(A fictional story adapted from my friend @rn@b K@r's narration of an actual incident but with a twist in the end. Read further to find what it is..)
It happened maybe 10 years before. It was a boarding school and I had been put there for 3 years now. A school that will supposedly teach the children discipline, independent living and social skills, among other things, that the parents think they cannot teach their kids themselves or have no time for it.
Teenage is a very tricky period in life. We always tend to do things that we are not supposed to do. The urge is even more when we receive specific instructions of what we should not do. Our ego takes another beating when they say some things are outside our boundaries. 'Seriously? I am sufficiently grown up to understand what is right and what is wrong. You don't have to teach me that. Stay away from drawing my boundaries' is what our rebellious side will want to say and 'As you please pa (ma)' will what most of us eventually end up saying revealing our obedient side for fear of punishments or expectation of rewards.
But, discipline, morality and honesty should all be defined when there is nobody to monitor. For, if there is someone watching over we tend to be actors and never ourselves. So, boarding schools somehow is believed to inculcate discipline in students when what it may actually be doing is produce actors who may continue to act as the situation demands.
Yet 10 years before, I did not think of all these. It all happened in one night, a span of few hours to be more particular but the seeds were laid days in advance. The preparations had to be precise. The kids were up against watchful adults and the thought was "There is no way we must be caught by them, Our details have to be by the minute".
The task was relatively simple. Two of the seniors plan on watching an evening show of Devdas and return to the school. But the challenges were many. Students were not supposed to be outside the school premises without prior permission (and there is no way a permission will be given for watching a movie), students have to be present for a roll call that happens around 10 PM every night, the movie was 3 hours long and the show does not end before 9:45 PM, the theater is about 3 kms from the boarding school and last but not the least there will be guards watching the fence.
As I said, the preparations must have begun days before. Tables became unusually crowded during lunch and other meals and will fall into silence or meaningless cooked up fights when authorities walk by. The best place for gathering information is the mess, be it for the kids or the adults in corporate offices. "We must show them that their rules are useless", quipped one. "Show them what we are capable of" purred another. "Nasty rascals, are we? Show them .." I saw a security entering the mess and closing on the group.. "Sachin .. Oh Man, he is unbelievable", exclaimed one, presumably the watcher, and quickly diverted everyone. "Is Sachin going to help you in studies? Eat fast and all of you get back to your homework! Dirty brats!" yelled the security, unsuccessfully trying to expend a few fat calories by yelling, before heading to get his plate full. Though I was not part of the gang, my trained ears picked their conversation.
The thought was brewing. The team grew in number, drawing shocking 'What's first' from the new members before it drew more 'Aha's.
I heard that there were teams appointed to distract security at various points. A survey was conducted to see which security and how many of them guard each side of the fence and at what times. Somehow it was found out that there was only one security on the northern fence around 6 PM. A quick mapping told me that the northern gate is 3.5 kms from the theater (vs 3) but is less risky to handle with just one security.
The plan was taking shape... The D-day arrived. The seniors got ready. They had bag packs! Maybe snacks for the movie? A team of two started digging the lawn in a corner of our dormitory. They panicked when the security saw them, tried their best to hide and close the pit as the security approached them. They tried to hold their position without any chaos and engaged the security for no less than 5 mins. After a while they finally revealed that one of them was trying to plant their teeth based on the belief of his friend's grandmother. When demanded they frenetically searched for the (non-existent) tooth on the ground wasting more time. The key here was to find a boy who had recently lost a tooth and there was one! During this drama the seniors had reached the fence without any fuss. Added to this, maybe just in case the plan failed, there was a second team on standby which was prepared to burn scrap papers and presumably when caught later would reveal that they were burning test papers with poor scores. Surely, both plans would not fail at the same time.
Now for the way back from the escapade. There were twin advantages here. The cover of darkness and the cover of tall grass. But the grass being dry they will definitely hurt themselves if they try to crawl. So, they had come up with the list of things to be backpacked. A mosquito net to cover the head and face, an old pair of socks to cover the hands to help in crawling, what else but faded jeans and a hooded dark full sleeve sweatshirt. All obviously dark colors to help in camouflaging. The security usually sat on a single table and played cards and it wasn't too difficult to evade them in the night. Their choice of the table (one in each of the three dorms) was random but it was signaled to the seniors at the last moment by means of a torch light, so that they could avoid that direction.
