It has been 4 months since my marriage and I've been postponing the writing of the next blog. But it's so boring today, that i have decided to write the next episode in hIgh school hIstory. Many of you might have been expecting a story about my marriage. Sorry to disappoint you, I will get to that later sometime. Here is the follow-up episode to 'Samosa Challenge'.
Flashback(2002-2004): Judgement Day
After my Samosa victory, the Judgement day came. Here is the little background on the Judgement day:
Every time we write an exam and the papers are scored and distributed back, the school Principal will check our marks and give his judgment. As I've mentioned in Episode 1, our 11th std had 24 sections of 50 students each and was formed based on our 10th marks. The Judgement will be based on the sections. For example, A1, A2 which are top sections because students of this class had scored had scored more than 85% in 10th Matric, needs to score at least 140 out of 150. Anyone who scores less than 140 will be punished(beaten). Amount of beatings will be proportional to amount of marks scored less than the set limit. The limit will be reduced for sections A3, A4 and then further to A5,A6 etc. Then it will start again from top at A7(top section based on 10th stateboard marks). Then same way it will go to Tamil medium sections, computer science and commerce sections etc. On an average in each class, only 10-20% of the students would have scored higher than the limit set to them. So out of 1200 students in 11th, around 900-1000 students will definitely get beaten, in a single day, by a single person.
Beating process:
Now to the beating process. To beat 1000 people in a single day even with a stick, one would definitely get tired right? To make his job easier, specially made bamboo sticks will be arranged. His assistant would carry 4-5 bamboo sticks which would be taller than us i.e at least 6 feet in length. When the Principal is carrying out his punishments with one stick, his assistant will sit in the corner and apply oil to the remaining bamboo sticks, so that it bends properly. The more it bends, the less force he needs to apply. He would just move his wrist few millimeters and the bamboo will bend like Ram's bow and make a mark on our hands like the lines on the back of squirrel. The red lines on our hands would be visible at least for the next 2-3 days.
Now this was our first Judgement day, as it was the first time the exams were conducted for 150 marks for 11th. The Principal was in an empty class room and each class students were going in one by one to show the paper and get the punishments accordingly. Waiting outside in line was the hellish part. Students outside started discussing what would be our cut-off marks, how many beatings each one would get, will it hurt a lot? etc. One guy says "maybe this is the first time, so he'll go easy on us", and that is when we hear a screaming sound coming from that room and he finishes with "or maybe not".
After the screaming sound we heard, everyone's eyes were on the entrance of that room to see the person coming out and how much he is crying. Surprisingly, he came out with a blank expression, neither crying nor smiling. One guy said, "maybe he just screamed to avoid more beatings". Next we heard only the sound of bamboo stick wheezing and out came a guy with face reddish and tears all over, crying like a baby. Next we heard the sound of bamboo wheezing then the guy wheezing alternatively. After listening to many different sounds and many different expressions in the students coming out, we didn't know what to make of it.
All sorts of theories started circulating in those few minutes. "Hey, most people, due to fear bring the hands down while getting beating, but that only ends up in more pain. The secret is, exactly when the stick comes towards you, you should raise the hand which will reduce the pain". That sounded easy to hear, but no way possible to do. One person was saying, "hey, after you get the beatings, don't ever shake your hands in the air, that will make the pain more". One more guy was denying this and arguing that its the vice-versa.
While everyone was discussing the theories while waiting in line to get beaten, my mind went to flashback, which is below:
Flashback inside Flashback:
10th public results came. Me and my Dad were discussing about which school to join for higher secondary. One guy from my village had recently completed 12th and got a medical seat on merit. My father said, "let's go and meet the guy and his family and ask him details about the school in which he studied". Then we went and met the guy and he said all good things about the school, but said its very strict and they'll beat if you get low marks and food will be average only. But i didn't care about all those things. Daily i was fantasizing about getting state 1st, getting medical seat, making my Dad proud etc. So i told my Dad that i'm OK with joining that school. SO we finalized on this school, went in person and got the admission immediately(proud moment for my Dad). I heard later from a relative that my Dad cried after we got the admission.
When my Dad started broadcasting to friends and relatives that we got admission in that school, everybody warned him that the students would be beaten severely if they score low marks in that school and told him to think twice before finalizing that school. So after few days, he started panicking and had second thoughts about this school's admission. Some of his friends suggested some other schools who also had a good record of 12th standard public results.
