16 JUNE 2000
I got up earlier than usual because it was the day I had to join Sainik school, kazhakootam. I got ready. All the items were packed in advance. Achan had arranged a taxi, something in which I rarely travelled. I was filled with huge excitement and all my neighbours were there ready to bid goodbye to me. The scene would now look to me like a jawan saying good bye for a war. I waved hands at every one as the taxi rushed to Kazhakootam.
We passed the great walls of sainik school and the car entered the large 300 acre compound which looked almost like a forest area at first and then passed to the school building. Achan took out the trunk, specifically saying the 33 inch trunk which was bought from chalai market.
We assembled at a place where I met my fellow batch mates many of whom in the future became my very close friends. I was almost living a dream for all the things happening there seemed to be interesting. A peon came and sat on a chair. He had a file in hand and started reading out the name and house. I had my friend jayakrishnan who came to school a year ago and I knew he was in a house called VKK. The names went on and came finally NANDAKISHORE-VALLATHOL HOUSE. I went sad because it was not VKK. We didn’t know where to go or how to go as the school building was far from all these houses. There were two men coming from a distance, one of them I later realized was the then senior master S H Sharma sir. He showed us the way. Unfortunately the car had left and Achan had to carry the heavy trunk. I and Amma followed him. Big Buildings with very nice construction, a plane or a gladiator whatever it is which were working decades ago was kept by the side. Volley ball courts, basket ball courts, football courts, the boxing ring…I was living a dream…
Soon I saw groups of boys marching like policemen in khakis. One of them was saying something loud, Op right op or so. which I didn’t understand. The squad was marching and behind the khaki squad was a small squad with white shirt and white shorts. I recognized my friend Prince john in that squad who was there with me for the coaching class. He smiled at me and so did I. But he was helpless to come out of the squad as the person in control of the squad seemed to stare at every one inside the squad and so he was afraid to come out. The squad continued marching and many squads walked past.
Several houses all packed in an area. Names were displayed in big letters at the entrance. I passed through a road straight from the auditorium to reach my destination Vallathol .A building in a very nice location. The name seemed not so familiar to me at that time. We entered the house following the other new students who joined along with me. It led us to a hall the size of a class room but with four large tables at each corners. Each family occupied one table each and when more people arrived two families shared one table. We just displayed the items we had brought and waited as said by some of the other parents. The new comers always have a list of things with them which get lost as soon after they become students. Terry cotton shirts, Pyjama & kurtha, hockey stick, Blanco, polish, Oxford pattern shoes, baniyan, socks, underwear, needle thread and so on to every minute thing some one needs to live. (Blanco is that thing which is found only in sub junior houses and never seen at junior and senior houses except before PT competitions and Inspections). The funny thing or the most celebrated fact in sainik school is that by the time the boys passout in 12th i.e after 7 years they will be living with none of these things they bring, let alone blanco and polish.
There were six of us. Udaykrishnan, Vaishak P R, Nivesh Gupta, Vikram Singh Choker, Arun paul … Vaishak was the person who got the chance to share the table with me. The boy with a round face with his parents, uncle and a younger sister. Achan meanwhile enquired their whereabouts and soon the families became friends. We had to write the roll number on all the things that we had. Fabric paint which again something that I never saw afterwards was used for this. Vaishak and I shared my fabric paint. We also talked with the others, of which Uday was a boy who had a family history of Sainik school. His father being from one of the first batches of school and his brother an officer in Indian Army who passed out in 1996 from the same school. Vikram and Nivesh being hindiwallahs had a special attention among the others. I was seeing some hindi talking people may be for the first time in life. By this time through the window I saw a lady walking through the road towards the entrance of our house. It was Geetha miss, the matron who is considered the mother of vallatholians and veluthampians(boys of veluthampi house) in those days. I successfully completed the first checking in school and went to auditorium.
Men from office assembled there as we sat in the auditorium. A stage and a theatre like seating arrangement. I had sat there before for I wrote my sainik school entrance exam at the school and had to be seated there before the start of the exam for senior master’s guide lines before exam. The boys and the families started talking each other, everyone curious to know how the other house was.. Rohith’s mother said “ Tagore is considered the better one by seniors but still the hall looked not so good. The benches were broken.” “Vallathol is good, my cousin has told” said some one else…went on the talks….
In the meanwhile my name was called. Achan had to remit the fees and soon a file opened and a number written on it. It was 4007, the roll number a sainik school student has to carry through his entire life. Every day we use it a number of times. It’s your identity in the school, more important than your name. Again we left to house.
Lunch was arranged at the school mess. We all went to have lunch. A big building with a small garden in front. We entered the mess. The first table near the door was reserved for newcomers. Table in the broader sense but a row of tables joined lengthwise and benches arranged on either sides of the table which could occupy about sixty people facing each other. It had ample space in the middle to keep bowls of rice and water. The first meal at sainik school was fried rice, salad and mix vegetable curry (the scientific name being Veg Pulao or so).(Vegetable curry is the most ferocious curry as far as junior students are concerned because you have checking for wasting food after every meal and if you are found guilty wasting the foods you get punishments from your leaders, and most people found it difficult to dump that curry in your throat) The mess was vacant when we started eating but soon the school rushed in to have their food. But they all sat idle, not eating but talking… Soon an army man, the head master Lt Col J A Rocque arrived and the school stood up. A bell rung and a well built man with some extra fittings in his uniform when compared to the other students started saying some prayer loud in English and the whole school repeated..’O Lord’ ‘We thank Thee’….’For what we are about to receive’…., the school sat down. The head master along with the one who chanted the prayer sat in a separate table at the middle of the mess. I looked at them anxiously to see what was special with them. They ate with spoon and fork while others in the mess ate with hand. Soon we finished the food and moved out.
