The day
all students look forward to-the day before vacations. The beginning of
holidays. Tempting. In my school, there is a 15 day long holiday each year for
Diwali. Diwali, the "festival of lights", is a Hindu festival celebrated in autumn. It signifies the victory of good over evil.
October 17, 2014 was the last day of
the school before the Diwali vacations. The teachers had asked the students to
bring some snacks for a Diwali party for this day. It was the first time we had
heard the word ‘party’ from the teachers. In the morning of the particular day,
I sure was pretty excited. I reached school. Everyone looked normal. The party
was going to be held in the last period of the day. Till then, we had to study.
Finally, the wait was over. The last
period came, and we officially declared ourselves free from studies for a
fortnight. As soon as the bell rung marking the beginning of the last period,
all students who had brought snacks opened their packets of chips and other
stuff. They started sharing their snacks. A nice, friendly atmosphere was
created. I liked it. Our class teacher came into the class and exclaimed, “Hey
everyone! Started without me?” Before we could respond, someone called her from
outside, so she left.
Now things started to get a little
bit ‘polluted’. Snack wrappers were lying everywhere. I should tell you,
unknowingly I even sat on one. My friend Gautam and I were eating our snacks
and passing our time, waiting for the last bell for the day. The next thing
that happened was certainly not expected by me. Rain started to pour down in
the class in a horizontal direction coming from somewhere behind me. I took
about 2 seconds to process the thought, during which I completely got soaked.
Instinctively, I looked behind. Three guys were emptying their carbonated soft
drink bottles on the rest of us.
I shouted one word “Hey!” and bolted
to my left to avoid the drinks. They kept on emptying their bottles and
swirled them at full speed. God. Two of them were spraying on the two groups
formed at the left and right sides of the class, while one sprayed in the
center, where only Gautam and I were sitting. Then, out of nowhere, the class
teacher marched into the class and stared right into their eyes. They dropped
their bottles on the floor. The teacher was extremely angry with them. Poor
guys, last day celebration ruined. Still, there should be some limits on the
way you party.
People of my class tried to cheer our
class teacher up. I hadn’t seen our teacher angry ever before. The whole class
had become sticky with the drink. The teacher finally gave in and started
giving sweets to all. She tried to take things into her own hands. She tried her
best to organize a song game. But the game was a total failure. The children
made groups and sang their own songs in the loudest voice they could. Their way
of enjoyment. Not mine. Gautam and I quietly sat in our places. Within moments,
two large groups were formed around us-one immediately in front of us, the
other right behind us.
I didn’t get it. It seemed like we
were the kings of the class while the others sang to us. The only problem I had
was that the songs weren’t melodious at all. In fact, they were causing some
serious noise pollution. It didn’t feel nice. The Central Pollution Control
Board had to be notified. I seriously wanted to get out of there. But the
stadium was jam-packed. I wasn’t able to move a muscle. I felt like curling
myself into a ball. I felt helpless, to be precise. Then a great personality of
our class yelled my name and asked me to sing. That was the last thing I had
thought of doing that day. All started to shout my name. Come on. Everyone
looked at me with big round eyes. Now, what did they expect me to do? Although
I was enjoying all the attention, they ultimately got bored of asking me and
started singing their songs again.
The bell rang. Holidays! The moment
every student of my school was waiting for. Finally, the period got over. A few of us felt relieved, while others wanted
to continue the party forever. Each person was telling the other, “Happy
Diwali, my friend!” We literally ran down to the ground towards the buses. This
was probably the first time I had experienced a real school party.
- Manas Trivedi
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