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| Big B, Stickman, Loony Lawyer, Langra Tyagi, Mario |
Five men,
from very different backgrounds amalgamated into the student council at Don
Bosco Park Circus: Goan, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Gujarati, a little bit of
Bengali, and a hint of Portuguese: it was all there.
Led by Big
B - who famously had veto power - Langra Tyagi, Stickman, Loony Lawyer and
Mario donned this responsibility daily. Four men, who had four different houses
to lead every day, with one prefect to rule them all.
And that is
where the fun began.
Fun: more
so in the final year of our three year tenure, in Grade XII between 2010 and
2011. The last hurrah for high school students: made frightening by the
impending board exams. Or so the authorities thought.
Exams were
the last thing that we worried about. After all, there are plenty of
opportunities to pass or fail exams in the future, there’s four years of
college for all that. But there was only going to be one opportunity to
enjoy life as a student council member.
“You only get one shot, do not miss your
chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime”
Bosco Fest
2010 was looming, and it was our time to shine. After two years of seeing how
it’s done, there was our chance to go one better. Like the Fest motto, we had a
“Vision, Venture and a Victory.” Our motto as the council, I’d like to think,
was simple: to have as much fun as possible, having fun while having fun!
Confused? Don’t be.
Picture
five guys in uniform – shirts, trousers, ties, the whole nine yards – who hated
the idea of sitting in class from more than 20 minutes at a stretch. Five guys
who’d rather do something else. Anything! So when Bosco Fest drew near, we
found our something else.
“Legalized
bunking!”
Yes folks, six
hours or more (lunch break not included) spent in the school library working. On
occasion, it was six hours or more loitering around the school corridors,
looking important.
What work
you ask?
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| "Work" |
“Welcome to
class, staying for long?”
Arguably
the best phrase we’d heard during our tenure as the student council. Such was
our reputation. We were never in class, yet somehow got our school work
done on time.
"I maintain, we may not have been the flashiest or
statistically, the most successful council ever, but we sure as hell were the
funniest," words from the great Langra Tyagi while reminiscing over a
famed ‘phone’ incident in the Vice Principal’s office.
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| Call me Maybe? |
"Hello father. Oh, it's you boys!" - Utter that phrase to any one of us - Langra Tyagi, Loony Lawyer or Mario in particular - and I guarantee, you'll get a laugh out of us.
There was this other event that still makes us smile. It was
in grade XI. Ruskin Bond, the famed Indian author of British origin, was at
school to address students between grades VI and VII.
Of course, being the famous council that we were, all fifteen
of us, volunteered to maintain the crowd during this two hour
tête-à-tête. Fifteen guys patrolling the middle schoolers like shepherds
tending their flocks, all for a chance to meet Mr. Bond.
Upstairs in our respective classes physics, math, and commerce was being taught, with not one care in the world from us. We had our
priorities.
Other priorities.
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| Priorities |
Another memory that still lingers fresh, involves our insatiable appetite for adventure. We were those guys who ordered pizzas to the school. Customer name: 'The Council.' Address: 'Don Bosco Park Circus.' If you're wondering whether Dominos delivers to high schools, wonder no more. They do. Or at least they did. That was some experience - pepperoni, olives, mushrooms - the works.
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| Delivered Hot and Fresh in 30 minutes |
Did we have
fun? You bet.
Would we go
back and relive those days? In a heartbeat.
Such was
our love to the school, we’d gained a reputation. A reputation that we would
somehow be able to work magic and get people out of trouble.
For
instance, and I won’t go naming names, we had to somehow get ‘class skipping’
leave sanctioned, on multiple occasions, hours after the skipping in question had occurred. And
yes, in case you’re wondering, we succeeded - every single time.
In fact, trying to get week long written leave for ourselves sanctioned by our vice
principal was a topic of discussion, to 'save paper.' It didn’t work, but golly
we still got our daily leave sanctioned, promptly before 9 o'clock. Sanctioned to the degree where the
phrase "Allow the Five Musketeers to Work in the Library" was used on one instance.
Yes folks,
our vice principal called us musketeers. It was the greatest thing ever.
So now as I
look back on those glorious days, I can’t help but want to relive them over
again. College and life has plenty to offer us, but nothing matches the
exuberance that high school had to offer. We were young, we were carefree.
But more importantly, we were family.
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| A picture is worth a thousand words |
But more importantly, we were family.
We had each others backs and we battled against each other for the House Cup. In the end Stickman walked away with the House Cup. Langra Tyagi walked away with the
sports trophy.
But in
truth, we were all winners.
When sports day came around, we were among the lucky group of council members
who got a chance to march with the school flags. That was the icing on
the cake. Sports days occurred every other year, so there were council members who never got the chance to march with the school flags.
But not us.
But not us.
You’d think
we had a tough job as council members, it was quite the opposite. Being part of
a fantastic batch of students that graduated in 2011 was the real reason for our
success. Quizzers, debaters, athletes, musicians, dancers – we had a talented
bunch all around with plenty of reserves.
So it was no surprise when Don Bosco romped to victories in various city-school
fests: Xuberance, Odyssey, Boscotsav, the Jubilee Quiz, Bosco Fest, Concord, even the prestigious Frank Anthony Memorial All India Debate – it was a combined team effort and
when push came to shove, we gave it all for our school.
“And the
first place trophy goes to… Don Bosco School, Park Circus.”
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| The Spoils of War |
As a council member, it was an honour to lead and be led by this group.
I could
have asked for a lot more in life, but couldn't have asked for a better group
of guys to graduate alongside. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing,
remember, Don Bosco Park Circus Class of 2011: “We were a class apart!”
“Let it roll, baby, roll
Let it roll, all night long”
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| Etched Forever |
