I get a new English Medium Class!
(contd..from the boy who made it to the capital)
On a night when I was worriedly studying the non-understood lesson for the next day class, I was called by my eldest sister. She asked me if I knew that there was an English Class in your school. I was taken aback! An English medium class? No. In fact I never cared about the medium at all. Me and my other class fellows were simple village boys. None of neither knew nor cared about if there was an English medium class. I said "no". Then "you listen to me. There is an English Medium Class in Class V". " Instead of your sitting in your Malayalam class you can join the English Medium Class."
Even though this suggestion was surprising at the first instance, it gave me a flicker of hope of escaping the present class and the beating yet to be got from the teacher. I never knew the name of the teacher! Hope became a little dream in me. This is the chance to escape the oncoming beatings and a back bench seat behind other hefty children. Sister jolted me saying "What are you thinking?" "Nothing" I said. She said she did not have much time to keep thinking all night. She asked if I would join the new class the next day. I said, I do not know the class, nor how to join it. She was unhappy about my lack of understanding. Since I was too small, and had little knowledge about the goings on in the school, she advised me earnestly. "Go and see the Headmaster tomorrow. Tell him that you want to be in the English Medium Class. Thats it! Your work is over. The rest they will do. If that did not work, let me know".
This command was stunning to me. I could never think of going to the Headmaster's room. The Headmaster was a hefty looking tall man. He came to school on a Raliegh Bicycle which was almost a motor cycle in those days! His bicycle will always be very clean with a nice rolling bell and a good front light with a dynamo to light it up when it is dark. There is an over all beauty when a well built man rode it, especially if the man is the Headmaster of the local school. People revered him and the students feared him. It is not that he did anything wrong to the students, but no student wanted to cross his paths unnecessarily. Mainly, the children met him only during the morning assembly only. May be, children from higher classes met him, but never a child from a Class V. Now I have to meet him!
I weighed this against the fact that I have to meet the other Malayalam Class V teacher everyday, I decided taking this bargain may not be all that bad. In any case I can't escape school. Then a change should be OK. The next day I walked to school with my brother and the other friend, the neighbour's son with different thoughts in my mind. What will happen today? Will I survive the Headmaster to go to the English Medium Class? What will be the stuff being taught in the Class? Will the Teacher be more difficult that then present one?
All these thoughts were going on and on in my mind. The present Malayalam class was at the far east end of the school building. It was a small hall converted into four or five classes with wooden partitions. Next to the class was a little land and then upper land, making the land an upper wall like structure. If a huge rain came suddenly and the upper land caved in, we will be jammed in the class without being able to get out as the stone wall of the other sides will block our escape for sure. I used to feel very suffocated in the class.
When we were nearing the school, the first bell went. We ran to reach before the second bell. At the second bell we had to be in the assembly. Keeping our books in the class, we rushed to the foreground of the school to attend the assembly. Here the assembly was started with Jana Gana Mana.... where every body stood to rapt ram rod attention. Once the singing was over, a boy in a senior class will step forward to the mike and read a few headline news of the day which he would have collected from the news papers in the morning. Once the assembly disbursed everybody ran back to their respective classes. I reached my class, told a few of my fellow classmates that I am going to the Headmaster and walked off. At the Headmaster's office I had to wait. Anybody going to the Headmaster's office had to wait if there are others already waiting and there were two parents waiting. I joined them.
The parents spoke to each other in low tones on subjects of recent happenings. They never spoke to me as I was inconsequential. Teachers of the school did not have to wait at the door, they went in as soon as they came, leaned at the table of the Headmaster, signed a book and went out. I thought that the Headmaster did not have any clout on them. There was an elderly gentleman with paan in his mouth, called Lazar. He used to go in and come out of the Headmaster's room very often. He looked at me sternly as if why I am out of the class and waiting at the Headmaster's room. He went in, came out and sent the parents in. In a few minutes the parents came out and left. As soon as they left, Lazar came to me and showed a finger in the directions of the Headmaster's room. He had a new filling of paan in his mouth and he could not speak. He still had a paan leaf in his hand in which he was applying chunnab (the white calcium used with beatal leaf to makie the paan. the other ingredient was a few pieces of arecanut)
I went in. The Headmaster, the hefty man, whom I had seen from afar or on his bicycle was there at his table. He had a benign look on his face. He was slightly dark in colour. Then I found that thing on the table. A huge cane. I never thought such an ill omen will be there. There was globe near to it. I could see vast seas on the globe and a part of America. It was a stationary globe on a pedastal kept on the table. Next to it was a table bell, a ink blotter and a ruler. (A ruler is a wooden rod, which was used to put straight lines in books. Before the twelve inch scales came, this was the weapon used to make straight lines. But these could not be used to make curved lines straight). Then there was a box of chalk open. The register at which the Teachers came and bowed was on the end of the table where I stood.
