The 3.1 monkeys

We wake up another day and the very first thing in the morning we are greeted by the sight of our warden Mr. Turthy's face. Mind you its not one of the beautiful sights you would want to wake up to or to the sound of his stick hitting against the rods of our cold metal beds. It sure is pleasant outside with the breeze and twilight pouring in through the open windows above our beds. But we look rather stoned, to react to either kind of sights and sounds all around us. Only like zombies we walk towards the bathroom at the end of our dormitory with half open eyes. We can still hear the warden shouting at one of the kids who is still asleep with his leg still dangling from his bed.

Last night we slept late because one of the guys was homesick and was whimpering as soon as it got dark. He looks a lot younger to be our class mate in eighth standard. He is shorter than most of us and he doesn't even have the thin grey kind of mustache most of us do. That is when one of the boys who is a little bit too concerned about everyone's well being went up to him to console him and put him to sleep.

We all got ready after the cold water bath in this chilly morning and got rid from the effects of insomnia. After we reached the classroom I knew this is going to be a day without much excitement because the first period was of Mathematics and the teacher, Mr. Kutty is very strict he doesn't allow any disturbances to take place in the class. Even if someone did break the barrier he would most probably get caught and that is the moment Mr. Kutty relished the most to think of brutal and sinister ways to punish the students. So when Mr. Kutty continued the pain staking and agonizingly slow process of taking the attendance of the class. I decided to do something funny and grab everyone's attention and then I thought I'd rather not attract unnecessary attention of Mr. Kutty, just then I noticed Rahil and Abhyankar or Abhay as he likes to call himself, prepare some kind of list under their bench. They looked quite active for the first period of the day that too Mr. Kutty's. Just then I thought if they were up to something, like last week, Abhay ate away my lunch which got him punished eventually. It made me grin on how I enjoyed watching him get punished. As I was savoring the moment I heard Mr. Kutty say something that I figured was addressed to me. He said, "Mr. Fawas is this the first time you heard your name?" I replied meekly, "no sir". "What is it that is making you grin shamelessly and look up towards the ceiling? We are trying to take the attendance of all the people whose body and mind is present with us today". I just smiled more with an embarrassed look. He continued, " sit down and please pay attention for the rest of the class". I nodded my head and sat down while everyone in the class was laughing.

Mr. Kutty started the lessons with the auspicious ritual of writing the day and date on the right hand corner of the green board. 25th March, Thursday. That is when it struck me what Rahil and Abhay were up to. They were preparing a list of all the eatables we were going to need for tonight's Pajama Party. Its a tradition handed down from our forefathers of our school that every Thursday we celebrate.

The warden has ordered lights out we all tucked ourselves in the beds and pretended to fall asleep until Mr. Turthy left. We all sneaked out of our beds in our pajamas and like soldiers on a mission we tip toed from one shadow spot to the other until we reached the boundary wall of the campus. We were five of us and I was the chosen one this week to jump over the wall and get all the things in the list. Its not a matter of privilege because when any of us gets caught getting out of the school campus the consequences can be quite serious. You might have to write imposition for a week, carry a board across your chest that says something like 'I am a sinner', you might even get expelled or get tortured in the dark chamber okay I made the last one up but still you cannot take these things lightly. All this thought made my heart race faster. Abhay held both of his hands interlocked and stood against the wall and I leaped over the barb wired wall effortlessly. That is when I said to myself " One small step for a man and a giant bag of eatables for all of my friends". We have carried out the mission objectives so far without getting noticed by any of the authorities. All this sense of adventure is what gives us the thrill and makes the Pajama party such an addiction and the feeling of accomplishment when we eat up all the hard earned food we had gathered. I collected all the junk food on the list and headed back to the campus threw the bag full of valuable junk food over the wall and then I jumped across too. I almost fell down brushed the dust of my pants and then I heard someone call out my name in a strong baritone, "Mr. Fawas". My heart skipped a beat I looked up to see a tall dark shadowy figure standing in front of me. The strong light behind the figure almost blinded my eyes just then I realised I recognised the voice and the shadowy figure I was facing. That is when I knew I was the wrong person at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The three Monkeys

This is the third time she has punished me this week, I don't have the faintest of ideas why she hates me so much. Was it my fault that I was feeling hungry and I ate away Fawas's lunch. I think it was, but still asking me to stand on the bench for one full hour tarnishes my reputation that too in front of all the girls who only enjoy seeing me humiliated. It was not Fawas who complained to Mrs. Basudra but his unnecessary and ghastly expression on his face to see an empty lunch box attracted attention from the head monstress, Mrs. Basudra who also happens to be our Chemistry teacher and I hate Chemistry not because I hate Mrs. Basudra but because I find it irrelevant for school kids like me to study about oxides and nitrites, unless I decide to become a chemist or a pharmacist of which the chances are bleak. Even though I dream about becoming an astronaut one day, a fire fighter the other and the list goes on and a chemist or a pharmacist is not in the list. I find it rather hard to concentrate on something that I think is not helpful for me in my practical life ahead. Well enough about myself. In case you haven't noticed Fawas, pronounced as Fa-VaaZ, is actually one of my best friends since I have been here in this boarding school.

It was arts class the teacher hadn't yet come to the class and the brief period of teacher's absence gave all the students energy to move and jump about as if they were molecules packed in a dense material. While everyone were doing what they pleased some of them screaming for no apparent reason in no particular human language others were chatting up with their bench mates. My friend Fawas took up this opportunity do what he does best - play a prank. He took out a dead lizard he was saving from the last ice age for when an opportunity like this comes up and he put it in between the pages of a fat girl's large sketch book. I was the only one witness to all of this as I sometimes like to play the observer, when I sit quietly and just look at people around me when they are in a world of their own making strange expressions. So this habit of mine gave me a chance to witness the whole performance of this great master prankster who like a magician set up the whole act with his finesse and flair and was just waiting for the 'prestige' - as he likes to call it, the final act or the climax. The teacher arrived everyone settled down in their seats and there was a quick dampening of all the cacophony of the students. It was all quiet when suddenly the plump girl shrieked everyone looked at her and like a snapshot of memory all we remember was a lizard flying out in front of the fat girl's face with both of her hands on the sketch book. Everyone just looked at her with awe and amazement as to how the teacher will react to what just happened. She like her usual self didn't even blink an eye and went on to continue the class. That is how I came to know who Fawas really was.

Wait a minute I didn't introduce you to my other best friend Rahil - the class clown....