This story dates back to the late 1940s just before India became independent from the British rule. I was barely ten years old. My father who was a doctor worked in a government hospital at a small town in North India which was also the capital of a tiny princely state. Once every month, this town had an important visitor, an Englishman, who was called 'Political Agent'. A tall, smart and very much a white guy, he looked very striking in his khaki shorts, a matching bush shirt and a solar hat. He would stay in the civil rest house for the duration of his visit which was usually about two days.
The Political Agent, represented nothing less than the King or Queen of England, our erstwhile supreme ruler! He would begin his day by first visiting the palace, the residence of our own King of this state, as a matter of courtesy. Having done with that formality, he would visit the main government institutions including the hospital where my father worked. I remember, he appeared very friendly as I discovered when I happened to go to my father's room in the hospital by sheer chance when he was visiting. He tried to shake my hands as I shied away from him. My father it seemed had jokingly told him that I was very fussy in my food habits and did not like vegetables. On this, he remarked to me in broken Hindi, 'do you want to be tall and fair like me? then you simply must eat vegetables' or words to that effect!
This particular visit of the Political Agent was going to be his last as the British had decided to pack up, unable to hold India any longer. The battle cry 'Quit India' of the Indian people led by Mahatma Gandhi was soon to become a reality. The people of this small town, just as a sort of a send off to the Political Agent, had managed to organize a football match between a team of English soldiers from a nearby garrison and our own local team. The Political Agent and our King of this state were to be the chief guests.
Now let me introduce to you to another person, a key character to this story, one Mahadev Singh, a teacher from our primary school. We all students of this school were simply shit scared of him, he was a very strict disciplinarian. Just to give you an idea, we would prefer to wet our pants than to ask for his permission to go to the loo during his class! In his early thirties, he was a good football player. He was the star player and captain of our ragged local team. The English team on the other hand was too just too good. Most of them were young six-footers and had beaten us by a dozen goals, couple of times in the past. So, this match was more of a ceremonial thing, nothing much was expected except some good, clean fun!
It was a Sunday afternoon when the match was to be played on the grounds of our High School. People arrived in festive mood to witness the event. In due time, the two teams reached the playground with the two referees. Soon after, our King and the Political agent arrived in the King's car. They took their seats, the referees signaled the start of the match with a long whistle. The match was on!
It appeared that our team was playing the game this day with a renewed fervor. Maybe, they were infused with the spirit of independence which was on the horizon. But,it was obvious that it was not going to be enough. The 'Tommies', as we called the English players would not give any quarter and soon were ahead with two goals against our team. Our players, much smaller in size and stamina as compared to their towering opponents, could barely take possession of the ball, but could not go anywhere near the goal posts of their opponents. And it was half time! What was remarkable though was that we had conceded only two goals in half time as against at least six on previous occasions!
As we waited for the match to resume, Mahadev Singh was seen giving some pep talk to the team on the sidelines. As if they were regrouping! Would they respond to their captain with a more vigorous and positive play? The public waited, talking in hushed tones, but with some expectations. The play resumed! The English were again on the offensive, made more forays in our team's area and then scored another goal. It was three-zero in favor of the English team and it looked like the same old story. The time was running out with no hopes of our team scoring at all!
It was barely couple of minutes from the final whistle when all of a sudden, to our amazement, Mahadev Singh broke loose with the ball. He dashed all by himself towards the English half and entered their goal area taking care that he was not judged offside. With a quick body swerve, he deceived the rushing goal keeper with a feint, and bang! He scored with his right foot shooting the ball into the English goal! It was magical, unbelievable that our boys could score a goal, did score a goal against the mighty English. It was full time now and the referee blew the final whistle with the scoreline three-one in favor of the English. But spectators shouted and danced as if we had won the game!
