A Leaf From My Memory (GBS part1)

By Durga Pandey

The story is of a day in Gandaki Boarding School (Pokhara). It was not just a regular day. It was once-in-a-month special. After the class, all of my friends were busy getting changed fast. I asked, “What is going on?” The reply was unanimous, “Come on Durga, it’s a chicken meat day, we have to digest it! We got to play soccer until the dinner”. Yes, that makes sense. I joined them hurriedly.

Sadly, all of the ground was taken, even the muddy corners. The voice inside my head reminded me that it was not just we who were trying to digest the chickens. But, there are always benefits of being a senior to somebody. Soon, we got ourselves a decent soccer field. All of us were putting an extra effort today. I have no doubt; if a Nepali soccer team played with “this” enthusiasm they would certainly have won far more medals for Nepal. We played and played and played… the “first bell” of the dining hall sounded. That usually means, “try to be ready for dinner”. Not today. We still felt we hadn’t had enough kicking and running to digest the chickens. The second bell rang. That usually means, “start getting inside the dining hall”. We still managed to squeeze in some BHALE and POTHI Goals.

I managed to get in the dining-hall just before the third bell (else I would need a decent explanation or a permission slip to explain why I was late).The running rats inside my stomach were about to fly, if you know what I mean. I was waiting for our turn to line up, exhausted, face and ear red with puffing and panting, But still waiting for the yummy chicken meat. Even the wait of 10 minutes felt like an hour. I finally got my share of food, including THE chicken meat.

But, it didn’t taste as good as it used to. “What was wrong with me”, I thought. I kept on drinking water. I was too full just with water. The rats stopped running but my feet still felt as if I was running. I hardly ate anything. It didn’t turn out to be a special chicken day anymore.

Days passed, weeks passed. And along came another special day. As usual, all of my friends were busy putting soccer gears on. One of them yelled, “Come on Durga, you are still on your school dress”. I reluctantly replied, “I will join you later”. A sense of Déjà vu. But, I was not going to ruin my special day again. Surely, chickens shouldn’t be that hard to digest. I thought to myself, “Today, I shall digest the chicken by playing chess or caeramboard”.

(The above article is the reflection of some of the many memories of my days at Gandaki Boarding School)