Outline: Three rosy-cheeked naughty boys – they played practical pranks on the teachers - our class teacher caught them red-handed when they imitated the sound of a jet-plane - I was punished along with those mischievous boys - most embarrassing experience – pranks outside the class-room – conclusion.
When I was in the eighth standard, I had three fine rosy-cheeked boys in my class. They were very naughty. They were always in high glee. They promised themselves a world of enjoyment in every period. They were all little rogues, who played practical pranks on all the teachers, their main butt of jokes being our old and partly deaf class-teacher.
These three fellows practised various pranks during our class-teacher's periods. They created a roar of laughter in our class. One fine day, the class-teacher entered the classroom and took his seat. The moment he sat down, the three rosy-cheeked fellows imitated the sound of a jet plane. Quite naturally, a wave of mild laughter swept over the whole class. Mr. Amin, our class-teacher, somehow or other, caught the culprits red-handed. But he also marked me down as one of the culprits, though I was completely innocent.
Our class-teacher got up from the chair, fretted and fumed. I began to argue with him but he did not believe that I was innocent. He made all of us stand up on our benches for half an hour. My poor legs began to ache after fifteen minutes. My classmates who were not punished looked at me. I was ashamed of myself for no fault of mine. At the end of the torture, I dropped down on my bench like a sack of flour.
Even outside the classroom these three naughty boys lightened the atmosphere of the school by their pranks. They were well versed in the art of mimicry. So they imitated the Headmaster right under his nose. Sometimes they wafted snuff in the school canteen, with the result that everyone started sneezing so hard that even our caps blew off. While the mischief-mongers summarily left the place and literally bellowed with laughter.
One day, one of these naughty urchins pinned a slip of paper on the back of a very fat boy. “I am a big fat ass" were the letters written on it in deep red. This happened during the recess. In no time the whole school came to know of the fun. While the fat boy moved here and there, everyone, including the teacher, school clerks and peons, looked at the back of the fellow's shirt and broke into laughter. The fun spread over the school like a wild epidemic.
Humour is a quality, which is not very common in a school, which is generally heavy with studies. It is a universal fact that a sense of humour helps to make life pleasant. No one can be humorous unless he is optimistic. My three mischievous classmates were happy and smiling boys. They pepped us up. They pumped into our boring school life a whiff of ozone, so to say. We forgot our worries and troubles in their healthy presence. Thus our life became a thing of pleasure and a joy forever!
