“Sirs, red letter day for you,” declared the children of Class 10 when they “summoned” me for an interrogation during the morning assembly. We were about to be prosecuted for the trespasses committed by us in our school and college days! A very interesting and respectful method to see that side of ours which is not usually experienced them. They wanted to find out what kind of follies, pranks, mistakes and fun we had in our earlier days. The one with more proven offences would be “punished!”

It was an open and shut case! The prosecution knew Tiwari Sir was a good “boy” all along. I too knew this and prudently decided to plead guilty at the end of the trial, even before it began. At the end of the “gruelling” trial, the jury pronounced the obvious judgement that I was the naughtier of the two! I submissively, but proudly declared “meaculpa!” The sentence passed was that I should write “something” and produce before the assembly (trial court) the next day. Immediately after the assembly, the honourable judge kindly conveyed his pardon and did not sentence me!

In this piece, I attempt to discharge the spirit of the sentence by reporting excerpts of the interrogation. The last question asked was an important one and upon it, I would like to dwell, as the main theme of this expression. The backdrop was the prohibition of chocolates, which I had “requested!”

Students: Did you eat chocolates in the last one year, asked the students of the Principal, who promulgated the rule of “no-chocolates” in our school!

Principal: Yes, during the recent vacation I ate a chocolate, was the reply!

S: What are the types of disallowed activities you did during your early days?

P: I recall two types of disallowed activities that I did in my college days on quite a few occasions.

A couple of cinema halls did not have compound walls and a couple of us saw films only after interval without buying tickets - by just sneaking in! We had to ensure that the hall was not “house full,” so we had to choose to do this after the film has “run” for a reasonable duration of time. We did it for both fun and when we could not afford to buy the tickets but wanted to see a film!

Our mess did not run on Saturday nights and we had to eat out. I would fall short of money at the end of the month. A couple of us found an innovative mechanism of going to marriage feasts in the neighbourhood uninvited. We would just greet people and walk in to have sumptuous food!

S: What were you scared of in your childhood?

P: I was scared of darkness.

S: Were you ever punished?

P: Yes, the most severe one while I was in Class 6. There was a lot of commotion in the class just after the juice-break one day. The Class Teacher, Miss Price, was upset and took us all to the Headmaster, Father Carapiet. The school considered me a good boy. I could make out that Father was reluctant to “cane” me. He had a variety of canes for punishing children in different ways for different types of “mistakes.” He hit each of the students two times on each hand. When it came to me, he hit only once and that too quite sympathetically! I could sense that he was compelled to administer the consequence although he was not convinced that I deserved it. His entire being changed when he looked at me and hit. His eyes and mine were in touch with each other! What a communion it was. I learnt a great and lasting lesson of life. One has to face consequences, being part of a group for what one did not do individually! When we face the consequence and understand the rationale, there is a change in one’s mind. Many lessons emerged from this one profound incident. I shall never forget the face of Father of that moment!

I also remember that my eldest brother, who was a student of IIMC at that time, prohibited me from playing marbles with our local boys. I was in the primary school and the locale that we grew up in could not afford other costly games and sports. While we were playing marbles, one Sunday morning my brother was passing by and he saw me. He came up to me and hit me on my hard on head. I tumbled but continued to play such games with my friends because I had to remain part of them but became vigilant not to imbibe their other habits and values. I became “clever” and was part of them without being like them. Since then I have never been able to be part of any group and there is a strange and deep aloofness from everyone and everything around. It is blissful isolation and individuality.

S: What is your frank opinion of our School students?

P: (It was understandably clear that the students are quite unsure of what their Principal thinks about them and were therefore eager to hear about it.) After having been with children of a few schools prior to joining Orchid, I can confidently say that the children of School have shown tremendous progress and improvement in all respects in the last couple of years that I have been here. Given the easy way of life, many of us are accustomed to, the kind of restrictions and demands placed on the students by me were not easy to accept for the community. The kind of change demanded was excruciating. I feel very happy with the very good response of our children to the efforts of the school.

Aside: I could sense that the children might be “sure” that their Principal may not be too happy with the children because they are not up to the mark with reference to the children of other “good schools.” This perception needed to be addressed because it is not so. I would not like to compare one group of children from one school with another group of even the same school. I think we must take a view of the growth or development each child or different groups of children with reference to what their starting point was. If there is a significant all round, improvement in the child, there is reason for the child, school and the parent to be happy. The change can be realised only if the school and child work together. The parent must be with both the child and school and should not disable the overall thrust of the school.

The children of Orchid have undergone a lot of fundamental improvement in listening, language, thinking, conceptual and imaginative skills. The overall taste and demeanour has changed so much. Our kids have been unlearnt a lot of difficult and undesirable patterns of talking, thinking and behaving. When children or adults are undergoing such essential change, it is commendable. The school had conceived and implemented deliberate and carefully planned strategies to bring about this reform.... kind of metamorphosis! The results are showing. The children were interrogating us to ascertain where they stand.

The staff and children of School have travelled a long distance and hold immense promise to make the school a good learning centre and to live in our society so that it becomes more beautiful.

The interrogation ended on a respectful and good note! Indeed it was a Red Letter Day...one, which is memorable!