The gang leader
My new school was just three miles away from my remote village.My village was a small one and it had nearly one hundred families.Most of the villagers were farmers and they were very poor.Bycycles and bullock carts were the modes of transport.There was no electricity for our village.My father was a farmer who admitted me to sixth standard in that school.Our village students went to school on foot as a gang of twenty members.I also joined them.Samy was our gang leader and he was the most senior boy of our gang.He was very troublesome.He was bullying and body shaming the other boys of our gang.He nick-named the other students as temple bull Selvam, stammering mouth Ramesh, twisted -mouthed Doss and brahmin child Babu.Most of our gang members very much afraid of him.So they obeyed the orders of the leader.Usually we assembled at a place in the village at 8.30 and reached the school at 9.30.The one hour walkable time of us was the worst time for the villagers.The gang stole the fruits like tamarind, guava, mango and wood apples from the neighbouring gardens of the villagers.The villagers called the gang a monkey's squad.While we were going to school,we killed the water snakes,frogs dragon flies and garden lizards like the Amazon ants which killed and destroyed the living insects on their way.The South -West monsoon rain started early in that year.The roads were more slippery.One day we were going to school, we came across the linemen who laid the electric posts on the side of the road.The next day our gang leader ordered us to take the electric posts and put them across the road.He also said that it was a protest against the government for not laying a pucca road for us.As per the advice of our leader we took the electric posts and put them across the road.Then we went to school fast.In the morning interval , some linemen were talking to our physical education teacher in the play ground.Our head master and the physical education teacher were very strict and good disciplinarians.We were very much afraid of their meeting.In the lunch interval our gang members were assembled near the toilet of our school.Our leader ordered us not to reveal the truth.He warned us that if anyone would tell the truth,he would be punished by him.We promised him not to reveal the truth.After sometime the peon of our school called the students of our village.He asked us to assemble in the play ground.The head master and the physical education teacher came and stood before us.They called one by one and asked who had done the worst thing of putting the electric posts across the road.No one opened their mouths.All the students refused and they said they didn't know about it.The head master warned all the students and he said that he would find the exact culprit , he would issue a transfer certificate for him.He shouted angrily and asked us to disperse at once.Then we went to our class rooms.The gang activities continued even on Saturday and Sunday.One day our gang leader didn't come to school and the gang was led by twisted -mouthed Doss.In the evening, we came to know that our leader's father had died a snake bite.On those days, the farmers were dying by the snake bite in common.We visited his hut.His father was the only earning member of the family.So our leader was not able to continue his studies.Anyhow, the gang activities were continued by the emerging gang leader, twisted -mouthed Doss.
Comments