On seeing me on the other side of the table, just as tall as the table top only, the Headmster leaned forward and asked. "emm..." This is a short form question with the whole meaning of Why have you come and what brings you here at this hour when you had to be in your class etc. I was speechless. I purposely did not look at the long cane. I wanted to concentrate on America. But the goddamn globe started to turn at that point of time. I pulled up myself in an effort to speak up. The Headmaster repeated his"..emmm..." this time a little longer and with a switching up of the forehead. "I want to go to English medium" I just threw out the words and with a sigh of relief of have unloaded myself, waited for his answer. He shifted in his chair, looked at me shartply, and asked: "Will you be able to study there? You will have to study all subjects in English, except Malayalam." I said yes. Then again, he put out another question. "Who told you to go to the English Medium?" "My father." I just replied in the spur of the moment. Actually it was my eldest sister who had asked me. I did not have the guts to say so to the Headmaster. I always thought it is better to use my father's name at such occasions. My father was also very hefty like the Headmaster. If there is anything to it a question will go only to my father. I was very sure, my father can handle any question. He was a forte for us in matters outside home. The question answer session ended with the My father reply.
The Headmaster leaned back in his chair and became very much at ease. He turned a round crystal paper weight which was sitting stationary on the table. The globe had stopped turning. Now he lifted his hand and struck on the table bell twice. Lazar came in and looked at the Headmaster with his head leaned forward and twisted his forehead. The Headmaster said "Show him the English Medium!" With this Lazar signed me to come with him and took me to the new Medium! I became very light now. All the weights are gone off my chest. I could not believe myself of the happenings in the last few minutes! I never knew such things are possible with such few words.
At the door of the class, Lazar stood with me. The teacher was an elderly lady, very fair in colour with gold studs in her ears and a gold chain on her neck in a red sari. She also had mouthful of paan and asked Lazar if he had more of beatel leaves and arecanut pieces, to Lazar said 'Shall bring quickly, madam'.
She elegantly came to Lazar who said something to her which I could not hear and moved away. The teacher now looked at me and enquired of the whole matter of my coming to the class at the door itself. She had a loving nature to herself and the questions did not trouble me much. Mainly it was about my father and mother, what were they, how much they had studied, etc. My father was well educated. He had completed Class IV of the olden days and knew a bit of mathematics and general studies. He wrote a beautiful hand in Malayalam and had the grasp of the planetary positions and astrology which he had learned under some Guru. Apart from that he had deep respect for all studied people and especially those in the School.
My mother had not gone to school as it was not considered necessary in those days. She learned most of the things by practice as she had to help in the family set up like all other girls in those times and had become strong and good looking to be married off at the age of seventeen to my father who said he was twenty when he got married. He used to ask me when we had our happy conversations: "What do you thinik about me? I started working at the age of nine. At thirteen, I went myself to toddy shop and sat for a bottle at the weekend. I was the confidant of my Master." He was my hero always!
At last after a lot of wrinkling of her forehead she said she was worried about who will assist me at home in studies in English. I told her about my sister in higher classes and with that I was allowed into the new class! I excused myself to go to my Malayalam class and brought out my books, had a last look at the nightmarish class room and my dear poor fellow class mates and walked to join the new English Medium class.
The Great Warassiar Teacher welcomed me to the class and in a beautiful English accent told me to take any convenient seat as I wished. There were only twenty or so boys and 5 girls. I was slightly surprised to see girls in the boys school! When I settled down in one of the seats the friend near me told me that the Teacher is very good but insisted that children study what ever is taken in the class. He also told me that the Teacher ate 'murukkan' all the time and her lips were always red because of that. It gave her a redness of face and since she was very good looking it went well with her. Lazar, the 'masappadi' (Peon) brought the paan or murukkan for her, once in the morning. From day one, I noticed that the English she was teaching was a bit tough for me as she was always talking mostly in English and it was flowing all the time from her. I was slowly getting uneasy again. During free time I looked at the boys in the Malayalam class I had left, and found they were all happy as larks and I am starting an uneasy roll again. Alas, now I can't go back now. The havoc or otherwise, is already done!!
