The Green Room

The Picnic

It was the 3rd of December. About an hour after lunch, the students of class XI sat huddled in their classrooms. The corridors were empty. There were no prefects in the vicinity. Everyone was nervous. It was time.

Rohan, Varun and Manav left the classroom and signaled others to make small groups and follow. They went to the back-courtyard. It was deserted. A narrow path led them into a small establishment of low-built, terraced houses that were occupied by the families of school workers. Once they had crossed the campus boundary, they waited for others to catch up. Their nervousness transformed into excitement. Soon the entire class was working its way upwards through the houses. Men, women and children came out to see them. They talked to each other and smiled. Students often went that way to a small park near the mountain top for picnics. Their move was too bold to arouse any suspicion.

Nevertheless, they hurriedly left the houses behind and took to a broad, stone path that meandered all the way up to the mountain top. Soon the school was left behind. But it was just the beginning. They had a long way to go. It was only a matter of time before the authorities found out that they were missing. Rohan caught a glimpse of the school from high above - the red roof-tops, the Field, the Auditorium. His spirit lifted. They moved up and up, as fast as their slowest friend, shouting and laughing in excitement and nervousness. After about half an hour, they took another path that led them down again. But some students began to get tired. Running away with the entire class was a pretty stupid idea after all. They had to continually stop for students in the rear and some of them had even begun to complain. But they cheered each other and continued down the mountain towards the main town.

"We have made history!" exclaimed Manav.

"Not yet," replied Rohan. He had a feeling that no matter how fast they went, they would find the authorities waiting for them in the town. They heard a car pass ahead. The stone path they had been travelling on crossed a road and continued steeply down between luxurious houses on either side with beautiful gardens. They were not more than a kilometer from their school. They had taken a wide arc around the campus to avoid detection. They decided to quickly run down the road and disappear. The steep slope was not an issue. It was on their marathon route they had been running for years. But just as they emerged from the trees, they spotted a short woman walking on the road. She was a Junior School nanny. "Where are you boys going?" she asked.

"Picnic!" Manav replied.

"Picnic?" she asked, a smile spreading over her face. "But who is escorting you? I don't see any teacher."

"Oh! The warden. He is coming right behind us."

With that they left. She watched them for some time with an innocent joy on her face. It was certainly blissful to watch the boys, whose dirty underwears she used to once clean, all grown up and enjoying their day out. The group picked up pace as the rest of the journey was downhill. They crossed the main road twice and each time they grew more nervous. As time passed, it became more and more obvious that their absence had been noticed. They moved swiftly across each crossing and disappeared into the trees.

About an hour later, they halted in front of a tea stall in a corner of the town, opposite the Naini Lake. To their right, a road ran up above the Bhotia Market to the Governor's Residence, from where it took a U-turn and continued upwards to their school. A little way to the left was a Gurudwara and a police station. The town's field was at a lower level and they ran through its length in small groups, keeping close to a high wall that obscured them from the police station. People threw random glances at them. But groups of uniformed boys wandering about in town was not an uncommon sight. They worked their way past the Ashok Talkies to the taxi stand. It was decided that they would, if possible, go to a classmate's house in Haldwani and then contact all those who lived nearby. Some students procured cash they had successfully hidden from the warden. Four students went ahead to talk to the drivers while others lingered around, nervously glancing at the police station or the road that ran up to their school.