The Ties That No Longer Bind!

Feb 8th....I'll be certain to mark this day as among the most fruitless, demoralising days of my life! The events that occured(or rather.....DIDN'T occur) and the manner in which the day ended so abruptly left a sour taste in the mouth which I'll struggle to scrub away for the rest of my life.

The day began as expected, following tuitions, entering Bus No. 3...there was a sense of loss weighing heavily on our minds....yet, honestly, I never quite felt the kind of gripping disillusionment that I'd long expected! I'd not put much thought into which teachers' feet I'd touch, choosing instead to decide on the spur of the moment! We'd known that our Hall Tickets wouldn't be handed over just yet, as they'd not arrived(according to reports), and the prospects of a Farewell programme had been diminished ages ago, but I was happy to see that everyone had arrived to attend the solemn ceremony that morning, recognizing their duty to give thanks to those who'd helped them along their respective journeys! Honestly, I've never been a fan of the songs that are sung during this event, nor of the several speeches......but to be honest, Shreya's speech truly moved me! She, perhaps, delved into her own experiences too far...her nostalgia overcame her a few times, and perhaps caused sections of the crowd to lose interest or scoff....yet, to those of us who'd known her, even for a short while, we realized that she truly meant everything that she said....there was no act, no pretext, no drama.....just the heartfelt truth....and just for that, I felt a surge of respect for her, for having the courage to be so honest, even though she knew her views may not be shared by all others! Having myself studied here for 7 years, her words struck a chord with my own emotions, and I'm sure there were several others who felt much the same!
All the while, as the speeches rang out one after another, my attention was drawn to the corridors, where I noticed no teachers had arrived yet! And then, quite unexpectedly, the assembly was DISPERSED! I can't recount a single face among the 12th crowd that didn't bear a look of shock! It felt like a rude joke! We'd always known that we weren't the teachers' favourite batch...but I, for one, had never realized that they would bear a grudge deep enough to boycott such a solemn ceremony! Crimes had ben committed and forgiven in the past, but never had a batch been denied the opportunity to greet, shake hands, and seek the blessings of the teachers who'd taken such pains over the years to educate them! Not once had a batch been denied a chance to say "Thank You!"! What was that gesture meant to symbolize??......that the faculty had cut off all ties with this batch?...for it was percieved in these very same hurtful terms!

As we were marched down to the courtyard to have our photos taken, our questions yielded confusing replies such as "You'll have a chance after this!". Marksheets were distributed one after another in the most incredible hurry following the photo session! Sheila Ma'am brought in snacks, distributed to the whole class.....and the mood seemed uplifted! There were songs(mostly from the girls side) sung, jokes cracked, mindless yells with no real purpose, and a few water ballon explosions. In the midst of the madness, I chose to spend my time garnering signatures on my Lab Coat...feeling assured that I would have ample time to talk, celebrate and have fun once my task was over! The report cards flew in......there was murmuring about the way everyone's marks had dropped, but few of us wasted little more than a second pondering the reasons behind them! I resumed my duties and collected 3 teachers' signatures, and countless friends' signatures.....but then, at around 11 am.....we were told our time had come! The shock was unimaginable....only minutes ago we had planned how we would spend our time till the 2-30 trip! And here, we were being ushered into 3 buses by class teachers! With barely any time to even say our goodbyes, we boarded our buses, and it was done.....!

Can someone please explain to me what happened today?? Is there any message I should read from this SHAMBOLIC goodbye other than "This Is Not Your Home! It Never Was, It Never Will Be....Your Purpose Is Fulfilled, And You Are No Longer Welcome!"....Is it anything other than an incredibly insensitive way of saying "goodbye and good riddance"?? Was the teachers' boycott of the assembly representative of anything other than a BREAKING-OFF of all ties?? What did I gain from this day that had promised so much?....A Coat of Signatures....What else?? Why were we denied the time to chat with our friends for one last time....Why were we denied the time to present the cards we'd bought for our teachers??Why were we denied the chance to even convey a proper GOODBYE??

Should this school mean anything to us from now on.....and did we ever mean anything to it?.......

My mind is ablaze with questions to which I can find no pleasing answers.....every answer brings with it gloom and despair, the likes of which I cannot honestly describe! To any teacher who may read this post.......Was it because you felt our gestures would be ingenuine?...that our tears would be forced?...that our integrity was questionable?....if so, there is little to say, except that "TRUST" has grown so scarce, that the love, loyalty, respect and gratitude of a student undergoing the most difficult of transition of his life, are as cheap and debatable as the promises of a local politician.....scoff at our integrity to your heart's content, for you shall never know better ! I'm happy and grateful at the mercilessly quick end that was brought upon this sorry tale! .... Had I been given the time to ask questions, I doubt I'd have liked the answers. At least for now, I can satisfy myself with the belief that my presumptions may be far from the whole truth!......

Yet, one fact remains beyond question.......The umbilical cord that had tied so many of us to this school, has been snapped.....crudely, but with a sense of brute finality!