I started to grapple with the classes in English but could not understand the meaning of what was being told in the class. At times I could no hear properly as I was leaning on my desk to write something, when the teacher would have said the meaning of some of the words. I could not dare to ask again! At times the Teacher emphatically asked "Everybody understood?" to which the front benchers said "Yes" and that was it. Many of the meanings we took down were wrong! And then, I learned it by heart at night in the rate kerosene lamp light!!
This went on for three months in Class V, English Medium! The Social Studies Teacher was an old man. Children laughed and hush-hushed behind him, saying that he would have retired far back since he looked a good seventy years old. But that was not correct. He was much young and not even retired. He came in impeccable white shirt and white dothi (the long cloth used in the Kerala). He also ate the paan or murukkan all the time. That way the Warassiar Teacher and this Gentleman, some Iyer was his name, were in the same category. Of and on times, he went out to spit out the red liquid which he collected in his mouth. Except that he sat in his Teacher's chair and asked one of the students to read the Social Studies book (which is History). There were a few in the class who were well knowledgeable about all lessons and good was in reading in English. Among this few, one of them stood up and read fast and whenever that fellow found it difficult, the Teacher himself read it, still faster! In any case, I did not understand anything. At times I heard the name of a king, or Totangaman or something like that or the Sindhu valley culture etc. I could not make out what we exactly had to do with it. Sometimes we felt sleepy and dozed a little. The Teacher never gave any heed to it. When we woke up from the snooze, the bell will be going for the recess or lunch.
Most of the English word meanings I got wrong as I copied it from the verbatim told by the teachers and mostly I may be lagging with one word and may write down the meaning of the next word mistaking it for the meaning of the earlier word. This created chaos. No body insisted us that we had to study the lessons and in the new class there never was a problem if we could not answer a question. The question was moved to the next child and the one who could not answer were allowed to sit down. It was as if we did not exist. I enquired of our friends as to what would happen, if this went on and we could not make it in the final examinations. My friends very matter of factly told me that those who did not make it will go back to the Malayalam medium class from the next academic year onwards. This was a shock to me! Good God! I shall have to learn the whole thing in Malayalam! Good riddance! I thought to myself, are the poor really damned? How to study well and get above average marks were a big question in front of me. I fervently prayed to the Lord on of those days. "Lord save me from this difficulty." The answer came next week in the form of a suggestion to join a new English Medium School!
Next Monday, while our Class teacher was at the 32nd page of the English Text, my Uncle appeared at the Class room door. Our teacher enquired of him the reason for his arrival. He informed that he has been asked by my father to get my TC (a transfer certificate is always mentioned here as TC in short) as I am to be sent to become a priest and will have to join a new school. All the children were wonder struck and looked at me with great astonishment in their eyes. As there was no jubilation or even the slight change in my temparament, the astonishment died down on its own.
As I related earlier, the children had no say in these things and the elders knew better. All the other children started looking at me as if I am going to a great place and lucky at that, where as they will have to continue there. Our Teacher sent for Lazar and when he came asked him to take my Uncle to the Headmaster. In a matter of half an hour or so, my uncle came back with the TC, thanked our Class Teacher profusely and requested her permission to take me home. The Class teacher called me to her side, slightly patted me and said everything will go good with me and asked me to go with my Uncle. I left the class with my uncle.
Once outside the class, he told me that he had been asked by father to get the TC for me to take me to a new English Medium School which is being opened four kilometres away from the present school. He said this was a good opportunity for me as this was a boarding school where I can stay and study and I may not have to walk up and down to school. This was a glad news to me. I heard the word boarding for the first time. I was a bit upset at the sudden pulling myself away from the acquaintances I had in the class, all of them looking at me with equal calm and sadness like me, as, show of sadness or extreme joy were not there at that time. Thus fell curtain to a three month education in the Government High School where I studied in two types of Classes but could not make out what I was studying or what was being taught. I am sure, had I continued in that Malayalam class my life would have been doomed as my earlier Class IV friends who fell on the way in life! Had I continued in the English medium class, I would have been pushed out for the lack of comprehension on my part, but without any mention or concernedabout the poor performance of the teachers, who generally were careless of the upcoming of the children. Who ever did not make it were sent to the Malayalam medium the next year after the results came out, where they will slowly meet their nemesis! Most of the people whom we see half educated are the failures of various schools, who fall on the way side like this as they do not have anybody to guide them with a great heart and love!!
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