The inevitable prize distribution followed. The King gave away the winners cup to the English captain and the runners up cup to our captain. It was time now to award a special prize to the best player of the game. There was some whispered consultation between the King and the Political Agent. Then rose the Political Agent with a smile on his face to give away the special prize to the best player of the game. It was none other than our teacher, captain of our team, Mahadev Singh!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
The Music Class
She fell in love with her music teacher on the very first day of the class! He was a tall, dark and handsome guy in his twenties, like they write about in romantic novels. And she was in the last of her teens, very vulnerable! He smiled more with his twinkling eyes. And when he taught music to this group of five youngsters, his soft voice had a magical effect. In short, he was irresistible to girls. He did two classes every Saturday of one hour each, one starting at 6 PM, and the next at 7 PM. Each course lasted for three months. Our heroine of this tale and her friends had joined the 6 PM class. The 7 PM class was meant for those who wished to continue for the next level.
The teacher had a regular job on week days which did not pay much. So, he was running these classes in his two-room apartment, basically to supplement his income. A struggling young man, he was just starting his life. He planned to marry later when he could afford it. His girl students often used to banter about it and ask leading questions. He parried them blushing a little, with answers like 'let me meet the right girl' & 'I will let you know as soon I meet my future wife'. She wondered if she could dream to be his future wife!
She actually started dreaming! She had almost a proprietorial attitude about his apartment when she visited there to attend the class. She had noticed that the two-room apartment needed drastic changes. It hardly had any furniture items worth the name and the curtains were most ill suited, very shabby. The so called kitchenette displayed a few pots and pans. The crockery was woefully inadequate, just a few cups, glasses and dishes with which her teacher could not have entertained even a couple of friends. And lesser said the better about his bedroom!
This simply must change, she thought! First thing which came to her mind was a sofa set, black in color and of leather with a small center table. A round dining table with four proper chairs is a must. This can occupy the small space close to the kitchen. He should also buy some decent crockery and cutlery. A set of six will be just fine. Let him have some packs of paper napkins too. And curtains could be of orange or brown shade with white parallels. That will give some class to his apartment. She wished similar things for the bedroom too. And yes, why not a small, inexpensive carpet in the living room? All these things will not cost him too much! Moreover, these days banks gave loans for almost any purpose. What is the problem, she asked herself!
She also realized that very soon, next month, her music class will have finished the course. It would be time to say good bye to the teacher unless she decides to take the next one, the 7 PM class. And after two months of their association, he had no idea about fer feelings towards her! She had to gather courage and somehow let him know! She would do it in the next class which was her last, she promised herself. And then, the last Saturday of her class arrived. Today or never, it looked like!
When she arrived that Saturday for her class, she deliberately came almost half an hour before time. She needed some time to confide her thoughts and feelings for the teacher. As she approached the main entrance, she was a little surprised by a lot of cleaning activity by a couple of guys. What was happening she wondered as she entered. And then she was stunned to see the changes! She found the apartment freshly painted. Not only that, she was greeted with the sight of a black, leather sofa set with a center table. There was a carpet too. And in the corner near the kitchen, there was that round dining table with four chairs around it. The kitchen counter, she saw was clean and tidy. On the shelf, there were new dishes, cups and glasses. And the apartment's door and windows had brown curtains with matching lining. She saw practically everything which she had imagined for the place! Was she dreaming?
How come this happened? Was it a case of telepathy, she wondered! And then he emerged from the bedroom. 'Oh, you have come early today' he exclaimed. 'Please have a seat and do not mind this last minute activity', he continued. She was tongue tied but managed to ask him about this sudden uplift of the place. He smiled rather shyly and then said, 'well, you will be the first person with whom I am sharing some good news. You remember how you and others used to tease me about my single status and about my marriage? You will be happy to know that I met my future wife exactly three months before. She had just graduated from my 6 PM class and had joined the 7 PM class. It was not a case of love at first sight as we met off and on for three months. It was rather gradual and then we decided to get married. But only on one condition, she had said. 'I am giving you three months to get your place properly cleaned up, ready and fit for a married couple. Only then, we will get married'! And she had given me a list with guidelines as to what she expected. 'I just followed her instructions. I barely managed to meet her deadline! We are getting married in a month's time. Of course, you all, my students will be invited', he concluded.
