School days – Monday, the day of reckoning!!

When I try to go back in time to that eventful day in my life, I do not remember the details but I do remember seeing Rev Br Shannon in a new light – he was a man dedicated to his cause, namely teaching. It was a day of rude awakening for not just me but for all other 32 students of the Standard-VIII Class who would be appearing for our Senior Cambridge Exams the next year.
Tradition had it that other teachers used to occupy the chair near the blackboard and maintain a certain distance between the teacher and the taught. They probably shuddered to break the invisible barrier because they suffered from a sort of superiority complex.
But – Rev Br Shannon broke all barriers and sat on the first desk right in the center facing the class. The period was in the late 1950s and the furniture was made of wood. The

were composite ones – the front portion being the desk and the rear portion, the chair. And with Rev Br Shannon sitting on the desk, the two other students got a bit squeezed. They had to grin and bear it!
He had the bunch of 33 exercise books piled up on his right side. He picked up the first one and called out the name of the student who dutifully stood up not knowing what to expect.
Till that day, the routine had been that the teacher would distribute the books and proceed to the next lesson. But – not Rev Br Shannon, he had other ideas. He rewrote the rules and the routine. (to be continued…)
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