Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman !

My pre matriculate period was marked by frequent change of school and I got a chance to study in  both English and local vernacular medium schools which has left a trail of happy memories with me...

One of the memorable incident happened when I had come back from The Gambia, West Africa and joined 9th Standard in a local English Medium School in Cuttack..

We had a great English teacher who was a retired person from a reputed English medium school. This gentleman was in to his late 70s but still came to teach us due to his passion and interest in teaching... He introduced us to the realm of serious English literature while he taught us Shakespeare, poem by famous poets and short stories ( all part of our board exam curriculum) with such skills and expertise that we would eagerly look forward to his class each day. His theatrical expression, ability to connect with the students, knowledge of the subject made him a dear teacher to everybody...

Once he was teaching us the famous poem "She Walks in Beauty" by P.B Shelly where the poet goes on to describe the beauty of a female face though flowery comparison and similes...

Pre-lunch he started the poem but by lunch time was only half way through it (what with his detailed explanation of each words of the poem and its real and poetic meaning). He promised to finish the session with his usual question and answer session for the students at the end of the poem...

One of my dear friend by the name Raju had special tiffin that day during lunch as his mother had prepared special food for him as it was his sister's birthday. The lunch consisted of  special preparation (from home) of rice, sambar, chutney with rice cake... Being a food lover he could not resist and had a bellyful of the same without sharing any of it with us. We were surprised as usually Raju was a very jovial guy and shared most of his tiffin with us which we also reciprocated.. But no Sir ! today was different as we watched helplessly Raju devouring the entire stuff in glee...

Post lunch, as is the common experience world wide, is a drowsy affair to say the least... God may have mercy on the teacher who has a post lunch class as you would require more than study matter to keep the students awake (what else could keep them awake... Now that I have awakened your imagination, happy hunting...) Anyways coming back to the main point, that afternoon session, to my memory, was the drowsiest of all the classes that I can remember... Sir was at his lowest spirit due to the heavy lunch and somehow managed to complete the poem... By that time most of the people were already dozing asleep and/or dozing...

Sir started his usual question answer session and Raju by that time has started his afternoon slumber somewhere near the back seat with strict instruction (as usual) for us to wake him up if there was an emergency.. But peeved like we were in his non cooperation in sharing that tasty heavenly food, we decided to make it an exception that day..

Before I come to the last part of the story I must tell you that Raju was one of the favourite of Sir in the class...

In the flow of the session. Sir innocently directed a question at Raju being unable to see Raju clearly due to his (Sir's) failing eye sight; ( he also was considered very Innocent by Sir) thus:

"Beta Raju, now tell me what are the dark features (meaning hair) on a woman's face" Raju , busy in his slumber, did not respond to him and as he (Sir) was repeating it for the 2nd time someone from the fairer sex in the class nudged him ( as is the wont of the fairer sex to be always fair.. ;) no pun intended)...

He suddenly awoke with a start, barely heard the questions and started answering the question assuming the face in question to be his face ( you know how stupid we can become when we suddenly start from the sleep and try to act immediately.. get the picture.. right...)

So read on the fun part for rest of the conversation:

"Hair" Said Raju

"Good" Said Sir

"Eyebrow" Said Raju

"Very Good" Said Sir

"Eye Lashes" Said Raju

"Excellent" Said Sir

"Moustache" Said Raju

Sir was dumbstruck... It was as if a lightning has stuck him.. and that too from his favourite student..

The whole class was laughing uproariously by now... Thats when  when came the final parting shot....

"Beard - which can be partial in case of french beard or full as in beard kept by sadhus" Said Raju showing off his prowess in the way he can go to details in depth...

All of us were laughing holding our bellies and ready to roll on the floor and die laughing...

Sir's face was a face seen to believed... He was livid with rage and started trembling (showing his pale false teeth which was fitting poorly)... In a fit of anger he left our class vowing never to return again...

A few days later we heard Raju has also gone missing and his parent discovered him at some Ashram in West Bengal where he had taken diksha to become a sage... Though he came back (with the "beard" and all) but again we heard he ran off vowing never to return.. Nor did Sir....