Skip to main content

High Jump

PT Class used to be one of the most sought classes back in our school days. Teachers who had their classes scheduled right before the PT Class of the week observed how restless Students got until the bell rang. 

One fine day, our Sports Teacher stood in front of our class and directed us to form a line and follow along to the middle of the school ground. Sports day was a few weeks away and the School needed Students for its various events: long jump, high jump, shot put, running race, and the like. High Jump was the first event. All of us stood in a line with the shortest in front and the tallest way behind.

A few feet away from us, stood two vertical rods with an adjustable horizontal bar. The final step was in allocating the height of this horizontal bar. Our Sports Teacher did quick math and assigned the height of the bar in accordance with the average of the heights of each student. This bar-height was unfavorable to students with a height below average. One of my friends, Nina, being the shortest in class, stood at the front of the line, heart in mouth. The bar-height came right below Nina's shoulders. 

"Make sure you give an honest try before you give up!" screamed our Sports Teacher.

There was no use reasoning with our Sports Teacher who responded with her whistle. Any comments/ideas from our end always encountered the screeching sound of the same and we had figured a long time ago that when she blew the whistle, we had to run. (No matter what!).

I started calculating the probability of the final scene. Either she would pass through below the bar (which would be really funny), or she would stop right in front of it and our Tutor would scold her. 

"whoooooooooooo" went the whistle.

As we stood to watch, Nina ran. 

She ran as fast as she could. 

She reached the bar. 

She took it in her hands and continued to run across our school ground!

Our Sports teacher blew the whistle. Nina didn't stop!

The next few moments witnessed our Sports Teacher running behind Nina, who ran at top speed carrying the bar and the rest of us falling onto the ground unable to control our laughter!

Ten minutes later, the bar was back in place and the rest of the Students continued trying their luck in High Jump. Some of us passed and some of us failed. All of us bore a grand smile that day.

As for Nina, she was selected for the running race for her exceptional talent in making our Sports Teacher run the whole ground!

The End.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Chooral

The Chooral was a huge part of our childhood. At the time of its introduction to our family, the Chooral was to be used in case we do mischief. Achan liked the kind of control it had on us and he used to wave it through the air and our eyes followed suit. The Chooral adi grew from a 'once in a month' punishment to a 'twice in a day' affair. Amma and Achan were seriously enjoying the way we would obediently sit down, stand up, go from one room to the other and study silently just by taking the Chooral at hand. Sometimes, they would simply hold the Chooral to admire its marvel while we stood frozen wondering if a beating was to follow! We had had enough! We wanted the Chooral to disappear, and once again, Kannan and Vava came up with a plan! We knew that Achan would go to the office in the morning and be back only at noon for lunch, while Amma will be busy in the Kitchen with Kumari Chechi (our home maid). So we had just enough time. The Chooral was ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Poda Patty

Aah! It was that time of our childhood when we understood that certain words were deemed to never be spoken in public; or some, which were not be to called against our worst enemies. It was also the time when Suresh Gopi's Commissioner movie was played in every Malayali's home. Some of the famous dialogs that were born as part of the same included: "Just remember that!" "Pha Patty" and so on. Of the many kids who watched these in television, Kannan and Vava watched in awe, the intensity that defined the anger portrayed when these words were called. 'Poda Patty' became a common use bad word for me and my brother Kannan. This name calling continued for a few months until Amma had had enough of the humiliations it caused her. One fine day, Amma called the both of us and made this golden rule which we remember to this day. "Never will one of you call the other 'patty' again. The one who breaks the rule will have to go through th...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Time When Mom Decided To Teach Us a Lesson

Children fighting and driving their parents crazy were very common back in our school days. It is common even today. This story is about the time when mom decided to teach us a lesson so that we quit fighting forever. That Saturday afternoon, Achan was out for work and Amma had the tedious task of cooking and looking after us. We, as usual, fought our wars, played our games and made a lot of noise. Amma tried her best to keep us silent, but all in vain. Finally, she got a brilliant idea and she called out: "Kanna, Vavee, help me" and fell down. We stopped our games and rushed towards the kitchen to see our mom lying on the floor eyes closed. Amma was happy that her plan was working. She waited for her us to call her and try to wake her up. Kannan and I stood still trying to get hold of the situation. After a brief observation of the environment, Kannan spoke up. "Chechi, I think Amma is gone" I swear I saw Amma shiver when she heard that. I was shocked....
Post a Comment
Read more