Tuesday, March 26, 2019

The Dirty Blackboard.

           1

There was this day,
From school I recall.
The blackboard was dirty,
In our classroom small.

The monitor wouldn't clean it,
His list of duties did not have it.

The front benchers were at a loss.
"I'll do it, but only if I lose the toss".

The back benchers said
And rightly so too.
What's written there,
It's not for us, but for you.

The teacher came in,
And looked at us.
His face had,
An expression of disgust.

He looked at the monitor,
And students who stood first.
Each of them waiting,
For the other to respond first.

One boy who sat near the window,
Whom we rarely saw or heard.
Got up, picked up a rag,
Wet it with his water from his bottle,
And started to clean the board.

Where he could not reach,
He tried to jump and clean.
And in no time,
The board was shining and had a sheen.

The teacher smiled,
It was a new high.
The monitor was relieved,
And heaved a sigh.

The front benchers,
Re-sharpened pencils for the test.
The back benchers expectedly,
Went back to what they did best.

The moment had passed,
The class went on.
The boy who sat next to the window,
Went again into oblivion.

             2

In one of the school groups,
After the boisterousness settled to a low.....
I posted a question.
What happened to the boy,
Who sat next to the window.

I don't know, most said
He doesn't keep in touch.
He probably joined the Armed Forces
We have not heard from him so much.

'He' called me the other day,
Wished me and said he was where.
I reminded him about the dirty blackboard,
And he told me some stories there.

So, what do you do every day, I asked,
"It's a job," he said, "I do it each day".
"When I'm not fighting a war,
I'm, in some way, preparing for war".

What is it likr, I persisted,
Did he ever get bored.
Was he rich or poor,
Was he happy or sad.

He said, "It was a choice I made,
Life has been much like the fountainhead.
I still clean the 'The Dirty Blackboard',
Of my own accord".


Tailpiece.

Got up at our usual time, went through the chores and were ready by a quarter past 8. After a sumptuous breakfast of Rema's idlis and sambar, we'd kicked off for home by about a quarter to 9. We were back at 'The Quarterdeck' much before 11 and set about opening up the house, unpacking.

Enjoyed the drive of about a 190 km - up and down and the first after the layoff caused by the jaundice - thoroughly.   







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