Page 95 - The English Carnival 7
P. 95

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



                                                               93
            The Englsih Carnival-8
   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100