The rules of the game

After I returned from the hospital, I didn't have to wait too long before I had my first brush with seniority at SSP. At around 12 am, the entire Patel House freshers were ordered to get down and stand in a queue at the back of the house. A typical queue would be in 'threes' with the shorter kids in the front. Suddenly our House Captain Arup Ghosh came out from his room and asked us to be on our knees, and start haunching (leaping like frogs). We were all jumping, and after around 10 minutes of haunching, we were asked as to who had kept a certain cheat abusing his classmate, Siddhartha, in the dustbin!! He seemed to be pretty sure about the guy was among the freshers. I had no clue what was going on as I had spent the last few days before with high fever in the hospital. I asked for an excuse, and the Arup'da was kind enough to leave me.


This episode continued for the next few days in the week. At times it was haunching; sometimes it was vaulting, or just kneeling down for 30 minutes. We as a batch had really no clue why should anyone keep an abusive cheat for a senior. But it was probably just for fun to acclimatize the boys into SSP mode.


Everyday after the dinner, it became a kind of routine for the next two months for the Class VII seniors to teach and train us on the SSP manners, etiquettes and parades followed by frequent tests and obvious punishments if one dared to divulge a bit from the norms listed out.


Like any other group with mix of baddies and goodies, there were few notorious seniors too from each class, notable one being Subhadeep from class VII whose elder brother also happened to be in class XI in the same house. So he had a bit of liberty to fool around others. He used to frequent our rooms and repeat his trademark dialogue "Bloody you'll face the consequences after DP (Durga Puja)". So we had an unwritten timeline set to mould ourselves as per SSP norms.


While class VI was excused from many of the rules, class VII was unofficially known as the servers of the school. Well, this server has got nothing to do with the server in this computing age, but it reflected that class VII was the slave of the school. It was their duty to get waters, milk, rice, dal and whatever fancy that was caught by the seniors. And if failed, the consequences at times used to be severe.


In the Dining Hall, we had the rules whereby class VII from each house used to act as Serving Boys for a day for that house. So a typical game of serving used to be something like this:

- As soon as the school bell rang, run to the dining hall at the earliest. If the door is open, serve the rice on the plates of the respective house boys, and pile up the empty rice bowls at the counter. If the door is closed, try to be at the first so that you can beat the other house servers in reaching the counter to get rice for your house cadets.

- Once the rice bowls are refilled, place them again on the tables and wait for seniors to call you and ask for rice or dal or vegetables. So while others enjoyed their food, the servers were supposed to just wait till everyone finishes. Else if the Prefects or House Captains were kind enough they would allow the servers to have food once they feel that the remaining house boys didn't need certain stuffs.


The Dining etiquettes were true to the manners followed at the Defence Institutions. Upon entering the hall, the students would stand against their seats without touching the food. Once everyone is in, the School Captain would strike the glass on the table thrice and the entire hall would go into a silence - we called it Grace. Then the Captain would pray by saying "Thank God for what we are going to receive!” Soon after, the guys would pull their respective chairs to sit and tart having food. Upon completion, people would again wait for such a 'grace', and this time it was "Thank God for what we have received!” If anyone had failed to finish the food in the stipulated time, he was supposed to seek permission from his seniors (preferably Prefect or House Captain) to continue having his food.


Like any other institutions, we had our days of celebrations like Republic Days, Independence Days and several other Indian religious occasions whereby we were served with special foods. Independence Days used to be special coz' it was the Class XI seniors who used to serve the food at the Dining Halls.


Among the most memorable instances, one of the most happening used to be the snack times. The day's 'Server' was supposed to collect snacks from the Dining Hall and place it on the bed of every fellow housemate. Few were the days when people could actually collect their respective snacks from their beds, for obvious reasons. Any at times one would be lucky, he would collect the snacks of the entire house and have fun with his fellow friends.

A typical day for Purulion

"Aain yaar, abi tak so rah hai.. PT whistle maar raha hai aur yeh bachhe abi so rah hai.. Get up.. Get up fast yaar" - Those were the thundering wake up calls along with the bashings with NCC sticks by our Mathai Sir.

Hurriedly I woke up from the bed only to realise that I was away from my home and parents, and the time was 5 in the morning. I had just 10 minutes to get ready and stand in the queue. Few boys were already standing, and the House Prefect was there too. The mosquito net was dumped into the small cubicle under the cupboard, dressed myself for the PT with a pair of white shorts, baniyan and a pair of white jogging shoes, ran to the toilet.. Oops! Too much rush! Somehow managed to brush and answer the nature calls, and there I am.. Late by 3 minutes! The Prefect was kind enough to allow me to stand in the queue. I felt relieved.