We waited for the boys inside to come out. Some boys came out of the mess after lunch and they started talking with achan and we walked with them towards Vallathol. They were not from Vallathol. They were from ‘PATEL’. They explained to us the house systems.” Ten houses with three categories. Seniors, juniors and sub-juniors. Seniors were the 11th and 12th. Juniors the 8th, 9th and 10th...And sub juniors were 6th and 7th”. Patel was a junior house. “Vallathol is nice, they do well in academics” said the patelian. But I didn’t even know at that time that academics meant studies. I had to listen to everyone for finally it’s my fate.
Afternoon we went on to buy the mattress and some canteen items which we had to get from the school. I ran through the house in front of my house ‘ASHOKA’. Seeing me running through house, the senior boys stood gazing at me. I smiled like a new brother who joined them. It was the next day that I learnt that the gaze was not the welcome for the brother but none other than 12th and 11th were supposed to even enter the compounds of the senior houses. If at all anyone had to, they had to get prior permission from their leaders. If anyone unknowingly stepped into the compounds he was done with.
The day went very fast. Achan and Amma finally left me by about 7pm. Slowly some feelings started cropping in. The house had two wings and two study halls. The wings were two halls which housed about 30 students each. There were two wings in vallathol- ‘Fraternity’ and ‘Liberty’ (the second thing which you never find as a junior in sainik school). I got my bed in Fraternity wing. Arun who was in the same wing of mine joined me after we both became alone. He brought some mixture packet to me and we shared it. It was the start of huge sharing experiences. The two hands which went into the mixture packets later became twenty and thirty sharing all the bit of chocolates cutting it to micro chocolates. It’s relieving to have a friend to share your emotions, but being the only child of my parents I seldom got some company at home. We talked and passed time. Only we both were in that wing and the rest of them in the other wing. No seniors were in that house for all of them had left for studies. Clock passed 8 pm and we heard the sound of an auto passing through the road outside and soon a loud voice like the howl of a lady. We rushed to the spot to see any accident occurred. Geetha miss appeared at the door of the wing and said “Put your shoes and come for dinner”. It was the Siren of the mess that we heard. We ran back and opened the new pair of shoes and socks for I wore sandals all these times. All of us were taken to mess by Geetha miss. This time parents were absent.
Thus we entered the school routine. I had read the school routine a hundred times while in house. Everyday I would take the prospectus and read the daily routine starting with Reveille-0530 hrs. And now it was the turn of dinner which happens at 0825 hrs. There was another thing mentioned in the prospectus which was called pocket money which I thought would be put in my pocket by the school once the fee is remitted but unfortunately that thing didn’t find place in my pocket.
The mood inside the mess was now different unlike when we had food with parents. Each house had a separate table. Vallathol’s place was at one corner of the mess near to veluthampi which was at the extreme end. The other students in the school arrived after us. All wore white shirt and pants. Geetha miss handed our responsibility to the senior students. The seniors were the 7th standards and they had huge bunches of weight on their heads as they have become seniors for the first time in their life. We had poori and beef that day for it was a Friday. I had vegetarian complements for beef which included vegetable curry and banana. Friday dinners and Tuesday dinners were poori and beef which is the most sought after meal in the campus. The pooris were about nine in number (although small) in my plate which was 200% more than the quantities which I used to have those days. After dinner we came out to wash our hands. A washing area where the juniors are supposed to wash. The senior washing areas are out of bounds for subjuniors. I lost the seniors who were in charge of me during the rush for washing the hands. I pleaded for help to someone whom I found there. I told him I am from vallathol. He handed me to Vinay V S(another 7th who was an amiable person) who took special care to take me back to house.
We changed dress to Pyjama and Kurtha and went for Roll call. Roll call is something where people assemble together and the head count is done by the teachers or the appointments of the house. A new teacher arrived along with Geetha miss after dinner. Mrs O.K.Supriya Rani. We call her supriya miss. Supriya miss was the maths teacher who loves all students like her children. She too had a lovely character. Supriya miss took the roll call as the house captain Benny stood by her side. She welcomed us to the house and I don’t exactly remember whether I had to introduce myself to my housemates. She then took the head count and left. After the roll call one of the seniors, Govind M R explained “ She is the master in charge of our house for the time being ‘ Assistant house master’. The actual house master is not here. He has gone to Haryana…’K R SIR’ The name sort of triggered a small thunder among the seniors in the area where we stood. All the eyes turned to govind. Pin drop silence prevailed. ”You are lucky. K R Sir is not here.” KR meant K Rajendran. ” Govind gave an account of the hectic routines of Vallatholians. When the whole school used umbrellas during rains, Vallatholians use only raincoats. It was K R Sir’s order. Like this many rules in the school were special for vallatholians. I lost half my life hearing about the beatings he gave with his cane. I don’t even remember an occasion when my father bet me. Slowly my eyes started watering the eyelids. I thought why I had fought with my parents to get this jail term. Cursed myself, trembled at the thoughts I lay quiet in the bed weaving memories of the sleeps at home. Slowly thinking all this I plunged into my sleep thus ending the first day at my Sainik school.
Vallatholians and Veluthampians
