Sainik School Bhubaneswar, please don’t lose your shape, sheen, shine and soul!
The day is indelibly etched in my memory. The year was 1994. The aluminium trunk was new. The hockey stick was cheap, but as per specification. Socks checked. Underwear checked. Handkerchiefs checked. White canvas shoes checked. Everything was put inside the trunk, as per the joining instructions. In fact, most of it was done by the young lad himself. The 10 year old kid was getting restless. He just could not wait any longer to get inside the gates of Sainik School Bhubaneswar (SSB). His elder brother, already a SSB student and four years senior to him, gave a “you don’t know what you are getting yourself into kid” smirk. The young lad ignored it in a bout of enthusiasm. It will take another 2 to 3 days for him to understand the meaning behind that smirk.
Waking up to a loud siren at 5 am was not something he was familiar with and nor was it easy to acclimatize to. Everything had to be done by the young lad himself and within the prescribed time limit. Non-conformance led to punishments; not just from teachers but seniors as well. And punishments came at the drop of a hat and in different shapes and sizes: Murga position, chair position, walking on the knees, bending down, push ups, front roll, and back roll to name a few. Some seniors felt they could put their palms and hockey sticks to better use. ** Ragging was not banned back then and to great extent thank god that it was not ** It was as if teachers and seniors were sadists, taking pleasure in punishing young innocent kids wherever and whenever they could. Some kind soul might have thought that the kids should be spared of this wretched life for the first year at least. The two junior houses, namely Yamuna and Krishna housed these young chickens. After the end of the first year, they would be sent to the other 8 senior houses by draw of lots where, the rogues (seniors) waited to devour the kids: skin them and burn at stake. By quirk of fate, the movement to senior house got postponed by a year for that kid but it did eventually come. Heavens above chose him to be a Godavarian but life at the school seemed like hell. How he wished someone bombed the school building (sparing the other buildings) to smithereens.
The kid repeatedly begged and pleaded to his mother for mercy as his Dad would just not listen. Each plea was assuaged by a false promise that by next year the kid will be taken out of the school. That next year did not come for the next four years. The only respite for the kid was “booking out” Sundays. Boy, how much he looked forward to them. Twice every month the kid would have his 10 hours of “freedom” from the “jail”, as he thought so, and do whatever he liked, outside the school premises. As days went by, the kid accepted his fate and also the rigmarole of schooling. Few just could not take it and as each year passed by, the class strength dwindled. He counted his days and once he got the opportunity to move out of the school after class-X, he was one happy kid. Totally oblivious to the fact that many years later he would miss these very days that he despised so much as a student. The sadist seniors that he promised to himself to avenge outside the school would be greeted with smiles and hugs in the future. His other batch mates aka chuddy-buddies, and irrespective of their houses/hostels, would become his good friends for life. He is glad that he could make it till class-x. Another two years at the school would have been good as well, but no regrets on that front.
The name of that student is junior A K Nayak. His elder brother was senior A K Nayak back then. He is also one of the few lucky ones or rather unlucky ones who did not earn a nickname. A senior had tried that by calling him “Chuha”, owing to his diminutive stature but it did not catch up with others. Congratulations to all those students and teachers (yes, every teacher also had one and they knew it) who could “earn” one. You are the chosen ones.
Admission to SSB was competitive back then. I don’t know what it is like right now. My father was a happy man when I had cracked the entrance and interview. He wanted to make his two sons commissioned officers in the Armed forces and SSB was the stepping stone. After all, the motto of all Sainik Schools is to prepare young boys for NDA. At least one of his sons would go on to fulfill that dream. The other son, the young lad of this story, would lose interest in the forces after few selection board rejections and after many years would finally find his true calling in something else. “I” also give up on SSB. Every now and then I would bump into some of my batch mates, juniors and seniors. But the idea of going back to school never ignited any interest in me. All of it changed after I attended the OBA meet-up in 2017. There was something special about the meeting that year. That year, I met few of my mates after 17 years and the vivid memories came back. It was not a flashback; it was a 70 mm movie. Damn! I remembered everyone’s school numbers. In an era where people do not see a need for remembering mobile numbers we had memorized school numbers of other students, for no useful reason off course. Few still take pride in remembering them. I for one do.
