The agony of confinement

The news pervaded in the whole family and charged them with mirth. The lanky boy who was grown in stature was eulogized as a hero. His vacillating mind was imbued with numerous thoughts and planning. The news that he managed to get admission in a widely renowned senior secondary school had enraptured him.


All the reprimands had turned into blessings, slaps into fondle and condemnment into praise for the reason of his departure to the hostel. Everyone gave him little gifts and pocket money which enhanced his elation. It jarred upon him the instructions given by everyone and the long family chats.


He was delirious to fly away.Then came the morning when he in the pursuit of happiness bade adieu to his family and climbed on the bullock cart in a hurry accompanied by his father and his elder brother. The cart stopped at an obsolete building .He hastened his steps inside being completely entrenched in the strands of complacency.


His father examined the whole building, made the necessary arrangements, carried out all the procedures and then started to depart. Then suddenly the boy intuited that something went wrong. This was not what he had expected. He stood there incoherent; realizing in what imbroglio he was left behind.


He ran and held his father’s hand and pleaded him to take him with them. His father tried to appease him and averred to take him if he wished after a week or so. They went and he stood their stubborn; beholding them until they were out of sight.


Tears dropped uncontrollably from those innocent eyes. He was greatly perturbed with the diabolic thoughts that he is crammed into that disheveled captive.


During the visit his father had made acquaintance with a worker in the boarding school. He was a man with a jovial smile. He held the boy to come with him but he remained persistent lost in the melancholy strain.


When he entered the hostel at the orifice he met a boy who carried his bags and guided him to his room. There was a long corridor surrounded with room or better cells to be very precise on both side and the cacophony of boys.


He went to his room and faced the boys who were staring him with elevated brows. His morose face had broken the flow of their felicity. He occupied a vacant bed and glanced out of the window being aware of the reason of silence. Then a crackling sound broke the silence. He instantly poked inside his pocket to find the biscuit wrapper. He recalled that he had shared it with his elder brother during the journey. He gazed it for a long time with his lips gravely pursed. The mere thought of it had engendered dejection within his heart which broke out as a whine. The wrapper was preserved as the most precious treasure of the world.


The worker who was circumspect of the ominous situation experienced by the tyro took the boy with him and with a sympathetic fondle offered him the food.The tears had stopped but the pain had evolved by the passage of time.


He felt suffocation in that airy room. The idea to elope stroked him but it was moribund as the destination was beyond the reach of those tiny feet. His mind was always preoccupied with nostalgic proclivity which could be endured no more.


He used to linger outside during the night and sit near a brook spontaneously. The evocative thoughts of what will be going on at home made him emotionally charged. This was the only mode of recreation and escape from that damp place. It may sound incredulous that he was now intrepid enough to take those audacious steps. Maybe that timid heart had transformed into an unwavering one. This was probably the first change.


The intrinsic value of home was well understood by that perceptive mind.To reach back home was his only desire which had become indispensable now. Not a single class was attended by him as he had made his mind to go back home with his luggage packed ,his eyes eagerly waiting for the arrival of his father and his mind convinced to fly back home. That week spent like a millennium.

The advent of his father had exhilarated him. He listed the jeremiads to him with his voice sentimental as never before. His father mollified him and gave him the assurance that he will surely take him back at the festival. The dogged response could not change the decision of his father. He felt repulsed but still imbued with hope. After the departure of his father that fragile figure as per his lexicon went stealthily to the brook with his eyes brimming with tears. He cursed himself for fights with his brother, the tricks that he played with his sisters, the mischief he did and how he pestered his granny. He found himself in a state of oblivion; in a remorseful spirit he went inside the so called prison.


One realizes the importance of something only when he loses it. That’s human nature. We run behind things which are difficult to achieve and in the interim forgets what we have.


His absence always caused impediment in the classroom for the reason that he had never attended any. The teacher asked a student to call him. The boy came running to the terrace with some chocolates and requested him to come with. In the response he shook his head with defiance.


The dawn broke by the sparkle of sun. The most awaiting morning of his life and he was perturbed by the hindrance of the clouds. His father had arrived with a bullock cart which appeared as a chariot to him. He with his packed luggage was waiting with rain exuberance. He jumped over the cart with the greatest vigor.


The raining drops seemed to rejoice with the welcome song. He breathed the air of life from which he was deprived for the past three weeks. The intense winds and the terrific weather put a stop in the voyage. They got off and hid under a rickety and their legs pressed against the bog.


The return to home was an ecstasy. The home now appeared to him as a sumptuous place. His watery eyes were craving to see his brother, his sisters, his mother and everyone. The each and every moment that he spent with them that week he was penitent for not realizing the tremendous value of every element of his life. The eyes of his granny got wet when she noticed her frolicsome child transformed into a decorous one. Another remarkable change...


The bliss he experienced was not earthly but it didn't lasted too long. His bags were packed again. It was the greatest shock which thrilled him internally. He was nearly demented and made each and every possible attempt to convince his father but he didn’t rise to the bait and remained adamant. He thought that his son will learn to cope with the situation. He was sent back to the hostel.


This incident had deranged him.One day, He secretively walked outside the hostel and came across that rickety. The impressions of the feet were still there. By the mere touch of it he felt the presence of his father around. The old memories made him stroked him as an intense pain deep inside him. The oscillations in his life had made him completely confused. Then a injured spider caught his sight. He lifted him and kept him in his pocket. The mischievous heart had turned susceptible. The most remarkable change...


The next week his elder brother along with a neighbor came to visit him with a Tiffin with them. He begged impecuniously to them to take him away with them. They remained unanswerable. Then his brother made a deceptive promise to take him. When he came outside with his luggage the remains of the wheels were the only thing in sight.


He remained there morbid; alone with his mental torture. He moved inside enervated; gulping in the extreme despondency caused by the intrigue. He opened the Tiffin in low spirit and found lavish sweets embellished with love which was made exclusively for him but that was also preserved like other gifts.


The droning voice of the stooping teacher was echoing in the classroom. But as always his eyes were focused outside the window; engrossed in his plaintive thoughts. The flow was broken by the sound of horn of cycle. He experienced exultation blooming inside him as he had recognized that familiar sound.


The footsteps made them heard in the passage, He ran from the classroom with muzzle velocity to meet him. His father descended his eyes to him and said, “Let’s go from here”. Those words had raised his conviviality to the seventh sky. He then climbed on his flying soccer with immense zest and looked back at the boarding school in blues. He felt as if he was confined in it from time immemorial.


This incident had rejuvenated that the little boy.In the midst of night an appalling nightmare provoked him. He upraised and was propitiated by the presence of his brother sleeping beside. He went away. His hands lifted the spider from the clandestine place. The imprints had not worn out yet. He emancipated the only souvenir with deliberate glee...




---Preeti Singh (My little niece)
Based on my one month stay in Navodaya Vidyalaya when I was a 9 yr old child...