had become a cause of ridicule for the
students. It was also natural to happen. In the absence of the
teacher, whenever it was nearing to stop by slowing its speed to
get rest, the students would strike it with a stick and force it to
move like the old bull to walk. Today, the poor fellow was
resting since morning being displeased. It was not taking pity on
the students sitting in its shadow. Why pity them? They too
didn’t try to move it today. They themselves were sitting sad and
inconsolable like it since morning. It was unable to understand
the reason for this indifference. Yes, it was definitely seen that
they were waiting for a new visitor, staring at the door time and
again.
The waiting moments were over. As soon as the new
teacher of civics entered the room, the heartbeat of the students
started becoming abnormal. They stood up and greeted him,
albeit with a suppressed voice. The response turned out to be as
expected. A smooth and natural gesture was absent from Sir's
face. Standing behind the chair and holding it with his hands he
stared at the students in front of him with dry eyes. All were
standing face down.
‘Why don’t you look in front? Do you afraid of me?’ He
said.
There was no response. Today, the fan was also fully
supporting them in maintaining peace in the classroom. The
teacher didn’t like their silence like this. He spoke a little loudly:
‘Why are you silent like the dumb? Why don’t you
answer me? Look, I have the medicine for all the diseases. What
are you? Ghosts also dance before me. Sit down and listen to
me.’
Some students mustered up and looked at him with
skewed eyes. Dressing, like a dry face, was also pretty dull. Half
sleeved clay coloured cotton shirt and beige red trousers. Black
coloured sandal on the feet. He had a line in the middle of the
dry hair which was making way right above the bulging nose.
The teacher had caught the unusual eyes of the students.
Therefore, while demonstrating the art of establishing fear
among the students, he gave a lecture on the background of his
skillful practice, and then instead of sitting on the chair, he stood
diagonally with the support of the edge of the table. It was the
first day in class, so taking account of the effectiveness of the
previous study, he instructed the students to prepare for the next
day and left from there.
‘Oh! My God, is he a teacher or an executioner? They
thought in their minds. As the dry subject, so more than that the
teacher. Truthfully says that textbooks have a deep relation with
the mentality of man. That is why; Puri Sir has become
complicated like the sutras by teaching the subject of
Mathematics. The symptoms of plus, minus, multiplication and
division are always visible above the face. The sweetness has
vanished from the tongue as hair from the head of a bald. And
while teaching the devotional couplets of Saint Kabir and the
heroic poetry of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, Pandey Sir has
become even sweeter than the sugar candy. While teaching he
becomes so emotional that by forgetting the class, he gets lost in
the world of his own imagination.’
A group of classmates flocked to hear this sermon coming
out of Tara Chand's mouth. Before that he could complete his
matter, Satish whispered next to him to tell his memoirs:
‘My uncle was saying, this gentleman had also taught in
this school before. He still remembers the beating he got from
this teacher. Taking out the thumb from the middle of his index
finger and middle finger, he used to punch in the side of the
waist such that the stars used to appear in the day itself.’
Arguments were still going on that the teacher of
Economics entered the room. Forty-five minutes passed, after
which Pandey Sir moving the index finger of his right hand
around the lock of hair on his head came into the classroom and
then the whole atmosphere changed.
By now, the fear of the new teacher had completely
disappeared from their heart and mind. But how long did the
mother’s prayers avail to save her kid? On the very next day, the
teacher started showing his fearful form. As he sat on the chair,
he turned his gaze around. Sitting on the last bench adjacent to
the front wall, Gokuldas accidentally committed a mistake in
looking at him. On receiving the sight, the teacher raised a
question. Man often becomes unintelligent due to fear. The
same thing happened with Gokuldas. He forgot what he
remembered. Therefore, the beginning of persecution started
from him. Recognizing the student, and then asking him
questions, punishing him for not getting the appropriate answer,
this process continued without any hindrance. There were only
two types of students who would come in his sight, ie, those,
who sit in the back rows and dare to look at his face to face.
Satish, Krishan, Raju, Tara Chand and Jagadish, called
Jaggu, were close friends with each other. They were each
other’s partners in each action. Just like that, these five used to
sit on the bench of the second and third numbers of the middle
row, but unfortunately, one-day Jaggu reached the class late.
There was not a single space on the front bench. Therefore, with
a disappointed mind, he sat in the back row.
The teacher was curious to get a new face. At the first
sight, he asked Jaggu to explain the relationship between the
judiciary and the executive. Jaggu was very strong bodily but
was weak mentally. He stuttered before saying anything.