After the necessary roll call, we started running to the PT field. There used to be two separate divisions in each house - Junior Division (Class VI to IX) and Senior Division (Class X to XII). Every single activity was similar to that of any Military Troop led by a Commander - in our case it used to be the House Captain. At the PT field, the attendance had to be communicated to the School Captain who in turn reported the same to the House Masters, who again reported it to the Head Master (A Military Officer in the rank of a Major). Given the hierarchy that was being followed, we were used to the similar ranking systems within the student communities. Some of those specific rules were:

i) Seniors were addressed as 'Sir'. However, once boys completed an year at the School, they were allowed to call their 'immediate' seniors by their names. Every Class VI boy used to be eager to call their immediate seniors by their names.

ii) Juniors were not allowed to peep / see through the windows / doors of any room occupied by seniors.

iii) Juniors should bend their heads down when they see their seniors getting punished.

iv) Junior Division guys should always 'March' their way to school and back, while the Senior Division guys were allowed to take the short-cut. A slight deviation invited punishment either in the form of Haunching, Vaulting, Running, or Parades on the road.

A typical PT would comprise of a run around the PT field or upto the nearby Lotus Pond and back covering around 3-4 kms, free hand exercises, followed by games provided the PT teacher was keen to issue the balls. After an hour of PT, the PT teacher would blow the whistle whereby every student was supposed to stand still at the spot where he was standing. The teacher would then seek permission from the seniormost person in the field to end the session, and if allowed, he would again blow the whistle which marked the end of PT for the day.

We would come back, take bath and again get ready for the school at 7.30 am. The school dress from Monday to Friday was Khaki shirt and shorts, a Black broad leather Belt with a shining Buckle with a SSP logo on it. The flaps on the shoulder would have coloured leafs - Maroon reflected my house. Navy blue stocking replaced the normal socks, while shoes were mainly from the Bata. On Saturdays, it was pure white uniform like that of a Naval Officer.

At school, each of the seven periods were of 40 minute duration. We used to have break for breakfast after the second period, and a tea break after fourth period. After breakfast, the students gathered at the Quadrangle within the school premises for a Prayer, News Reading, Elocution and Quizzes by every house, finally to end with the National Anthem.

After school, we used to 'march' again to the Dining Hall for Lunch. Every student had a designated seat for having food which was designed to have a mix of students from every class in a table.

Food at SSP, well, if I look back was really not bad! We used to have French Toasts, Boiled Egg, Bread, Butter, Jam, Maltova/Tea/Coffee/Milk, Omlettes, Fries for breakfast; Mutton, Chicken, Egg, wonderful Curries, Dal and Rice for Lunch and Dinner. Saturday was special with the 'English Dinner' served with Custard, Bread, Boiled Vegetables, Chicken and Vegetable Chops.

After the lunch, there used to be some freetime before Games at 4.30 pm. There were wider choice of games available like Basketball, Football, Tennis, Squash, Volleyball, Hockey, Cricket, Table Tennis etc etc. Formal and informal competitions between houses, classes were very regular, though I was never too much involved in games.

On Thurdays, we used to have NCC Parades in place of Games.

The evening 'Prep' started at 6 pm for the next 2 hours. The dress code was again like an Air Force Officer with Steel Grey trouser and Sky Blue shirt, with a School Tie.

Aftef the Prep, we used to come back to the Dining Hall for Dinner followed by some private studies and sleep to end the day.

There have been innumerable occasions during my stay at SSP which I can only keep in my memories and cherish the moments. I will be writing about them slowly as and when I recapitulate.

Day One @ SSP

It was around 5.30 pm when my parents left. I composed myself and tried to cook up a conversation with Budha. He seemed to be a really well mannered good boy, and was from a place close to my hometown. My cousin Rajuda helped me out with the marker to write my Roll No. on the collar of every dress so that Dhobi doesn't misplace them during the wash - after all there were around 600 resident students with similar dresses.

