How much do you owe?

 How much do you owe? 

The boarders in Bishops were forever short of cash.

Although their parents ' banked' money with the Dormitory incharge , they were only permitted 5 - 10 rupees a week unless they could justify a larger sum to buy a book etc. 

Now they were always hungry as well, as most kids are . 

There was only one solution ' eat now and promise to pay later'- something like a PDC . 

There were three outlets for this.

The Ice cream man.

The School tuck shop of Mr Donoghue.

Manji ,the vada  pav seller .

All three were in high demand.

There were some boys who smuggled in money as well, and I knew who they were .  They paid school support staff to go and buy eatables for them at night. 

Others had relatives and friends who they managed to coax to send them food. Some brought in food when returning after the weekend .

Others used the age old ' eat now and pay later method'.

The bills were usually cleared by MOST  of the boarders either on the last day of term when their parents came to pick them up, or on the first day of term ,when being  dropped back to the boarding.

This worked well for all stakeholders for years I guess . 

Bishops is well over 150 years old. 

Some parents lamented on how big the bills were ! Even 100 rupees was quite a large sum back in the 80's and 90's.

The reason for large bills was kindness and generosity.

Most of the boarders were kind , generous guys with a large friends circle . Hence if you went to eat an ice cream, you often had to buy one or two for friends. 

Some boys hung around these areas and begged friends to buy them an item or two or just ' mucked into one samosa or whatever. Some were satisfied with one lick of an ice cream too! 

Some senior boys were offered eatables by juniors as well- as a sort of bribe. 

Let me tell you that some of the biggest customers were the day scholars, who always had money in their pockets . However they too had a running bill with these vendors / stalls.

Whether you were rich or poor ,there was always a day when your money was over and you wanted to eat- so typical !.

So tell me - how many of you boys had a ' bill' with the Tuck shop , the Ice cream man  and Manji and more importantly how many either ran off without paying, or just forgot to clear that last bill?

Let me add- a few parents believed that their sons also took cash loans from all three sellers and put it down in the bill !

So speak up .

PS- Some boys had bills with the bhutta and guava sellers at the gate too .( Thanks Hasanali Sura  for this info)

( Share this story with your wife and kids )

Where did you pray

 Bishop's boarders were a class apart.

In order to galavant on Sunday , be out with friends, have a meal or just see the girls - Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Sikh boys visited temples, mosques and churches and gurudwaras. 

No,not only their own places of worship, but each others too! 

It didn't matter in the least. They went where their heart took them that day and all returned smiling and with satisfied stomachs. 

They went out on Permit, supposedly to the house of their local guardian, but were often found elsewhere .

Often the Master on duty had to explain to guardians that the missing boy had probably left school with a fake guardian , such was their ingenuity. 

Faking signatures and producing letters from parents and guardians who never wrote them was their forte.

One poor uncle popped into school after 6 months to see his nephew. He told me that the whole family had been out of India for 6 months.  However, records proved that the nephew had visited him every week!.

Where they went, who they went with, who picked them up from schhol , who wrote those  letters remained a mystery .

Those were simple and  safe days.

No one was kidnapped and no one went missing . No parents complained of neglect. 

I know some of you will read this and relate these incidents to your wives and kids. 

Please also tell them that you were naughty boys. That most of you never studied enough and were often in trouble. 

But tell them this too - that the staff loved you and the boarding taught you plenty .