English Please !

The rule was carved in stone. “Speak in English”

Nobody dared to disobey. Anyone caught speaking in Hindi was not only whipped but a heavy penalty of 25 paisa was also imposed. All the students dreaded both.

The cane that Sister Sophie carried could instil terror among the most brave and the rest anyways trembled at the mere sight of her, with or without the cane. Though short and thin in stature, her fingers had magical powers, she could make even the tallest and the most built whimper in pain with her cheek-pinching skills.

The penalty of 25 paisa was beyond the reach of the most. The concept of pocket-money had not yet descended in the humble town Khelari. Asking for the money from parents and that too for a reason “Caught speaking in Hindi” would have invariably invited thrashing of varying magnitudes.

So, anyone caught messing up with this stricture would unfailingly land between a rock and a hard place.

There were however several reasons for we not wanting to bow to this rule. English as a language did not come naturally, just imagine, the excitement and the flourish with which one could discuss about popular song show “Chitrahaar” in Hindi, it could never be done in the queens’ language. It was like the crane trying to slurp the warm and tasty soup from a flat dish. The fox and crane story. Remember.

Next, the ability to express. For instance. Once Rakesh, after a lot of running around in the sun, was drinking water. He had cupped his palms and was gulping down the water falling from a tap attached to the dispenser. Shantimoy appeared from nowhere and burst the cupped palm open by hitting it from the bottom. The water splashed on the face of Rakesh, making him go mad with fury. He ran after Shantimoy but couldn’t catch him. Now defeated along with fury, he stomped to Sister’s office to complain.

“Sister, sister, I drinking water, Shantimoy coming and….” He blabbered but didn’t know how to phrase the misdoing of Shantimoy.

Sister Sophie gave a patient hearing but Rakesh still couldn’t express the exact incident.

“Then what??” Sister Sophie finally yelled.

Fear, anger and disappointment seized Rakesh collectively, he finally expressed “Sister, sister, I drinking water, Shantimoy coming and …DISHhhhh!!!” Rakesh had to enact the scene along with an imaginary sound for better and correct expression.

Even the most talkative turned silent like stone when it came to gossiping in English. Some solution had to be invented. After a serious brain-storming and recce, we finally discovered that the far corner of the play ground was a safe haven to blossom our heart out in Hindi. This corner was the most secluded, farthest from the School office and not many children ventured there.

No sooner the bell rang for break we use to sprint to that spot to have our hearty gossip in Hindi without any fear. We exchanged out views about all that we saw in TV to our heart’s content. I must repeat. In Hindi only.

However, just within few days, to our utter surprise our names were announced for penalty. We were aghast. How could she nab the offender? The mystery went on for few days and then we realised that few kids use to come running towards us on the pretext of playing and then zoomed away, usual play of running around by the kids. It dawned upon us that these kids were the extended ears to identify the miscreants. Sister Sophie had planted her secret agents in every nook and corner of the premises.

We all finally relented and embraced the cardinal rule. We anyways didn’t have much choice.

I must however mention, as a closing line, Sister Sophie was, and is, a great teacher and administrator, but she would have made an extraordinary detective!!!