My niece came back from school red in the face. Her usual chirpy cheerfulness was absent. There was certainly something wrong, everybody sensed.
After some coaxing she burst into tears and in a plaintive voice told us her class teacher had landed a volley of tight slaps on her cheeks.
There was pandemonium. The irate father and furious mother reached the Principal’s office to register their protest. The hyper-dynamic Principal sent for the teacher to seek an explanation. The advocate-father of my niece took recourse to his bulky law books and defended his case by quoting the latest ruling of the Supreme Court against corporal punishment.
The office of the Principal (where I was also sitting as a mute spectator) had now virtually become a court room with the culprit teacher in the dock. The alleged offender meekly submitted that the child was not minding her studies, so she had to resort to reprimand.
The charges of any physical bashing were denied by the teacher in a trembling voice. The prudent Principal, in order to propitiate the indignant patents, sternly demanded of the teacher an immediate apology.
Family victory
Now the teacher, red in the face with embarrassment, had to willy-nilly apologise to save her temporary job. It was the victory of the family, and the couple returned home satisfied.
But the whole episode took my memory back to my own school days, where the rule of the rod was prevalent. Once I stole the pencil-box of a classmate, and when the stolen article was recovered from my possession by my class teacher, I was beaten black and blue. Like my niece’s red face, my black and blue bruises told the tale and the next day my father was in the principal’s office.
In the same manner a courtroom materialised in the Principal’s office, but this time, unlike my niece’s teacher, I was the one in the dock. When my thievery was reported to my father, he too changed sides and virtually disowned his son. I can vividly recollect how in the very office of the Principal my father unleashed rebuffs on me.
Different ethos
Unlike today those days the teachers were held in high esteem and they were not deterred by any law against corporal punishment. They clung to one simple and straight belief: spare the rod and spoil the child. They were at times ruthless with the rod, but the wards under the tough tutelage imbibed a stronger sense of discipline — which is perhaps missing in most modern-age kids.
And unlike today’s parents there was hardly any intervention from the family. I am unaware of the psychological effects of physical punishment, but it was an era when the guru would rule the roost with the highest order of authority.
shiv.sethi@ymail.com