Aey Choti !

 

Aey Choti !

Sachin always excelled in both studies and sports, especially cricket. He was one among the top three students in all the grades.

In the 5^th grade, Sanskrit was introduced. As per CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education), students were supposed to choose only two languages post 9^th grade. Mostly people chose English and Hindi. Hence, the famous saying goes  - Phalum Phale Phalani, Sanskrit kabhi na aani, aani toh bhool jaani (We can’t learn Sanskrit, even if we do, we’ll forget). No one gave much of importance to it. That anguished the Sanskrit teacher (Mr. Acharya) all the time.

Sachin hailed from K.G.F where plenty of Anglo-Indians and Christians resided. Though, it was part of Karnataka, mostly people spoke in Tamil. There, father is fondly called as Daddy. In Hindi vernacular, sometime people pronounced it as “Deady”. This gave Acharyaji a chance to say “What kind of language is this where you have to call your father as Dead-y”. The moment he said this, all the creatures in the class turned towards Sachin with a grin. Up next, in Hindi, we call father as Papa. In Hindi, “Paap” means sin and “aa” means come. Acharyaji laughed aloud and said instead of calling Pitaji, we call our fathers as sin. Now, it was Sachin’s turn to rotate his head 360⁰ with banter of laughter.

The grammar is the key in Sanskrit. You must learn the exact word for a particular tense which is very similar to learning a maths table. That too he expected to say it in one go with a particular rhythm. A miss here and there in recital, Acharyaji would make you to stand for the entire 45 minutes of class.

One fine day, Sachin went to Daddy with a smile that Acharyaji is convening a special parent meeting and he should make his time from office tomorrow itself. Acharyaji was Sachin’s class teacher this time. As Sachin was an exemplary student, Daddy was very excited to go to his school. Still, he was slightly hesitant as his son was equally mischievous. A little push from Mummy dispelled his concern. Daddy has never been to his school earlier and never did he go afterwards.

As soon as Daddy went to his classroom, he observed that all the students were standing in a queue outside the class. Sachin rushed to his father to accompany him inside. Daddy thought maybe each child has to accompany the parent. The moment Daddy stepped in, Acharyaji welcomed him with broad smile  - aayeye aayeye – Please come in. That’s the only thing he understood. The rest of sermon was a bouncer. Acharyaji was shouting on top of his voice, Sachin didn’t dare to lift his head up even once. All that father could manage was yes, yes and yes. Usage of English angered Acharyaji even more and he continued to blast in crystal clear Hindi. After some time, Acharyaji gave up and managed few words in English – Very Bad Child, Make Good Child. That was more than enough for father to understand that Sachin has done something terribly wrong. But he couldn’t muster the courage to ask Acharyaji what happened? Father humbly apologized to Acharyaji and stormed out without uttering a word to Sachin. Sachin obediently joined the queue back.

A blazing homecoming was waiting for Sachin. Mummy already got her share for giving the extra push. Before, Daddy asked - He blurted with apology. Daddy we just called him Aey Choti in chorus. Daddy stared in askance. Acharyaji had a small choti (pigtail or ponytail) that Pandit’s have. The students were really upset with his satire and ridicule. For fun, all the students shouted Aey Choti !! as soon as Acharyaji turned towards blackboard after a chorus Suprabhatam Shriman ! (Good Morning Sir!). Immediately, the class was dismissed and Acharyaji vowed to allow them in the class next day only if each one of them brings in their parent.

On top of anger, Daddy thought of something brilliant to scold Sachin in Hindi. He called Sachin as Ullu ke Patthe !!!! (Meaning Stupid). Sachin rolled on the floor with laughter as that literally meant son of an owl.

There is a never-ending saga of Sachin's mischiefs. Maths was the most dreaded subject for him. To bunk one of the classes, he informed his classmates that Maths teacher was on leave and we they can have it as games period. As soon as all of them went out, he returned back to class just in time as a obedient student. As only he was there in the class, the Maths teacher had to allow him also to go and join his friends. In a day's time, when everyone came to know what has happened, he was warned again. Not only classes, he bunked many morning assemblies to play cricket. In due course of time, he forgot the prayer itself.

Written By: Saranya

Illustration: Durga Kulothungan

Akil (Bhai) - "Ever green memories... That was the last Daddy ever came to school😝😝"