A cry from Schoolnamo Bay

- October 22, 2020

When you wish to join a private school as a teacher, you have to take care of three things: be humble, complying, and assume yourself a professional prisoner who must have a flinching attitude to follow orders even making sure washrooms are properly cleaned! This is not a statement one might get surprised about! It’s the code of conduct which runs through the thread of discipline at Schoolnamo Bay. More beneficial are the incentives which a ‘prisoner’, within the ‘iron’ walls of the Schoolnamo Bay, can get. The incentives include: increased workload, ban on moving freely and eating without permission of the Jailer. Contrary to the jail rules, from Schoolnamo Bay, a prisoner can freely move to the gate without bail orders if found accused!

Nevertheless, more complying are the Don’ts within the premises of the Schoolnamo Bay. The prisoners have to consider themselves blessed with the titbit (the delicious Dal Roti) they get from the Jailer! Asking for extra (grebi) might lead to blasphemy!

With high-tech but locally made surveillance methods, Schoolnamo Bay has landmines scattered everywhere. But the kind of landmines is quite different than the landmines used to destroy enemy in the battlefield. These landmines don’t explode with a step over them! Rare in nature, these mines are sensitive to discussions and gossips against the Jailer. With a locally developed technology, the mines explode only in the office of the ‘Jailer’ during a one-to-one meeting! The ‘mines’ are well-groomed and often installed in class rooms! Surprisingly, the mines even walk to the enemies to know their view about policy of the Schoolnamo Bay and then explode in the office of the Jailer!

In this volatile scenario, there are clashes between supreme institutions too—the Jailer and the Civilian Administrator! The Jailer, during every meeting with the prisoners, warns them not to side with the ‘Civilian Administrator’. On the other hand, the ‘Civilian Administrator’ wants vibrant and politically aware prisoners to stand for their rights against the Jailer.

However ill-fated might be the prisoners, they ought to suffer a proxy war within the premises of jail. The most significant aspect of the proxy war is that the ‘spies’ don’t work secretly. With a good will gesture to their victims, they openly warn to report their ‘directorate’ for the offence!

Interestingly, like Kashmir under Modi’s government, the Schoolnamo Bay, too, has been under section 144. The floor-to-floor-targeting-uniformed missiles can easily detect any activity or gathering of more than one prisoner! More worrisome is the recently secrete deal between Jailer and ‘unknown sources’ to smuggle more advanced technology to spy on prisoners.

To the fateful and predestined fate of the Jailer, the worsening proxies have incited the prisoners to rebellion often. Contrary to the ‘Sepoy Mutiny’ of 1857, which marked the first rebellion against Raj, there are frequent rebellions in Schoolnamo Bay. The difference between the causes of rebellion against Jailer Raj and the British Raj is strikingly interesting. The former erupted by the new weapons introduced by the British, the latter, however, has been caused by the issue of making 20 cups of tea with milk of just 80 rupees!

Finally, the causes of failure of the 21^st century rebellion are similar to that of the failure of ‘Sepoy Mutiny’. During each rebellion in Schoolnamo Bay, the prisoners start struggle with a big number of supporters but the affection of the Jailer disperses the members one by one leaving hardly two rebels with weapons, though blunt, to conquer the throne of the Jailer. The each rebellion ends dramatically. The captured prisoners are sent out of the Schoolnamo Bay and the ouster is celebrated with grandeur and pompous along with the ‘pretended’ rebels inside the Schoolnamo Bay!