The angel at school
In my very early days at school I was a problem child. I was a cause of concern for both my parents and teachers. The other kids in school were smarter than me and way ahead. When I spoke, nobody understood what I was saying.
We had two breaks in Nursery and Preparatory. One was a tiffin break, and I don’t remember what the other break was for. My mother would pack a jam sandwich and two glucose toffees for me to have during the tiffin break.
When the bell rang, the ayyas (female school attendants) would take us children to the loo and then take us all to the part of the school playground bordering the school. We would all be made to sit on a long concrete platform or else under a peepal tree. Our tiffin boxes would be opened one by one. The ayyas fed some of us but not all of us. The other children had to eat themselves.
For some reason, the ayyas would ignore me. At times, they wouldn’t open my tiffin box even. I would sit with a blank look, tiffin box on my lap. This went on for some time. I would return home with my tiffin intact. My mother would complain to my father and my father would scare me saying a man carrying a big sack would put me inside and take me away. He would refer to the man as “Boom boom gongo” (gongo translates to stranger in Konkani). “Eat your food. Do not get it back. If you get it back Boom boom gongo will take you away in his sack,” my father would warn. I would give my father a frightened look and I would always believe what he said. The image that I created in my mind was of a huge man with fuzzy hair and blood shot eyes. After some time, I would start crying. My mother would then console me with a toy.
I never really knew what to do during tiffin break. On most days, my tiffin box would never be opened and I would always sit with a blank look. One day, an angelic looking boy came and sat beside me, opened my tiffin box and started hand-feeding me. He left after I completely finished my sandwich and the two glucose toffees. And he continued coming for days together and continued the practice of feeding me. I don’t remember how long he kept coming. Maybe, till school closed for the long Christmas vacation?
I kept seeing the angelic looking boy now and then. He would give me a sweet smile and I would smile back at him. I never spoke to him even once. Between him and me, it was just a language of smiles.
The angel was two or three years senior to me. I kept running into him for a few years and then completely forgot about him. In later years, I would remember him now and then.
Of late, I often think of him. My memories of him feeding me and his out-of-the-world smile remain etched in my mind. How I wish I knew him better. Sigh!
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