Surprise-surprise! Muthu was actually waiting for school to reopen. Hecould not believe it.
When school was on, he couldbarely get through the week and make itto Sundays. And here he was, despite his exciting summer vacation to Mumbai,pining for school!
As he reflected on why he wanted to get back to school, his first thought was thathe looked forward to meeting with school friends other than his two inseparable pals-Bala and Jones.
He missed sharing lunch with all hisfriends under the shade of the trees. Ofcourse, unexpected things did happen oncein a while as you sat under the trees - the little bird on the tree decided to answernature's call, making your tiffin box herpotty. Then, you could always grab a bitefrom your friends' tiffi n boxes. And ofcourse, supplement it with a stick-ice and roasted peanuts that the vendors sold nearthe school gate.
Why, he even missed standing inthe prayer assembly each morning andrepeating loudly after the Head Boy 'allmen and women are my brothers and sisters’and adding in an under-breath ‘except one’.After all, he had plans to get married whenhe grew up.
He longed for the sound of the bellannouncing that a period was over allowinghim to smuggle in snatches of conversation before the next teacher entered the class. It was like the sweet dish which follows after eating what mothers term 'good for you'.
He wanted to rush out during the short interval and run around playing catch in the corridors and the playground.
He also wanted hockey coaching to resume, what with his having scored the winning goal the last time around. He hoped he would be able to grab the best seat in the class- in the middle row- the last and the first rows attracted too much attention from the teachers.