So one day, when me and my Dad were just chit chatting in our home, he told me, "Listen, everybody is saying that school is very strict and they beat the students severely and all, so i'm starting get little concerned. So we paid advance, no big deal. We can still check out other schools and then take final decision. What do you say?". I replied nonchalantly, "No need Dad, they will beat only if you don't study properly right?". The concern and fear in my Dad's face immediately disappeared and now fully beaming with pride, he called my Mom who was in kitchen and said, "Hey!!! Did you you hear what my son just said? 'They will beat only if you don't study properly right? If you study well, why would they beat you?'". He turned towards me and touched my shoulders and said, "That's it son, that's it!!!!! Super. That's the spirit".
Back to Judgement day:
As i ran through that flashback in my head, i started scolding myself, "you idiot!!! Like a frog which gets ruined due its mouth, you and your stupid mouth, and your good-boy-act, see where you're now". As mentioned in my previous episode, you must have known my mark was 139.5. And i was just hearing rumors that the cut off mark to escape beating is 140 for A1 and A2 Classes. On the contrary to what i argued with my friend yesterday to get the Samosa i.e i've scored less than 140 and 139.5 is not rounded to 140, that day i was telling myself, "139.5 is rounded off to 140, so i shouldn't get beaten. Principal should clearly knows that. Damn!!, Why this Physics teacher didn't round it off to 140?. Please!! Please!! God, i'm 140, i've touched the cut off mark, i shouldn't get any beatings".
Finally our class students started entering the room to get the Judgement/Punishment and when my turn came, i showed my paper and Principal looked at it and said, "can do better, show your hand". And the bamboo stick bent a lot it almost touched the wall behind him and then sprung forward and the next second i was hissing and shaking my fingers, as it left a red straight line mark in my palm which remained for the next 2 days. I came out, still shaking my fingers and looked at the mark in my palm and thought to myself, "well, at least now i'm 100% sure, i deserved that Samosa".
And this was just the beginning of the infinite beatings, pinching, verbal and mental abuses that followed for the rest of the high school years. More to follow....
Links to all hIgh school hIstory blogs:
Episode 7
Episode 6
Episode 5
Episode 4
Episode 3
Episode 2
Episode 1
Flashback(2002-2004): Judgement Day
After my Samosa victory, the Judgement day came. Here is the little background on the Judgement day:
Every time we write an exam and the papers are scored and distributed back, the school Principal will check our marks and give his judgment. As I've mentioned in Episode 1, our 11th std had 24 sections of 50 students each and was formed based on our 10th marks. The Judgement will be based on the sections. For example, A1, A2 which are top sections because students of this class had scored had scored more than 85% in 10th Matric, needs to score at least 140 out of 150. Anyone who scores less than 140 will be punished(beaten). Amount of beatings will be proportional to amount of marks scored less than the set limit. The limit will be reduced for sections A3, A4 and then further to A5,A6 etc. Then it will start again from top at A7(top section based on 10th stateboard marks). Then same way it will go to Tamil medium sections, computer science and commerce sections etc. On an average in each class, only 10-20% of the students would have scored higher than the limit set to them. So out of 1200 students in 11th, around 900-1000 students will definitely get beaten, in a single day, by a single person.
Beating process:
Now to the beating process. To beat 1000 people in a single day even with a stick, one would definitely get tired right? To make his job easier, specially made bamboo sticks will be arranged. His assistant would carry 4-5 bamboo sticks which would be taller than us i.e at least 6 feet in length. When the Principal is carrying out his punishments with one stick, his assistant will sit in the corner and apply oil to the remaining bamboo sticks, so that it bends properly. The more it bends, the less force he needs to apply. He would just move his wrist few millimeters and the bamboo will bend like Ram's bow and make a mark on our hands like the lines on the back of squirrel. The red lines on our hands would be visible at least for the next 2-3 days.
Now this was our first Judgement day, as it was the first time the exams were conducted for 150 marks for 11th. The Principal was in an empty class room and each class students were going in one by one to show the paper and get the punishments accordingly. Waiting outside in line was the hellish part. Students outside started discussing what would be our cut-off marks, how many beatings each one would get, will it hurt a lot? etc. One guy says "maybe this is the first time, so he'll go easy on us", and that is when we hear a screaming sound coming from that room and he finishes with "or maybe not".
