Back to Routine

It’s back to routine school day after two days’ holiday and excitement. Republic Day is over and the children are now looking forward to “basant panchami” or “Saraswati Puja”. But I had to announce today that we will not be having the picnic after all. First of all, the weather is foul. It was quite misty and cold till about 10:00 am. Also, I explained that we should not have all the fun at one go! We’ve just celebrated Republic Day. Next we celebrate “basant panchami” with puja, prasad and prize for those who did well in their exams. And prizes for all in the form of the school caps. So we will defer the picnic for another day when the weather is nice and sunny and warm. The children seemed to agree with this. We’ll have picnic some other day. Perhaps when the “palas” trees are in full bloom!
About the caps. I told the children that it would be part of their uniform because it has “Baba Gyan Mandir” written on it. They are to treat it with respect. And they also have to “buy” it for Re 1. This is because we don’t want to give anything for free. I asked them if it would be a problem, they were unanimous in saying that it wouldn’t be a problem. After some initial quizzical looks, the volunteers too understood the thought behind charging one Rupee for a cap.
Life was usual otherwise. The masons have finished repairing the last building. It’s looking good. The windows need to be put in place. But that can’t be done till they are brought back from the welders. A couple of hinges had come off and so we are replacing them. And also reversing the panels. These are iron windows and earlier they used to open inward. We now want them to open outward so that there’s more space in the room. They should have been ready today, but the welder had gone off to Godda and so will only work on it tomorrow. We hope to have them back by tomorrow evening and so the windows are going to be put in the day after.
Once the windows are in place, Balai can start whitewashing the building and also paint the windows. They are already rusty from exposure to the elements. A coat of paint will save them. I am trying to figure out a way of fixing the windows in the volunteers’ rooms. They too are made of iron and at least four of six require some repair. Removing them would be a costly affair and no welder is willing to bring his machine here. I’m trying to figure out a way of fixing them without removing them. Seems impossible at the moment. But I’m sure I’ll find a way.
Bhola is on the bus back from Kolkata. He’s picked up the hats and the puzzles that Simha left behind at Mitali’s place. I asked him of the trip was tiring. He said he thoroughly enjoyed it. That’s nice to hear. Next send him, I’ll send Bansi and perhaps a couple of school kids with him. No one (including Bansi) has visited Kolkata! It’s time they went and saw what city life is like. In Kolkata, Bhola visited the National Museum, the Victoria Memorial and the Birla Planetarium. Great! Now he knows where to take the kids. I have an itinerary they could follow. But let’s take one step at a time!
Bhabesh Pandit came this morning for the 3rd time in two days to ask if I will admit his nephew Amit in shool. For the third time I said no! This afternoon, his sister came to see me and I refused to see her. I asked Bansi to tell her that I don’t wish to talk about this at all. Why am I being so harsh? Well, here’s the background: When admissions were on, Bhabesh said his nephew Amit was out of town and would be back in a couple of days and could I please reserve a place for him. I agreed. That was about a month ago! Then there was no news from Bhabesh. He met Bansi several times and his neice, son and daughter come to school every day and yet he did not deem it fit to inform us about what happened to his nephew who was to join. Now suddenly, he has woken up to the fact that his nephew needs an education! This boy Amit was already studying in our school. They suddenly, without even informing us why, he stopped coming to school. Later we found out that he had gone away to Punjab to study. And it seems now he is back.
Well, I have decided to take the boy back and I have reserved a place for him. But I don’t like Bhabesh’s attitude. He seems to think that just because he had once taught in this school for a month, he is entitled to special treatment. Yesterday in my speech I said that I will have one rule for everyone. So how can I have a different set of rules for him? I also want him to realize that he just can’t walk in any time and expect me to comply with his request. To be honest, I am making him run around. It’s nasty and I am feeling bad about it – which is why I am writing about it. But that’s how things are done here. If I give in too easily, he will think I’m a push-over. But if he runs around a few times he will treat the school with more respect.
I just remembered an incident to illustrate this. But I’ll save it for another blog post....