The JNV Stories : The adult magazines and the great raid

So this is the first of many posts I am going to write on the little things at JNV, my residential school. Since the parties involved in the 'JNV Stories' may not enjoy their name appearing in them as much as I do in mentioning them, I will use initials and fake names, whenever not so good things are told.

This incident happened in 1998, when I was 12 years old. I was in the seventh class. After struggling to adapt to the strict rules and regulations at the school, I was beginning to like certain things about it, like the huge number of books available at the library, like the time we got to play football, and I was beginning to make friends (not many, I will later tell you why...). I was beginning to develop an interest for reading.

Since it was a residential school full of adolescents, who were curious about sexuality, as much as about anything else, adult magazines and mild-porn books were plenty, in the hostels. Of course, they were smuggled, mostly from the nearby town, by the senior students.
Now just like anything else that took place inside the four boys hostels at the school, the authorities were very much aware of the situation. Sometimes, they had rats among the students, who spied on the rest.

On this particular day, the Housemasters and other prominent parties (collectively referred as "The Military" from here on ) decided it was time to show 'who the bosses were'. After the Assembly, which starts at 7:15, the boys were asked to go back to the hostels. We, especially the junior students were really surprised. When we reached the small ground in front of the hostels, things became clear. A 'raid' was about to take place. 'What for ? ', we wondered, but soon, we learned from the seniors that The Military was raiding for adult materials. All the four hostels were locked up. Soon The Military arrived, and they split into groups, each group was to raid one of the hostels. The Battalion in charge of my hostel marched towards the door, and commanded the House captain to open the doors. The Battalion went to one of the big halls were my bed was also located, and began to call each one of the inmates in to do thorough checking of their belongings- beds, clothing, bags etc.

Soon we heard The Battalion shouting to the poor chap who had gone in. By this time, the boys had surrounded the windows of the hall, from where they could watch the proceedings. Minutes later, the first boy came back relieved, not because The Battalion had failed to unearth a book he had hidden, but because he had escaped without feeling hurt in body and soul. The raid gathered pace, and soon it will be my turn to face The Battalion.

I had not read any kind of adult books, before that day. I certainly did not have such material hidden among my belongings. I had nothing to be afraid of, save for the shouts from The Battalion. I decided that I will face them with real confidence.

And before I knew it, my turn arrived. I took a deep breath, and stepped in to the hall. I could spot from the door, that Mr.SP was sitting on my bed, while another member of The Battalion was already going through my belongings. I walked briskly and stood in front of Mr.SP . Little did I knew, things were about to get interesting (at least for the onlookers !).
The other member of The Battalion said Mr.SP, "There's nothing in here !". Naturally, I was relieved, "Oh God, this is going to be easier than I thought !". I looked at Mr.SP, anticipating the words "You, Go !" from him. But he turned towards me, and smiled. I smiled back, unconvincingly. This is what happened next :
Mr.SP : Sadique, Do you read books ?
Me (with lots of confidence and a smile on my face) : Yes, of course, Sir !

And then, it happened. I will remember till my last breath, the swift movement of Mr.SP's right hand creating ripples in the air, connecting with my left cheek, sending a thousand suns through my eyes, and a jolt of pain down my spine. There was a shudder among the onlookers, mostly juniors around the windows, as they struggled to muffle up the sounds escaping from their mouths. I almost fell backwards, but involuntarily regained my balance. I felt that intimidating mixture of rage and sadness, and I blurted out "Sir, I only read books that I take from the library and comics". Mr.SP trained his eyes back on me, retracting them from the onlookers near the windows, who were moving away from, in their bid to escape being 'noted' by him. He said, without any profound emotion on his face, "You should have told me earlier !". That answer had the rage and sadness in me shooting up, and I began to cry. I heard the other member of The Battalion saying, "Sadique, go out !" and I walked, blinded by the stream of tears running down my face.
The story spread in the crowd, and when I finally got outside the hostel, everyone was looking at me with sympathy. I cried a lot on that day.


Surely, Mr.SP was referring to adult books, and may be he was angered by the confidence with which I said "Yes, of course, Sir !". But I think a teacher should not getty angry with his students over such things. He should have asked me one more time. Surely, he should have practiced a little more of self control. After all, he is supposed to be a 'Teacher'.


Rest of the story:
Although The Military managed to confiscate some books, the major part of the books were taken away from the hostels by some senior students who risked serious injuries and the prospect of being caught by The Military and climbed onto the hostel buildings via pipes, while the raid was in progress. They kept the books in a wood near the hostels, and took the collection back to the hostels, once the raid was over. The boys continued enjoying the banned materials.



PS: This piece represents my outlook towards things that happened at my school. I have no intentions of hurting the feelings of any of my teachers who happen to read this. This is my opinion, and I am sure there are many others out there who have very different opinions abut life in JNV's, from mine.