Teacher Sir grumbled:
‘Worthless, the body is like an elephant and the brain is
not as much as of a rat. Wait, I develop your intelligence.’
And then happened what was to happen. He hurled a
shower of punches on the side of the waist. After all, everything
has a limit. Jaggu was determined to take revenge on his own
mind. Tomorrow, being Sunday was a holiday. There was a
small village about a kilometer towards the east of the city.
There was an old peepal tree of very large size in the fields of
the same village. Under this tree, a collective stand post was
installed in the village to supply water. These five boys used to
enjoy kabaddi with the boys of this village in the shadow of this
peepal tree on holiday. Even that day, it was evening time while
playing kabaddi. Just then, the teacher of civics was seen
travelling at some distance above the footpath of the field. All
the boys fled like a scattering of deer herds on the arrival of the
lion. While the other boys were very upset due to the
disturbance in the game, Jaggu was very happy in his heart.
Today he had got the basic mantra to avenge his insult. Stopping
in the thickets of the bushes, he called his companions near him
and said:
‘Friends, today is the time for your exam. Are you ready
to support me? Think; don't get tricked in the middle
somewhere, causing me drowned in midstream.’
‘Hey! Today you are talking a lot. Have you joined any
drama company? Tell me the truth, what drama is this rehearsal
going on?’ Satish asked him smilingly.
‘The drama is not dear; the real game is to be played. The
title is Revenge of Insult.’ He spoke in a poetic style.
‘Dude, why are you talking in riddles? Why does not tell
clearly.’ Raju said in a slightly loud voice.
‘Let me tell you…. First of all, be patient and swear that
you will support me fully in this noble cause.’ Jaggu said while
extending his right hand towards them.
‘Why, do you want to become martyr Bhagat Singh?’
‘No, Bhagat Singh was a hero. I’m going to be a villain.’
He said.
‘Why, for what?’ Raju asked.
‘To teach the lesson of good conduct to the teacher who
had just come.’
‘How is that?’ All the boys were astonished and started
looking at his face.
‘I have a catapult. You see tomorrow evening when the
monsieur will come for an evening walk. I will hit a stone on his
temple from behind the bushes so that he will start seeing stars
in the day itself. He will only know how much pain others feel
when they got the beating.’ Jaggu's face turned red with anger
while speaking.
‘Don't be mad, he is our teacher. If he beats, it is for our
welfare.’ Krishan gave the reasoning.
‘Just listening, you fell, backtracked so early. Yes, you
say, what is your decision? Friendship has to be kept or you
would also show your back like him.’ He said looking at the
other boys.
All the boys looked at each other with questioning eyes
and tried to sense each other's minds in gestures. Seeing their
silence, Jaggu went ahead from the side saying:
‘I’m going.’
They didn’t feel happy about his being angry like this.
Raju was the eldest in age, so it was his turn to take the final
decision. Therefore, guessing the mood of everyone, he said in a
loud voice:
‘Don't be angry, Jaggu, we are with you.’
The other day before twilight all the boys sat beside the
fields taking shelter behind the bushes. Jaggu already had a
handful of pebbles that he had kept in his pocket. Putting a
pebble in the catapult he started waiting for the target like a
famous hunter. They already had a sense of time, so as soon as
the teacher started passing through the footpath at his fixed time,
as usual, Jaggu on seeing him, keeping his index finger on his
lips indicated to everyone to be silent. As the teacher reached
the place of his target, Jaggu's body trembled with fear. With
trembling hands, he missed the target, and the pebble passed by
the side of the teacher. Before the teacher turned around to see,
the boys ran past each other taking cover of bushes.
On the next day when the teacher came to school, the
anger of yesterday's incident was clearly visible on his face. He
had started treating students more strictly than before. There
was somewhat feeling of suspicion towards students in his
mind. Unfortunately, his fury today resulted in the beating of
Jaggu. Jaggu had resentment within himself with a sense of
revenge. He now wanted to avenge his humiliation at any stage.
After school hours, bowing his eyes he quietly walked out of the
school campus. The guilt within him was forcing him to remain
silent today. He reached home with a heavy heart and tired legs,
and going into the room, he slammed his book bag on top of the
table without any faith. When mother called for food he said
that he is not well and neither is he hungry. On that day, he
persisted in his stubbornness, even after his mother's repeated
persuasions. When he tried to sleep, it didn’t support him. He
kept changing his sides till late at night. After all, he got an idea.
