I'm Mike, an educator with 45 years in classrooms and school leadership, from India to the UAE. This

Thursday, 10 April 2014

ABout 25 odd years ago............................................

Have been meaning to write this for some years now but always wondered if I would ever find closure to this topic .
Lets come right to the point .
Had been in Bishops since 2001 and had taught hundreds of boys - NO PROBLEM.
And then suddenly one night probably in the late 80's - early  90's  ( Not sure now ) it happened .
At about midnight we heard motorcycles on the race course road adjoining Bishops .
 About 3 or 4 and a car too came speeding down the road = probably from the Khaun Rd side .
There were a few boys and they shouted and abused and drove away.( usually 3 or 4 boys )
This happened for a few weeks - I would get up and look down - could not make out who there were - Cowards obviously !
A few school peons and myself waited near the gate for a few days thereafter  but they never showed up.
A few weeks later there they were again- the usual time was between midnight and 2 am - owls indeed.
Then started the stones and half bricks being hurled at my window and the dormitory- the bricks and stones reached halfway and smashed panes in the Biology lab below my house . The abuse got worse- and yes it was directed to me and the school and Mr Roberts .
It was in English , Hindi and probably Marathi as well - could not make out details but it was pure venom.
It carried on during the summer vacation and on one occasion I happened to be awake and thought I recognized a boy ................... it was a hunch and I was never sure .
What I was definite about was that they came down Khaun road - in a fiat !
They or one of them lived there .............................
The matter was reported to the police as well .
One night a car was caught doing tricks on the road ------------- it was not them !
The news got out that the cops and a number of us were waiting for them night after night and that did the trick..............
And then it stopped - no bikes and no cars ever came again. Or if they did they did not make their presence felt .
It had been a painful experience - very disturbing , extremely annoying and oh so rude and vulgar.
They were Bishopites and that I was sure about . What type of Bishopites ? The worst .
It happened just after the board exams - April-  May . Obviously relief and euphoria had taken over and so they had time on their hands and mischief on their brains - if they had any !
The culprits would be about 40 years old by now - maybe on my Facebook as well.
Are you reading this and wondering why you did it?
Do you feel guilty ?
Do you know that if your half  brick had reached my window it would have smashed the pane and probably injured me and the family .
Did it make you feel good  at that time?
What frustration made you do it ?
Did someone set you up ?
I am quite sure I know who you are .
Would love to hear from you .................... are you man enough to come forward and make peace ?
That is the question .
( If anyone else has any clue I would be happy to hear from you ?
Boarders of that year will recollect this story and be in a position to verify the contents .
Cheers and no hard feelings guys
Boys will be boys I guess ...........

2 comments:

atul sasane said...

Boys err, can't hang them for rape: Mulayam
You fretting about pelting stones?
Not supporting either.....

http://toi.in/cly4fY

Sameer said...

Disturbing and upsetting. I passed out in 89. Cannot think of anyone in my class who had such a strong grudge towards you sir, or Mr Roberts. "Pure venom", "maybe on my facebook" , a very candid post. At 40 i am sure they feel the shame.
Thank you for sharing, must have been difficult to write.