Page 95 - The English Carnival 7
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the addition ‘You are the son of a dog if
you don’t answer this,’ and pushed it across.
Rajam hissed into Swaminathan’s face, ‘You
scoundrel, don’t disturb me,’ and crumpled
the letter.
Further progress was stopped.
‘Swaminathan, stand up,’ said the teacher.
Swaminathan stood up faithfully.
‘What is Lisbon famous for?’ asked the teacher.
Swaminathan hesitated and ventured, ‘For
being the capital of Spain.’
The teacher bit his moustache and fired a
second question, ‘What do you know about
the Indian climate?’
‘It is hot in summer and cold in winter.’
‘Stand up on the bench!’ roared the teacher.
And Swaminathan stood up without protest.
He was glad that he was given this supposedly
degrading punishment instead of the cane.
The teacher resumed his lessons: Africa
was a land of forests., Nile was the most
important river there. Did they understand? What did he say? He selected someone from
the first bench to answer this question. (Nile was the most important river in Africa,
the boy answered promptly, and the teacher was satisfied.) What was Nile? (The most
important river in Africa, a boy answered with alacrity and was instantly snubbed for
it, for he had to learn not to answer before he was asked to.) Silence. Silence. Why was
there such a lot of noise in the class? Let them go on making & noise and they would
get a clean, big zero in the examination. He would see to that.
Swaminathan paid no attention to the rest of the lessons. His mind began to wander.
Standing on the bench, he stood well over the whole class. He could see so many heads,
and he classified them according to the caps: there were four red caps, twenty-five Gandhi
caps, ten fur caps, and so on.
When the work for the day was over, Swaminathan, Mani, and Rajam, adjourned to a
secluded spot to say what was in their minds. Swaminathan stood between them and
acted as the medium of communication. They were so close that they could have heard
each other even if they had spoken in whispers. But it was a matter of form between
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The Englsih Carnival-8