He told his mother in the morning that he had to go to school
early today. The teacher of English has called everyone.
In the school's backyard were farmer’s fields. On that side
of the school, a small gate was made in the boundary wall, near
which a creeper-like bean (Konch) was wrapped on a shrub of
plum. Jaggu, instead of going to school, went to the fields by
footpath and then going near the shrub he looked around and
made sure that no one was watching him. When convinced, he
plucked a few beans with a long stick and picked them up
cautiously with the help of a small dry branch, and wrapped
them in a newspaper. He jumped over the pipe of the gate and
entered the school campus. There was no one on the entire
ground. Sneaking into his classroom, he opened the rear window
and hid the bundle. He then picked up his bag and walked out of
the school campus.
When the school bell rang, he followed his classmates to
the classroom. All of his colleagues were worried about his
callousness. But Jaggu evaded the matter as an excuse for not
being well. After recess, the first period was on the subject of
civics. So it was now necessary for Jaggu to implement his plan.
All the students had left the classroom. Jaggu came into the
room pretending to take medicine and then rubbed the pods of
the wrapped paper in the teacher's seating chair. Then he threw
the newspaper away from the window, making it like a ball, and
exited the room.
Like every day, after entering the room, the teacher
looked at the students with his dry eyes and then gestured them
to sit. When all the students sat down, the teacher picked up the
register, placed it on top of the table, and started marking
presence sitting on the chair. By now, the hairs of the pods had
shown their presence on the arms. The teacher gently placed the
pen on the table and then began to itch on the arm with the right
hand. By then the wrath of the thorn had spread to other parts of
the body. Sitting became beyond control. The teacher slammed
the register on one side and then stood up and scratched the
whole body. Wherever the hands reached the body, the hair of
the pods also reached there. Talking to the tongue was a distant
thing, it was difficult to stand. He pressed his bottom lip
between his teeth and stared at the whole class once and then
itchingly exited the room.
After an interval of five minutes, the Principal Sir,
holding a cane in his hand, came to the room with the teacher
and holding the chair with his left hand, stared at the students
one by one. After that, he started banging the cane on the table
and angrily asked:
‘You, scoundrels, tell me whose wickedness is this?’
All the boys stood silently with their eyes down.
‘Sit down, you will not admit like this. Whoever has done
the mischief, stand up and tell personally. I will forgive him as a
child; otherwise, I will do that thing for the whole class that
your angels will also remember.’
None of the boys dared to raise their eyes and lookup.
The teacher Sir was getting restless every moment. The
outbreak of itching in the body had become unbearable. The
boys were smiling while staring at him stealthily. So, feeling
shame out of tolerance, he got out of the room with permission
from the Principal. The situation of anger takes away the
intellect. Therefore, without understanding the seriousness of
the situation, the Principal Sir sat on the chair. And then the
result was the same which was realized by all the students. He
being helpless became restless. The situation forced the fear of
the students to turn into a mockery. Like a falling waterfall from
a mountain, their laughter burst at full speed and came out from
between the teeth. On realizing his mistake along with the pain,
the Principal Sir got out of the room with lowered eyes. But the
whole class remained under fear until the school hours were
over.
The next morning when the school bell rang, its voice
was as felt as if it was throbbing through the whole body. The
shadows of fear started appearing on the face of the whole class.
The study was not even started in this atmosphere of confusion
and fear that the peon of the school came running and said:
‘Who is Krishan among of you? He has been called by Sir
to the office.’
Hearing this order from the Principal, where the whole
class breathed down, Krishan was left as a freak. This
thunderclap had become a matter of dignity for him because he
knew very well why he was called. Where he used to top the
class in studies, he had the same fame for truth. Therefore, the
Principal had no good student to answer his questions other than
him. Jaggu's heartbeat started going up as soon as Krishan got
out of the room with silent footsteps. The burden of the mind
was beginning to show on his face. Satish, Raju and Tarachand
looked at him stealthily, and then they didn’t take much time to
understand the whole thing. The adversity to which their friend
was likely to meet led them to an uneasy situation. But what
could they do? The reins were now completely in the hands of
Krishan. So all of them started waiting for the possible
punishment.
Krishan entered the Principal's chamber with hesitation in
his mind. Sir started looking at him with full awe. On the right
side of the table the teacher of civics and on the left side P.T.I.
