Kazhak memoirs - Part 3

After an adventurous bath, we put on our uniform and rush for Breakfast. This is one thing that i did with sense of great pride. Our uniform is of typical military genre, the khakhis with a maroon berret. The shirt has flaps on the shoulders decorated with the house-coloured shoulder tabs on which is pinned the metal "SSKZM" shined with 'Brasso'. The belt and the shoe well-shined. Now, I stand in front of the life-size mirror over which is written "AM I SMART?". I pose this question to myself and always get answed in affirmative. On wednesdays, we look smarter with steel-grey pants, white full-sleeved shirt and our school tie. I still remember the day, in the first week of my kazhak days, when i learnt to knot my tie from a good friend Mani Kuruvilla. I owe him my gratitude.

Every morning, before i leave for breakfast, this is the important thing I do. The bed is to be neatly made and the mosquito net is to neatly stretched and folded without any visible wrinkles. A representative of the house captain makes a note of any intolerances. The last five to reach the breakfast table will be meeting the sergeant after lunch.

7.30 - 7.40 - Breakfast

Mess
In the mess, there are ten long dining tables for the ten houses. The housemaster sits at one end with the leaders sitting beside him. The cadets sit on either side of the tables, with food already served in the plates. Bowls of dishes and curries keep moving from one end to the other.

The breakfast begins after a small prayer "O Lord, we thank thee, for what You' ve given us". I never have complains on breakfast except on thursdays (Idlis - thou not that bad, it makes me think of the 'mallipoo' idlies my mom makes). I was very much comfortable with bread n eggs (served 3 or 4 times a week). We finish the breakfast with another small prayer and fallout in front of the house, to march towards the academic block.

8.00 - 10.30 AM and 10.45 AM - 1.30 PM – Classes
The academic block is about 5-10 minutes march from the houses. My experiences in the classroom have been cherishable and I shall give an exclusive account of them on a different occasion.

Assembly
Assemblies are conducted on Mondays, wednesdays and fridays before the classes begin. All cadets and faculty assemble in the auditorium (We had a wonderful auditorium to accommodate about 700) presided by the principal or the headmaster. The assembly session will be conducted by the senior cadets in turns, in order of the Roll No. The assembly begins with the school choir marching into the podium for the school songs. I cherish the moments I sang in the choir, coz i never got to sing on-stage after that. After the recitation of the school songs in English, sanskrit and malayalam, two senior cadets will deliver speeches on a topic given to them, a day in advance. Most often, they are well-prepared and well-delivered. Some are truly exemplary. Then, two cadets spotted randomly from the audience by the principal, come on stage and deliver their comments on the speeches delivered. This is a mechanism to keep people stay alert. Most often those picked to comment, will be those who were found dozing. The principal, then delivers his address and we conclude the session with the National Anthem.

10.30 - 10.45 AM - we rush to the mess for a cup of tea and a few biscuits.

1.30 PM - Lunch.
One thing that i didn’t like at that time, was to finish of the food. Punishment was awaiting those who didn’t complete what was served on plate. Boys usually put the dishes they don’t like on another fellows plate. There will always be a taker, for whom that dish is one among favorites. Usually boys make good deals on the dining table. "you take my cabbage today, i ll take ur 'Aviyal' tomorrow" ; "Take this slice of bread, I ll give you one poori, sunday morning"....
2.00 - 4.00 Pm - Extra-curricular/Hobbies/Library
This is the time to relax but I don’t usually get the full 120 mins. I always hav a 'meeting after lunch' with my captain. Usually i get a couple of rounds around the house or one hour night study. Then, rush to the library pick up a hidden book. Our library had a very good collection of books. I think i browsed thru every Enid Blyton, Franklin W.Dixon, on the racks. Those days, the 'world-famous' series of books were quite popular. It gave a great deal of information on various titles - Adventures, mysteries, spies, ghosts, assassinations, speeches,.... I loved the place and time spent, immensely.
I don’t remember taking a nap after lunch. Instead, other interesting events always kept us busy. We had well organized wrestling tournaments on the ring made by putting together a few cots. Its always better for puny little boy like me to don the role of a referee than dare participate n get thrashed black n blue.
4.00 - 4.15 Pm – Tea

4.30 - Evening parade
We assemble in front of the house in our sports attire – Blue shorts and house-colored vests. Parade is conducted.
4.40 - 6.00 – Sports
I don’t hav the count of the football and hockey grounds that our school had. I can tell u, it is adventurous to get to those football grounds farthest from the parade ground. The space is mammoth for sports in sskzm. I regret not having used them to the fullest. I did play every game available. But it was cricket more often, than any other. I recollect getting a handful of wickets with my slow off-spinners. Also have been thrashed for a couple of maximums.
6.45 - 8.30 Pm - Study in classrooms
Supervised study in academic block. My best way to kill time is to open the English book and read it cover-to-cover. I wud’ve read them over a hundred times during the academic year. I can still cherish memories of Somerset Maugham’s short story “The Luncheon”, where
‘the author recognizes a woman with whom he had lunch years ago. He starts remembering the unforgettable evening. He was young, living in Paris, and could barely make ends meet. She had read one of his books and wrote to congratulate him on his work. He invited her for lunch and to his horror she chose an expensive restaurant. He had only eighty francs to last him the rest of the month. She ordered one expensive dish after another and when the bill came he paid and was left with no money at all. However, in the end, the narrator feels that he has finally had his revenge when he sees that the woman now weighs twenty-one stone (approximately 300 pounds).’
My first poetry also was the outcome of attempts to kill time during these hours.

8.30 - 8.50 – Dinner – usually good and nothing much to complain

9.00 – 10.00 pm – Study in House study halls
Most eyes in the study hall will usually be found heavy and drooping. One best way to stay awake was to slap mosquitoes and increment the count.

10:15 – Roll call in the presence of the Housemaster
The housemaster and his family lived in the floor above the dormitory. They dorms are designed in such a manner that the master can always monitor exercise control and assist cadets, sitting atop. He comes down every night for roll call. Issues, if any, are brought to his notice.

10:30 – Lights off
These were days in my life, when I flew to heaven, the moment I got inside my mosquito net. The lost gift of innocence.


------------------------memoirs to continue.......