The Flag Post ROPE

The Flag Post Rope It is commonly said that life after retirement is difficult to spend. I joined a school after retirement. The same profession continued therefore I didn’t feel so. The other day I read the horrid news of two school children drowned in the sea when the class went for a picnic. Parents must teach children swimming during summer holidays. When we were young our uncle taught us swimming in the farm- well. I got a job in a school after my studies. It was a defense school. When I was sent for scoutmaster training, the instructor was very happy about my swimming and gave me “A” grade. That helped me to pass the course with distinction. I became the Scoutmaster. In school, much work was volunteered and done by my scout troop. I kept a limited number of scouts in the troop. I used to take the troop for hikes and camps. When we went for camp, a cook from the mess was detailed and rations were plenty: enough for us and to spare for the people on the Besant Park Camp site. I love the Besant Park camp site spread over a hundred acres of forest land with a huge lake and boat house. The area measures a hundred acres of mixed jungle. Here you find small streams that pour into the large lake. Water birds and reptiles add beauty to this wonderland. The scouts would love this camp and requested me to extend the stay for a few more days. We used to visit one of the villages and the scouts contributed their used clothing for the urchins and the scoutmaster gave the villagers blankets brought from school donated by staff. In the evening the scouts entertained the villagers with the songs (mostly Hindi and a few English and local language songs.)The Besant Park Camp site is situated on the road leading to Nandhi Hills and about two kilometer away from the Railway Station. ALL trains stop here for the benefit of people going to Besant Park Camp site. Every year I used to camp there with my scouts. Since I was working in Military school, the transport was not a problem area. 0ne of my students had a spinning mill on the station road. He arranged a visit to the mill and the scouts were given Tea and Lunch. Our camp report was read by the scout who attended the camp, in the morning assembly. The result was that more number students apt for scouting. We conducted scout camp fire on Deepavali and Holi celebration on the school Parade ground. Meanwhile two of my scouts qualified for President Scout Badge The scouts celebrated this in a grand scale. To my delight I became the Bangalore District Secretary(Scouts) and I got my long-awaited promotion in the school also.As usual the scout troop was taken for their Annual Camp at Besant Park. It was in the month of 0ctober.I took the scout for exploration of the camp area. After some to me , I asked the troop leader to check whether everyone was present. He reported to me that one student was missing. Some told me that he saw him near the boat house. We went to the boat house. The boy pushed the boat and got into it. The boat started moving towards the wind blowing direction. He was so much afraid , started shouting for help. I was terribly confused. The troop leader stopped me from getting into the water fearing the slush. I looked for some rope. I couldn’t find any. The troop leader ran to the flag post and brought the rope. I throw the rope and asked the student to catch tightly. We pulled the rope. The boy was saved. He thanked me and other scouts for saving his life.

The Double Barell Gun (A Short-Story By K Jambulingam ) The Double Barrell Gun My wife and I were on board of the airbus that was on its way to Ranchi with a brief stopover at Kolkata. Captain Sanjay Kumar Singh announced that we were 2ooo’, above and will reach Calcutta in two and half hours. Then the chief of the cabin crew took over with her instructions. The beautiful air hostess started demonstrating the use of seat belt, emergency exits, oxygen mask and the live jacket kept under our seats. We reached the exit at Ranchi Airport. We were about to call our host. She appeared in her smart clinic uniform. Our host took us to her house where we spent the rest of our six days stay with her smart, intelligent, artistic and lovely children. In spite of her busy schedule, she managed to spend some time with us. She plays not only the role of CEO of her clinic but also does a number social service activity. Her car driver was a man from tribal community and his wife works in the clinic and at home. Our host took us to the temple at the hill and Durga Devi temple at her friend’s house. Next time I plan to go to Symbiosis Public School at Bundan and Jonha waterfall at Angara. I must agree that there are wonderful places to see in and around Ranchi. Due to the hot summer days we could not see all of Ranchi but during our brief outings in the evenings I could feel the street lights were dim. The Super market can be compared with that of Bangalore or any other city. Among the newspaper, I like the city edition for giving the headlines in English and the news in Hindi. During one of our outings, I had an unforgettable experience. As usual our outing with the kids and the host materialized. We were proceeding to the Sai temple ten kilo meters away in the jungle infested with terrorist groups. We ventured the trip because of our faith in Sai and the assurance given by some relatives of our host that the terrorists wouldn’t do any harm to the devotees proceeding to the temple. The moment we reached the mixed jungle that lead us to the thick forest area; the climate was cool and enjoyable. The car negotiated a curve .There stood a man .He stopped the vehicle like a traffic police. The driver slow down and we saw the man has covered his face with block scarf. He looked like the terrorist portrayed in the movies. We all got down from the car. The driver spoke to the stranger in tribal language. The gun in the terrorist hand fired in the sky. Another two people came on horseback and entered the scene. They ordered the woman folk to remove the gold ornaments. They took the purse from me that contained my pension identity card and photo identity card issued to me by the State Bank of Mysore and the senior citizen card issued to me by the Karnataka Government. We reached the temple. After prayer we came out. Three terrorist on horseback were coming towards us. People ran and hid themselves. I was bold because they already relived of everything we had. An young man from the group came to me and handed over all the things taken from us. He profusely apologized to me and told us that I was his English Teacher when he was in eighth class. He also promised me not to disturb the devotees. His fight was with the Govt. I looked at my host, the university gold medalist in medical science whose husband was also my student who occupied an enviable position in Army and passed away and buried with state honours. Whenever I was invited to speak at a function I used to tell that all my students occupy a place of pride. Hereafter I will tell the same about my student who has turned a terrorist.