O God! Save me this time...

For a school going child, homework could be a burlesque task. It was rather horrifying in the previous century. Teachers would be a hard nut to crack and often physical punishment used to be resorted to for not completing homework.

Contrary to that, students nowadays have at least the luxury of not being physically tortured and moreover they have a lot of technology at their aid to do homework.

There used to be no respite for the students studying in Navodayas as we used to be under a constant watch of our teachers. If you want to escape the punishment for a day, you have to feign sickness. Well, that too when the Nurse madam gets convinced.

Dispensary used to be an integral part of our Navodaya life. Whenever being injured or not feeling well as well when not wanting to go to school, rush to the dispensary. Even sometimes when we would need extra breakfast, we would rush to madam with some ailment and tell her that we hadn't had breakfast. then she would write a slip to the mess "Bread n Milk". (Some of the students had even perfected her writing style and signature that even madam wouldn't recognize the slips written by these experts.)

It was the day when we were asked to complete a very important assignment (subject I don't know precisely). I obviously had not completed the assignment due to inability of getting the content or lack of resources to complete the assignment. That made me feel afraid of going to school that day so I tried to stay back at hostel feigning sick. I wasn't an expert in pretending sick as Prafful or Anuj (our leaders in acting) were. So I dared not go to dispensary lest madam would send me to school. Thus I ended up remaining at the hostel unnoticed by anybody. Hostel channel gates would get closed at 8:30 a.m. When the gates were locked I came out of my hiding place, did some assignment and then amazingly dozed off. I didn't know how much did I sleep but suddenly I was woken up by one of the guards Mr. Ingole.

You must know about Mr. Ingole. He was a favourite with the teachers but a nightmare for the children. he would even many times make us feel ashamed with his banter. We would particularly try to avoid him, being as simple as we would pretend to be. Seniors were rather well acquainted with him.

Well, when I was woken up, I pretended illness to which he replied that I had been called to school by our Class Teacher. I was in dread of being reprimanded before everybody but anyhow I had to get out of the hostel so I dressed up, got some books and started for the school. There was plantation around the school and one could easily hide in that plantation. The thought flashed in my mind and instead of approaching the school my feet started towards that plantation area. After finding some bushes, I rested myself but the thought that somebody will come seeking me wouldn't leave my mind. I thought of getting out of the school boundary. There was barbed wire around the school campus so it was quitee possible to slick between the gap of those wires and get out.

Outside there was the village area and some barren land where corpses used to be cremated (It is being told that every Navodaya is built on some crematorium, I hadn't done the fact check). There was a temple beside the campus boundary. That was an ideal place to be safe because I knew that nobody would come looking for me there. But what about the class teacher? Won't I be caught the next day? These thought wouldn't leave me at all so I started praying "Oh God! Please save me this time. I won't skip the school intentionally." I wanted that my prayer should be heard I should be spared.

When the school got over, I came out of the temple and anyhow reached the hostel. When I asked one of the friends what was our class teacher asking about me, he told that he had given her information that I was sick and resting and nobody did ask for me afterwards. At last.... at last, I realised that it was a bluff that Mr. Ingole told me. But then also I thanked God for saving me. I had hearty lunch and rested for a while brooding along side that I wouldn't skip the school again.