The roll call usually happens sharp at 10 and there were plans in place to cover the just in case possibility of the escapade delays. The first one was proxy. The dorm was pretty big and allowed for this but could be very risky if the warden catches the proxies sneaking. The second was of course the bathroom cum stomach upset reason. So, the bathrooms were locked from the inside (they were open at the top you see) with taps open. Making a proxy sleep was another loose plan and there were many other not so tight and random plans. The plans themselves were not fool proof but designed to create confusion to delay the roll call and increase the time for seniors just in case. But, in the end they crawled their way to safety and made it just in time.
Despite their best efforts I could see bruises on their hands and some mud spots on their pants, perhaps they did not have time to change. But I could see the relief mixed with fear in their faces. I glanced at them once again after the roll call. A sense of accomplishment now was running through their face, their entire body language had lifted up. The dorm that night celebrated the success. Hardly anyone must have slept after the roll call. The movie description, the murmurs, the tooth fairy stories, the dog chase, the auto fight, the stories would have continued as the night rolled on....
The thought was brewing. The team grew in number, drawing shocking 'What's first' from the new members before it drew more 'Aha's.
I heard that there were teams appointed to distract security at various points. A survey was conducted to see which security and how many of them guard each side of the fence and at what times. Somehow it was found out that there was only one security on the northern fence around 6 PM. A quick mapping told me that the northern gate is 3.5 kms from the theater (vs 3) but is less risky to handle with just one security.
The plan was taking shape... The D-day arrived. The seniors got ready. They had bag packs! Maybe snacks for the movie? A team of two started digging the lawn in a corner of our dormitory. They panicked when the security saw them, tried their best to hide and close the pit as the security approached them. They tried to hold their position without any chaos and engaged the security for no less than 5 mins. After a while they finally revealed that one of them was trying to plant their teeth based on the belief of his friend's grandmother. When demanded they frenetically searched for the (non-existent) tooth on the ground wasting more time. The key here was to find a boy who had recently lost a tooth and there was one! During this drama the seniors had reached the fence without any fuss. Added to this, maybe just in case the plan failed, there was a second team on standby which was prepared to burn scrap papers and presumably when caught later would reveal that they were burning test papers with poor scores. Surely, both plans would not fail at the same time.
Now for the way back from the escapade. There were twin advantages here. The cover of darkness and the cover of tall grass. But the grass being dry they will definitely hurt themselves if they try to crawl. So, they had come up with the list of things to be backpacked. A mosquito net to cover the head and face, an old pair of socks to cover the hands to help in crawling, what else but faded jeans and a hooded dark full sleeve sweatshirt. All obviously dark colors to help in camouflaging. The security usually sat on a single table and played cards and it wasn't too difficult to evade them in the night. Their choice of the table (one in each of the three dorms) was random but it was signaled to the seniors at the last moment by means of a torch light, so that they could avoid that direction.
The roll call usually happens sharp at 10 and there were plans in place to cover the just in case possibility of the escapade delays. The first one was proxy. The dorm was pretty big and allowed for this but could be very risky if the warden catches the proxies sneaking. The second was of course the bathroom cum stomach upset reason. So, the bathrooms were locked from the inside (they were open at the top you see) with taps open. Making a proxy sleep was another loose plan and there were many other not so tight and random plans. The plans themselves were not fool proof but designed to create confusion to delay the roll call and increase the time for seniors just in case. But, in the end they crawled their way to safety and made it just in time.
Despite their best efforts I could see bruises on their hands and some mud spots on their pants, perhaps they did not have time to change. But I could see the relief mixed with fear in their faces. I glanced at them once again after the roll call. A sense of accomplishment now was running through their face, their entire body language had lifted up. The dorm that night celebrated the success. Hardly anyone must have slept after the roll call. The movie description, the murmurs, the tooth fairy stories, the dog chase, the auto fight, the stories would have continued as the night rolled on....
As a warden, I could at least let these kids enjoy their small but significant achievement! What say?
