Village School

Yesterday just when I was almost ready to wind up for the day I got a call from my village friends, they studied along with me from '0' to 7^th. They normally call me once in a while or whenever they were in this side of the town and all the time they insist that I should spend time with them and I am also very happy to spend the time but my schedule does not allow me to do the same. I hardly have time for my self then where do I have time for others. This time I made up my mind and said I will go out and have glass of whiskey with them, and I took them to North Wind near my office and it was good fun.

We seems to be speaking non stop, the questions which we did not had answer when we were kids or we did not dare to answer that time. It seems we feel comfortable in sharing and talking in what we were doing and how were doing when we were kids in school, thats were I think people say that there are lots of thing to be spoken and shared with the child friends. We were bunch of naughty (in good sense) boys, what not we have done, building gangs, contesting election to become the monitor of the class and capturing booths and inshore that we win!

This monitor post is very important in the village school. He has many powers including prosecuting fellow class-met in case if any violation of rules in the class. No child if there is no teacher in the class room keep quite, since there are gangs small fight are normal, and also talking in the class is also normal, this talking may many time lead to gang fight in the class and some time outside the class as well. That's when the monitor role comes in to picture. In case if any one talk or pickup quarrel in the class room, the monitor will have to write their names on the board or in a slip and give it to teacher. In case if the monitor write the names in chit and give to teacher we do not know who's names he has given till the teacher come and asks us to stand up. In that case their will be fight out side the school mostly in the evening or any subsequent days. Teacher was also not so keen on this because if names written in chit one actually do not know that your names has been taken or not and you will realize only when the teacher come that never use to work as a good strategy to stop the galata in the class, how much the teacher also beat the students. Getting beaten up in the class for some or the other reason is normal most of the day. The other method worked many time which is writing the names on the board. This is quite funny some time when the monitor write the name of the students on the board there will be spelling mistake that time every one use to laugh in the class this time the monitor will get beatings by the master for spelling mistake. Eventually there will be some compromise and gangs use to force the monitor to remove the names. Some time there will be difficult to compromise on that time we use to create the big galata even to the extent to physical fight with the fellow class-met, when there is a contradiction in the names written on the board and the fight is bigger the teacher normally never discriminate including the girls on that day every one will get lati taste, this is quite fun because including the monitor get the taste of Lati so every one is happy normally except monitor. He being monitor getting beaten is not good in the class!

Till 4^th standard it was only our village students so normally either me or the other one use to become the monitor, and I was either the 1^st monitor or the 2^nd monitor so it was not an issues the real competition started in 5^th stranded because for 5^th standard there were students form neighboring village as well, but that did not bother me much because I still continue to be monitor. When we went to 6^th standard the teacher decided to hold election for the monitor post, I contested it but I had lost in morgen. This is the year there were lots of gang fights happening in the class, and it is the time you do not have power and do not have strength to fight this people that is when we decided to do some thing for the 7^th standard election. This time we were actually minority but I did won the election thanks to our fellow class met for voting two time some people for three time. The teacher noticed this fact when he counted the total vote but he was not keen on inquiring and let it go.

There use to be two columns sitting one is for girls and other is for boys, my seat was in the first bench. If one count form the boy side I will be the 5^th person, if one counts form the girls side I will be the 6^th person. This is very important, because in Kannada there is some thing called meaning for difficult words, and it use to be difficult, we never know if he is going to start form girl side or boy side or back side or front side. It use to be difficult to remember the meaning for all the words so eventually we use to get beatings. I had adopted a easy logic either way I was max 6^th so I use to remember the first 10 from the top and last 10 form the top in that chapter. Now I am safe he can ask either from boy side or girl side or from front desk or back desk. It use to be difficult for them to remember the and eventually they will not answer if one fail then the next one is also fails the chain goes on so it eventually use to come to me and I use to answer. Some how the teacher noticed this and wanted to dig me in on that day he came about 6 rounds I was able to answer but the 7^th round I was stuck and got nice beating.

23.07.2011