Sir, were sitting. But the Principal Sir said in a soft tone instead
of anger:
‘Krishan, my son, I have heard a lot about you. Lest what
I have heard about you be false. Tell me the truth, who did that
hideous prank yesterday?’
Krishan was unable to decide what answer he should
give. On one hand, he was mankind and on the other, he was
subservient to fidelity. So, even if he surrenders, then how and
in what way? He stood silently with his head bowed. The
Principal smiled a little and said:
‘Son, there is nothing to worry about. This age is the age
of mischief. Tell the truth, I will not do him any harm.’
After all, the truth won. Panic-stricken, he said in a
suppressed voice:
‘Sir, I don’t know the reality, but maybe this work has
been done by Jagdish.’
‘How is that, and why not?’ The Principal questioned him
with an eye towards him.
‘He wanted to avenge his beating with the Sir.’ Krishan
said looking at the teacher.
‘Say, Mr. what do you want to say about this?’ The
Principal asked the teacher, raising his eyebrows.
‘Sir, whatever I have done, I have done it for their
goodness. What is my own selfishness in doing this?’ He said:
‘Well, I agree. But beating is not a solution to every
problem. Yesterday, a small evil has started to take place due to
your behaviour, a big event can also happen in the coming
tomorrow. We are the teachers. Our duty is to make the children
good and decent people and not to make them thieves, swindlers
and criminals. I have never used the stick to date, yet my exam
results have always been commendable. Look, I don't say you
leave the students unbridled. There are other means to teach
them, such as love and encouragement. By applying these
methods, the hardest and the obstinate can be brought on the
right path. Ok, whatever happened has happened, bury it in the
past and try to improve the future. Now let's take care of that
boy.’
Saying his last sentence, the Principal Sir got up from his
chair and went out of the room. Behind him, the teacher, P.T.I.
and Krishan also started walking towards the room. Ever since
the call was sent to Krishan, the students had their eyes fixed on
the Principal's office room. Seeing them coming towards the
classroom, the heartbeat of everyone began to intensify. As they
entered the classroom, the students stood up and welcomed
them with a slogan of Jai Hind. Along with the students, today
the ceiling fan also stood in a relaxed posture by restoring its
lazy pace in their reception. The Principal Sir once raised the
eye upwards and looked at the fan and then towards the chair,
then said:
‘Is this the same chair?’
‘No Sir that has been changed.’ The voices of several
students were heard simultaneously.
‘Ok. Sit down.’
When all the students sat in their respective places, the
Principal Sir said in anger:
‘Who did that prank yesterday? Tell yourself or else the
whole class will face punishment.’
Nobody spoke. All the students stared down at the floor
with their eyes down.
‘Look, I tell the truth, it is not a sin to own up a mistake,
but to hide it is not only a sin but a gross sin and mischief.
Therefore, if you accept your mistake and ask for forgiveness,
then there is no other virtue than that. I want to know this from
you, knowing everything.’ Saying this he started looking at the
boys' faces.
There was a whisper among each other that Krishan had
cheated with the whole class and not known whose name was
told by him. Turning his eyes, as Sir looked at Jagdish; he stood
up and started trembling in fear.
‘I see ... so that prank was yours. What do you think; no
one will know about your play? This school has no need for a
crook, worthless, lazy and poor student like you. Hooligan; let
me teach you how to deal with teachers.’
Saying this, as soon as the Principal Sir, holding a stick,
got up from the chair, Krishan stood before him with folded
hands and said in a pleading voice:
‘No Sir, you can't do that. You beat me before you beat
him. He is my friend, so I’m an equal partner. The mistake he
has made in frenzy is not a mistake but a vengeance. It is more
important to look into the causes why this feeling has come up
than to punish him. Sir, I apologize for this audacity.’
The Principal Sir turned and looked at the teacher with
questioning eyes.
‘Yes, Sir, he rightly says, the fault is mine. Before
reforming them first I need to improve myself. That is why I
pledge today that in future I will use friendly language instead
of wooden sticks.’
Hearing these sweet words coming out of the teacher's
mouth, expressions of joy sprang upon the face of the whole
class. Perhaps the ceiling fan hanging on the roof could not stop
itself on this occasion of joy and harmony and suddenly started
moving with the sound of whining. The Principal Sir raised his
head and looked towards the roof and smiled and then said:
‘This too has to be reformed.’
Then why should the students stay behind? Fear, anxiety
and vengeance faded with a fountain of laughter.