The teacher then asked her as to why she came early. She replied that she will not be able to attend this last class for some reason and wanted to personally inform him. 'Does not matter' he said, 'I will arrange an extra class for you to make up'. And then he suggested if she would like to join the 7 PM class for the next level. "Not really', she replied enigmatically, 'It is rather late for that. You see, I do not want to join the wrong class for the second time'!
The teacher had a regular job on week days which did not pay much. So, he was running these classes in his two-room apartment, basically to supplement his income. A struggling young man, he was just starting his life. He planned to marry later when he could afford it. His girl students often used to banter about it and ask leading questions. He parried them blushing a little, with answers like 'let me meet the right girl' & 'I will let you know as soon I meet my future wife'. She wondered if she could dream to be his future wife!
She actually started dreaming! She had almost a proprietorial attitude about his apartment when she visited there to attend the class. She had noticed that the two-room apartment needed drastic changes. It hardly had any furniture items worth the name and the curtains were most ill suited, very shabby. The so called kitchenette displayed a few pots and pans. The crockery was woefully inadequate, just a few cups, glasses and dishes with which her teacher could not have entertained even a couple of friends. And lesser said the better about his bedroom!
This simply must change, she thought! First thing which came to her mind was a sofa set, black in color and of leather with a small center table. A round dining table with four proper chairs is a must. This can occupy the small space close to the kitchen. He should also buy some decent crockery and cutlery. A set of six will be just fine. Let him have some packs of paper napkins too. And curtains could be of orange or brown shade with white parallels. That will give some class to his apartment. She wished similar things for the bedroom too. And yes, why not a small, inexpensive carpet in the living room? All these things will not cost him too much! Moreover, these days banks gave loans for almost any purpose. What is the problem, she asked herself!
She also realized that very soon, next month, her music class will have finished the course. It would be time to say good bye to the teacher unless she decides to take the next one, the 7 PM class. And after two months of their association, he had no idea about fer feelings towards her! She had to gather courage and somehow let him know! She would do it in the next class which was her last, she promised herself. And then, the last Saturday of her class arrived. Today or never, it looked like!
When she arrived that Saturday for her class, she deliberately came almost half an hour before time. She needed some time to confide her thoughts and feelings for the teacher. As she approached the main entrance, she was a little surprised by a lot of cleaning activity by a couple of guys. What was happening she wondered as she entered. And then she was stunned to see the changes! She found the apartment freshly painted. Not only that, she was greeted with the sight of a black, leather sofa set with a center table. There was a carpet too. And in the corner near the kitchen, there was that round dining table with four chairs around it. The kitchen counter, she saw was clean and tidy. On the shelf, there were new dishes, cups and glasses. And the apartment's door and windows had brown curtains with matching lining. She saw practically everything which she had imagined for the place! Was she dreaming?
How come this happened? Was it a case of telepathy, she wondered! And then he emerged from the bedroom. 'Oh, you have come early today' he exclaimed. 'Please have a seat and do not mind this last minute activity', he continued. She was tongue tied but managed to ask him about this sudden uplift of the place. He smiled rather shyly and then said, 'well, you will be the first person with whom I am sharing some good news. You remember how you and others used to tease me about my single status and about my marriage? You will be happy to know that I met my future wife exactly three months before. She had just graduated from my 6 PM class and had joined the 7 PM class. It was not a case of love at first sight as we met off and on for three months. It was rather gradual and then we decided to get married. But only on one condition, she had said. 'I am giving you three months to get your place properly cleaned up, ready and fit for a married couple. Only then, we will get married'! And she had given me a list with guidelines as to what she expected. 'I just followed her instructions. I barely managed to meet her deadline! We are getting married in a month's time. Of course, you all, my students will be invited', he concluded.
The teacher then asked her as to why she came early. She replied that she will not be able to attend this last class for some reason and wanted to personally inform him. 'Does not matter' he said, 'I will arrange an extra class for you to make up'. And then he suggested if she would like to join the 7 PM class for the next level. "Not really', she replied enigmatically, 'It is rather late for that. You see, I do not want to join the wrong class for the second time'!
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