Leaving the bag at the edge of the ground, he ran towards the line. “Who else can stand on a raised platform above all the teachers and even the principal, survey all the children gathered on the ground with one wide glance or incredibly appear immediately at every scene of mischief? And, he communicates in such a large, booming voice and gives strict punishment for having fun in what is rightly a serious business.”
Morning assemblies were always a serious affair.
Once again he was late, which was perfectly normal for him. He reached school only after the prayer had finished with the exercises just going to start. From the end of the line, where the tallest boys of the class stood, and thus from where he could not see the drills, he sneaked up, one boy by one, then halfway ahead the line, greeted his bench mate on the route and gradually weaved his way forward to the front of the class, assembled in stiff attention.
And then, with the beat of the drum, he danced.
Or he thought of it as a dance. He had seen Saif Ali Khan’s steps in a song of ‘Ashiq Aawara’ last evening and mixed them with MJ moonwalking on MTV. Instead of the left right, left right, left right command of the god mentioned above, he imitated a hybrid of these two dance steps, amusing his class and school mates alike.
He loved it when he made people smile.
Fourteen years later, as he was getting ready for the office today, late by an hour, which still is perfectly normal for him; he overheard the assembly drills being conducted at the govt. school, just across the boundary wall of the ‘single story’ apartments he stays in these days.
And while all this came flooding by, he remembered God as a benevolent Physical Training Instructor who despite being present everywhere, seeing, hearing everything and punishing errant tasks strictly, was somehow kind to him, and even let him do his little jigs at the front of the class 9th B, assembled for the morning prayers.
And then, with the beat of the drum, he danced the same dance, once again.
17 comments:
:-)
I would have liked to see your dance.
Thanks for reminding us the small(big) things of our school days.
Give love to Dee.
:-) to the nice PTI in our lives!
Same as cuckoo ...
I would have "loved" to see your dance :)
GBU
Arti
as i had said before i liked the message conveyed and the style a lot
alok
I thot it was going to be a very serious post .. thats the way you commenced it. I have also learnt dance fr 8 years... and I am really thinking about refreshing my knowledge in this art.
I would like to see the dance too!
u reminded me my school days..hi adi bhai kaise ho..
n btw e chore zara nach ke dikha ;)
the eternal dance.....
of innocence in mischiefs, of fleeting memories, so brief,
of kind masters of universe,
and the world rehearse,
the eternal dance;
of habits and routine,
of dreams pristine,
of puppeteers who create,
and the forms celebrate,
the eternal dance;
of smiles and tears,
of receding fears,
of the "I" that prays,
and the world sways,in,
the eternal dance...
love, an eternal dance.
Lovely story, Adi. Dance away!!
Thanks for visiting me and your kind comments.
yeah, i used to get beaten by a cane....cos i was in the second trip of the school van, so the driver invariably used to get late.
dance... just dance. love the piece... and love D's response to it as well... beautiful poem that on the eternal dance... take care.
Reminds of the old school days...
dude some moron hacked my url while i was on a break....i'll appreciate if you can change the link on your blog...
tc
ha ha ! loved the recollection and the manner of it !!
ah ha ..the only dance there is.
Adi
Did u get to see Aaja Nachle with D?
ok Adi
here is a dance for you
from Farafallina ~ it's so cute!
www.youtube.com/watch/v/byj_y0E0ktQ
love this how are you?
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