August 15, Independence day was approaching. Preparation for the national festival was all over the school, I was in class 4. A shy, small, lean but mischievous kid. Annoying the bullies and meddling with them was my favorite pastime. Sneaking through the class as soon as the recess bell rang. Skipping stairs, running in corridors, poking people with rubber, making up stories was a part of school chores. Obviously, studying was the least favorite thing.
A week before Independence Day, students, teachers, non-teaching staff everyone was busy with different errands — reciting national anthem, practising cultural dance, coordinating for march past etc. Quizzes, debates, drawing and many more competitions were organized. Just like me, no one wanted to attend classes. I tried my hands on a general knowledge quiz but answered several questions wrong, verdict — not selected. Then the choir, I mispronounced a word in the stanza, I was kicked. Debating and dancing never interested me. Only option left was participating in the parade. It was closest related to the ground activity, perhaps sports. And definitely better than sitting in class.
Of the 8 classes of 40 minutes each, we spent the last 6 classes on ground practising the march past, perfecting the leg moment, arm rotation, keeping the head straight, saluting the flag but mostly fun. We traveled with a ball in a bag. We used to run or play with the ball or hide and seek or just roaming the theater hall or intruding on the stage preparation. Often we were scolded for being late. But modern problems require modern solutions. We used to keep a water bottle with us all the time and whenever our teacher asked us where we were, the water bottle rescued us.
Next was the teacher’s move. They found a solution to deal with the problem. What’s better than a competition between units. There were five units to depict the colors of the flag — Saffron, white, blue for chakra then white and then green. Believe me, teachers are pure genius. They followed the infamous ‘divide and rule’ policy to add aesthetics to the parade. They suggested whichever unit will look coordinated and more disciplined will get an award. It was the misuse of our innocence. Our head boy led the parade with a flagpole in hands and sharpness in his eyes.
Rehearsals were done. It was August 14, we were all distributed with colored wrist bands to make up for the depicted flag color. Finally, the day had come, Independence Day. We were in school enjoying the patriotic songs on speakers. The ceremony started with our parade. All the marchers were dressed in white colored uniforms and an allocated wrist band. The troops were giving their best to win. But in that smear moment as I glanced through the parade it looked beautiful. A perfect symphony.
Marchers sat down as the ceremony progressed. Patriot dance, skits, speeches everything was amazing. But we, marchers, were waiting for the award ceremony. We were waiting to know whose battalion was the best. Award after award, the ceremony ended. In that utter moment, we felt as if we were cheated. The hard work did not go in vain. We had a lot of fun and the laddoos. Period