At around 7.30 pm, the Mess bell rang for Dinner. It being a Saturday, the Dinner was scheduled an hour before the normal time. I tied my shoe lace and came out of my room. The noise from the neighbouring B3 occupied by Class VII boys caught my attention and I took the liberty of just looking through the window while walking down the corridor, and there came an order, "Hey you, come here". I walked into the room without seeking any permission, stood in front of the angry looking guy, and Thud!! A hard slap on my face greeted me 'Welcome to Sainik School Purulia!!'. I was left searching for an expression and was still trying to figure out the reason of that physical abuse, and a series of questions confronted me, "Why were you looking through the window? Why did you not seek permission before entering a seniors' room? Have you not been trained in manners at SSP? What is your name? When did you join? Did you attend todays' Parade?" etc etc.

Before I could speak, a senior bailed me out by saying that my cousin Rajuda is his close friend. Suddenly, the same senior who slapped me changed his mood and tried to pacify and be friendly with me. I was just standing speechless wondering what was in store for me in the days to come! He introduced himself as Avinash Verma from Jamshedpur, a Class XI student and the Prefect of the House. We started moving towards the Mess, and on the way he kept telling me about the numerous rules and regulations that needs to be followed within the SSP premises, and one worth noting being 'One class senior is God, a class junior is Dog!'

I sat on a chair next to him, occasionally sobbing and could somehow manage to finish my Dinner. After dinner, I changed to sleeping suit and started waiting for everyone to sleep. New boys were busy arranging their cupboards, showing off their Hockey Sticks and other playing items to their new friends. It was 10 pm when the Hostel Superintendent Mr. Mathai visited the room with a NCC stick in his hand and a scary face and said, "Aain yaar, make sure you switch off the room lights at 10.30, else you'll see the fun".

The day ended, but I remember waking up next in the Hospital. Whatever be the reason, high temperature gripped me that night and my cousin had admitted me to the school hospital.

Sainik School Purulia

It was during the month of July 1990 when I entered Sainik School Purulia (SSP), as a small boy of 11 years. Never did I (nor my parents) had expected that I would be able to withstand the rigours and complete my schooling in a Military School. I was always a shy guy with minimum friends, and my brush with other institutions before this was not too pleasurable one. At Bharat Scouts, someone had offered a Beedi to me, while I didn't quite like the teaching method at the Art school. So with all probablity, my Dad had expected me to be back at home within an year.

Schooling at Ramakrishna Missions and the likes had its own craze during those years. More so, when I have a father who himself had spent his school days away from home since he was a class IV kid, I had no other acceptable excuses to put forth. Mission schools didn't allow me an entry due to their high standards (one being, one had to prepare oneself for the curriculum of class VIII if one wanted a seat for class VI), but Sainik School somehow found a probable Defence Cadet within me. I have failed to figure out where did they go wrong even during their medical rounds after the interview as for so many years, I was grossly underweight, if not malnourished.

Joga (aka Joydeep) - my childhood friend also joined me at the infamous SSP. But he was supposed to report 3 days late. The initial list of items to be brought from home was an extensive one. Even the size of the trunk was specified to the second decimal! We both got them made and purchased all other stationaries, dresses, and sport kits (Hockey Stick, Soccer Spikes, Shoes). On the day of admission, I met Billi (aka Subhasish) at Adra railway station who also turned out to be a very good friend during my stay for seven long years. Every new joinee at SSP could be distinctly identitfed by the Hockey Stick and the Trunk.

After the initial formalities, I was alotted the roll number 2181 (which became my identity for the rest of my stay at SSP - Qaidi number 2181), Patel House, room no B2, under the supervision of Mr. PJ Mathai - the Hostel Superintendent. A typical room had 14 beds with wooden cupboards and beds separated by one foot space. I was lucky to get the window beside me. The boy next to me Budha (Budhaditya Das) was always busy reading novels.

Slowly, the room got occupied by 14 boys, and the House by 28 boys, B1 being the other room for freshers. Parents left me in a sad (rather confused) state of mind wondering how to stay so far away from parents who were allowed to meet their kids only once a month during the second Sunday! Tears didn't come out of my eyes, neither did I break down morally, but I was definitely sad and to certain extent afraid looking at the 'seniors' who were in a kind of mood to bully the kiddos. Parents left me at the house, and I kept staring at them till they were not visible to my eyes.

In the subsequent posts, I will narrate my experiences at the school - both the memorable ones and the unpleasurable ones. However, looking back, I personally feel every child should spend a substantial portion of life in a military environment. It helps the kid to be self dependent, to respect others irrespective of their social standings in their opinion and views, to live the life with bare minimum necessities, and above all, to live a life with dignity and willingness to do something good away from chasing materialistic pleasures.