After the screaming sound we heard, everyone's eyes were on the entrance of that room to see the person coming out and how much he is crying. Surprisingly, he came out with a blank expression, neither crying nor smiling. One guy said, "maybe he just screamed to avoid more beatings". Next we heard only the sound of bamboo stick wheezing and out came a guy with face reddish and tears all over, crying like a baby. Next we heard the sound of bamboo wheezing then the guy wheezing alternatively. After listening to many different sounds and many different expressions in the students coming out, we didn't know what to make of it.
All sorts of theories started circulating in those few minutes. "Hey, most people, due to fear bring the hands down while getting beating, but that only ends up in more pain. The secret is, exactly when the stick comes towards you, you should raise the hand which will reduce the pain". That sounded easy to hear, but no way possible to do. One person was saying, "hey, after you get the beatings, don't ever shake your hands in the air, that will make the pain more". One more guy was denying this and arguing that its the vice-versa.
While everyone was discussing the theories while waiting in line to get beaten, my mind went to flashback, which is below:
Flashback inside Flashback:
10th public results came. Me and my Dad were discussing about which school to join for higher secondary. One guy from my village had recently completed 12th and got a medical seat on merit. My father said, "let's go and meet the guy and his family and ask him details about the school in which he studied". Then we went and met the guy and he said all good things about the school, but said its very strict and they'll beat if you get low marks and food will be average only. But i didn't care about all those things. Daily i was fantasizing about getting state 1st, getting medical seat, making my Dad proud etc. So i told my Dad that i'm OK with joining that school. SO we finalized on this school, went in person and got the admission immediately(proud moment for my Dad). I heard later from a relative that my Dad cried after we got the admission.
When my Dad started broadcasting to friends and relatives that we got admission in that school, everybody warned him that the students would be beaten severely if they score low marks in that school and told him to think twice before finalizing that school. So after few days, he started panicking and had second thoughts about this school's admission. Some of his friends suggested some other schools who also had a good record of 12th standard public results.
So one day, when me and my Dad were just chit chatting in our home, he told me, "Listen, everybody is saying that school is very strict and they beat the students severely and all, so i'm starting get little concerned. So we paid advance, no big deal. We can still check out other schools and then take final decision. What do you say?". I replied nonchalantly, "No need Dad, they will beat only if you don't study properly right?". The concern and fear in my Dad's face immediately disappeared and now fully beaming with pride, he called my Mom who was in kitchen and said, "Hey!!! Did you you hear what my son just said? 'They will beat only if you don't study properly right? If you study well, why would they beat you?'". He turned towards me and touched my shoulders and said, "That's it son, that's it!!!!! Super. That's the spirit".
Back to Judgement day:
As i ran through that flashback in my head, i started scolding myself, "you idiot!!! Like a frog which gets ruined due its mouth, you and your stupid mouth, and your good-boy-act, see where you're now". As mentioned in my previous episode, you must have known my mark was 139.5. And i was just hearing rumors that the cut off mark to escape beating is 140 for A1 and A2 Classes. On the contrary to what i argued with my friend yesterday to get the Samosa i.e i've scored less than 140 and 139.5 is not rounded to 140, that day i was telling myself, "139.5 is rounded off to 140, so i shouldn't get beaten. Principal should clearly knows that. Damn!!, Why this Physics teacher didn't round it off to 140?. Please!! Please!! God, i'm 140, i've touched the cut off mark, i shouldn't get any beatings".
Finally our class students started entering the room to get the Judgement/Punishment and when my turn came, i showed my paper and Principal looked at it and said, "can do better, show your hand". And the bamboo stick bent a lot it almost touched the wall behind him and then sprung forward and the next second i was hissing and shaking my fingers, as it left a red straight line mark in my palm which remained for the next 2 days. I came out, still shaking my fingers and looked at the mark in my palm and thought to myself, "well, at least now i'm 100% sure, i deserved that Samosa".
And this was just the beginning of the infinite beatings, pinching, verbal and mental abuses that followed for the rest of the high school years. More to follow....
Links to all hIgh school hIstory blogs:
Episode 7
Episode 6
Episode 5
Episode 4
Episode 3
Episode 2
Episode 1
No comments:
Post a Comment