Mar 01., 2007   /   Uncategorized

A Tempest of Temper – 4th Standard – Part 3

Well having got the spelling episode also behind me, I shall move on to the interesting and now that I come to think of it quite funnier of the episodes of my 4th Standard. Chocolates. Readers must understand that although many would know me as the embodiment of peace, or atleast remember me as appearing like one to them, I wasn’t always that way. For quite a long time I was the most unruly kid you would ever come across. I still believe that it was the episode after 5th Standard that changed my life 720 degrees.

Chocolates

The incident began in quite an ordinary way. Although I have since come to believe that it I who blew the whole issue out of proportion. Attaching God alone knows what emotions to my actions. Anyway here it goes. In the year 1994, my grandfather was brought to Parthi for an open-heart surgery, and my parents too came along with him. They stayed there for the better part of a month and would come to visit me every opportunity they got(which was obviously only on Sundays). I remember them asking each time “what shall i get for you next sunday?”, and the answer would always be the same “foreign chocolates”. They had found a store near home that sold these confectionaries and had brought a big load of it with them, knowing I freaked out on chocolates. Since I would clear the whole lot on a single day, they used to bring some every Sunday.

One particular Sunday, were returning after Darshan, and I was just walking in the line, when I felt somebody lunge at me and pull me out of the line. I turned around and saw, it was my mother. She had spotted me in the great spotting contest that was a prelude to every parents meeting on Sundays. She was about to talk to me, when Shruti maam(who was leading our class since it was Vaidehi maam’s duty at the hostel) yanked me back into the line. But not before my mother managed to slip me a chocolate, which was noticed by Shruti maam. She didn’t react then, but calmly led the line upto the dining hall, where we had a glassful of horrible milk(the Sunday milk used to always invariably taste horribly, and we used to call it ‘Buffalo milk’. Later on I got to know that, it must have actually been cow milk, since buffalo milk tastes much better than cow milk. Poor buffaloes, always got blamed for the horrible Sunday morning milk).

The moment we got out of the dining hall, she called the class together, and as if she was announcing the results of a bumper draw, called out my name in the dormitory just as we were getting ready to go out for ‘games’ and pinched me by my ear. And she announced “this fellow’s mother doesn’t know how to behave. he pulled him out of the line to give him a chocolate. She couldn’t wait till evening”. Saying this, she told me to give her the chocolate. I asked her why and she told me it was the punishment. Now I was really pissed off. I honestly believed that she wanted the chocolate and since I wouldn’t give her, she took it this way(to this day I don’t know why I thought so). I was filled with a flush of anger, and threw the chocolate at her, and ran to my shelf and took out all the other chocolates I had managed to smuggle in on Sundays, and hurled them at her face saying “here, take these also, eat all of them yourself”.

Well the ending didn’t quite please me. I was made to kneel down in the central lobby throughout the afternoon until the time for parents meet. Thankfully HM didn’t went by without noticing me, although Warden Aunty did. It was getting to be time for the parents meet and I was fidgeting on my knees, wanting to get up and go. Warden Aunty just came up and saw me there, she asked me why I was kneeling, and I told her. She also whacked me one, and told me never to repeat it and let me go. So much for chocolates, never lost my taste for them though. Don’t believe any of you would, if you went through so much for them.

– GUPTA GHOST

P.S.
I don’t know what you people inferred from this incident, but I know the lesson I learnt from it(although not then, I was far too arrogant then , to learn anything from such incidents. Learnt it much later when I used to retrospect on such incidents). I learnt never to react hastily when you are angry. You will stand to lose more than you already have. And you will be none the wiser.