Swami and Friends.PDF by I m dA 1 lAi !

Author:I m dA 1 lAi ! [!, I m dA 1 lAi]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 2012-03-13T17:47:16+00:00

II

Early next morning as Swaminathan lay in bed watching a dusty beam of sunlight falling a few yards off his bed, his mind, which was just emerging from sleep, became conscious of a vague worry. Swaminathan asked himself what that worry was. It must be something connected with school. Homework? No. Matters were all rig ht in that direction. It was something connected with dress. Bonfire, bonfire of clothes. Yes. It now dawned upon him with an oppressive clearness that he had thrown his cap into the patriotic bonfire of the previous evening; and of course his father knew nothing about it.

What was he going to wear for school to-day? Telling his father and asking for a new cap was not practicable. He could not go to school bareheaded.

He started for the school in a mood of fatalistic abandon, with only a coat and no cap on. And the fates were certainly kind to him. At least Swaminathan believed that he saw the hand of God in it when he reached the school and found the boys gathered in the road in front of the school in a noisy irregular mob.

Swaminathan passed through the crowd unnoticed till he reached the school gate. A perfect stranger belonging to the Third Form stopped him and asked: 'Where are you going?'

Swaminathan hesitated for a moment to discover if there was any trap in this question and said: Why—er. ... Of course... .'

'No school to-day,' declared the stranger with emphasis, and added passionately, 'one of the greatest sons of the Motherland has been sent to gaol.'

'I won't go to school,' Swaminathan said, greatly relieved at this unexpected solution to his cap problem.

The Head Master and the teachers were standing in the front veranda of the school. The Head Master looked careworn. Ebenezar was swinging his cane and pacing up and down. For once, the boys saw D. Pillai, the History Teacher, serious, and gnawing his close-clipped moustache in great agitation. The crowd in the road had become brisker and noisier, and the school looked forlorn. At five minutes to ten the first bell rang, hardly heard by anyone except those standing near the gate. A conference was going on between the teachers and the Head Master. The Head Master's hand trembled as he pulled out his watch and gave orders for the second bell.

The bell that at other times gave out a clear rich note now sounded weak and inarticulate. The Head Master and the teacher were seen coming toward the gate, and a lull came upon the mob.

The Head Master appealed to the boys to behave and get back to their classes quietly. The boys stood firm. The teachers, including D. Pillai, tried and failed. After uttering a warning that the punishment to follow would be severe, the Head Master withdrew. Thundering shouts of 'Bharat Matha ki Jai!' 'Gandhi ki Jai!' and 'Gaura Sankar ki Jai!' followed him.

There were gradual unnoticed additions of all sorts of people to the original student mob. Now

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