I have studied in 11 educational institutes so far (hoping to make it 12 one day) but NO other institution evokes such a strong sense of nostalgia and a sense of camaraderie for my batch mates like SSB. No other institution has given me so much. It has taken 20 years for me to realise that memories are not created inside class-rooms, but outside of it. SSB gave us many such moments. It will take books to list them all. SSB also unleashed the hidden talents of people. It was here that I realised that I could sing. Not that I was Sonu Nigam but I was a decent talent. The eureka moment had come when a senior called me for ragging and asked me to sing, and for some strange but good reasons, I chose to sing “Ole ole” from Yeh Dillagi”. The news quickly spread out that there is this new kid who can sing. From then onwards each ragging session involved singing. I would be the person standing in front of the microphone singing group songs for inter-house dramatics competitions and school’s annual functions. Sadly, I lost my voice during adolescence. I also learned that I could stroke the painting brush. One of my proud moments was in class-x when my painting of the Titanic, which had just released then, bagged me a prize in the senior’s category, outshining pretty damn good artists from class-xi and xii. Though there were many other self-revelations I should stop now. The point I am trying to make is that SSB’s atmosphere was conducive to giving wings to creativity. It taught us valuable life lessons: useful tricks to deal with uncertain nature of our lives. It also gave us a strong sense of belonging. We may have left the school but still feel we belong there. I seriously doubt any other educational institution can boast of an alumni network as strong as the OBA of Sainik Schools. The credit to all this should go to the eco-system of the school.
But I guess someone is sapping oxygen out of that ecosystem. I seriously doubt that the future generations will have the same feelings for their alma mater. My third OBA meet was disheartening. Things are changing and changing fast. Change is inevitable and it is good to keep up with the changing times but in doing so the school should not forget the values it once stood for. It should not imitate other schools. In the pursuit of academic excellence it should not lose its shape, sheen, shine and soul. No one remembers what percentage of marks people scored in class-x and class-xii. In the longer run it is the life lessons that matters. Yes, studies are important but what is the point of being a SSB student without behaving and living life like one. Coming back to academics, all my batch mates are doing well in their professional lives. I won’t name their professions as it is inconsequential.
The houses have lost uniformity. Each house now seems to have its own design and way of patching up falling structures. I do not know who approves such modifications and why the uniformity is lost. It is disheartening to see that gardening has stopped and the brick lawns on which we once toughened our heads and backbones are now replaced by ill-shaped and haphazard tiles and cement structures. The call boards have lost their purpose it seems. During our times the premises resembled exactly the way an army cantonment would look like: Neat, tidy, lush green, uniform and in good shape. The students took great pride in the way their houses looked. After all, they were instrumental in keeping them that way. I guess there is no gardening competition nowadays. Darn! Academic excellence will kill the spirit of SSB one day.
“Kudos to all friends, juniors, and seniors who achieved academic excellence in spite of the regimen and not without it.”
For heaven’s sake, what happened to discipline? The credo once the students stood by and also took great pride/joy in breaking them and getting punished. The student visibly lack discipline now. The rooms were unkempt for OBA. No creases on your bed sheets!, No clothes or towel on the front wire during the OBA! Talk to seniors and their families with respect!, we were told back then. I think talking about respect for seniors will be like asking for too much in such times.
Ragging is banned but is punishment banned as well? The motto of the school is Seva, Kartavya, Gyaan, Virtaa. Each one of these ascribed values should get equal consideration. Focusing on one at the expense of other will make it like any other residential school. The school should not lose its soul. It seems to be doing that. Please do something about it. Continue to teach them about Boyle’s law, quantum physics, human biology, English literature, and Hindi poetry. But also please teach them a thing about dignity of labour. Give them an ecosystem that will teach them on how to get out of dire situations. Teach them how to stand by your friends come whatever may. Make strict rules and punish them extravagantly for breaking rules. Give them memories that they will take to their graves.
Please get students to STAY BACK AFTER LUNCH and do it quite often.
Bloody fool,
A K Nayak
Godavari House
2001 batch
PS: Dear OBAeans, please clean up the mess afterwards. Set up a good example for the future OBAeans.
