Aperçu du sujet
In the empty classroom Miss Alvarez’s high heels echoed sharply as she descended the platform and shook hands. “I’m sorry to make you come all the way, Mr. Chenoy, but it’s quite a serious matter.” Jehangir lingered in the corridor outside, and she called him in. “I still find it
In the empty classroom Miss Alvarez’s high heels echoed sharply as she descended the platform and shook hands. “I’m sorry to make you come all the way, Mr. Chenoy, but it’s quite a serious matter.” Jehangir lingered in the corridor outside, and she called him in. “I still find it hard to believe that my best student was involved with those other boys,” she started reluctantly. 5 Yezad smiled, wondering what sort of mischief the youngsters had been up to, part of him pleased that Jehangir was in it with his peers. No sense being goody-goody all the time. Childhood, boyhood wasn’t complete if the rascals didn’t get into trouble. He’d been the same, during his own years in this school … And the classrooms had hardly changed. Rows of empty desks stretched behind Miss Alvarez, he 10 could see them over her shoulder. That schoolboy smell of sweat and youthfulness and foodstuffs was in the air, ammoniac, mingled with traces of ink, snacktime biscuits, lunchtime sandwiches, puribhaji, ragdaa patties. Permeating everything, occupying the room as solidly as the furniture, a timeless smell … Suddenly, Yezad’s own youth was upon him. Memory began to populate the empty benches with 15 faces from the past. Those happy days, when a week of school was a lifetime, rich and complete; in a week, strangers might become dear friends, battles could be lost and won, whole kingdoms acquired, for time worked differently then. How slowly the seasons changed then – from one monsoon to another seemed an eternity, the skies pouring endless rain, the only bright spot the chance of a holiday if the roads got flooded. 20 “So you see, Mr. Chenoy, it’s my most important project,” said Miss Alvarez. His name pulled him back into the present – she was talking about Homework Monitoring. He remembered Jehangir explaining it at Nariman’s birthday party. Barely four months ago …seemed so much longer … He faked a concerned nod: “It sounds very interesting.” 25 “And I had such high hopes for the class. But now I have to suspend the project. You see, three boys who didn’t do their homework gave money to the Monitor to get good marks.” Jehangir scrutinized his father’s shoes, his own, and Miss Alvarez’s, which revealed her toes, each crowned with a lovely little ruby. Then the tears made his eyes blurry, and the rubies became one long