Guys, Princi is Coming!

I grew up in an all-boys’ boarding school deep in the Indian Himalayas. As you might expect, the discpline was military-like, the rules rigid, and punishments swift.

Living far from home and loved ones, our entire lives existed within the mountain school campus.

However, on two Sundays a month, we were set free — like zoo animals let loose from their enclosures — to visit the nearby town.

I loved these occasional breaks and spent the days haunting movie theatres & restaurants. What else can a young teen ask for?

So, it was not “legally” possible to leave the confines of school at night, even on Sundays.

But boys will be boys!

The year was 1989. A large group of boys bunked (our jargon for escaping school) one night and entertained themselves to their hearts’ content in town.

The adventure began when they were returning to school.

School was located on a hillcrest, a thousand feet above the township. So, even though, it was a mere 3 km walking distance, it took the larger part of an hour to climb back to our glorified prison.

Reveling in the nip of cool night air, as the adventurers trudged up the hill, the school’s principal — a smart man oozing with oodles of authoritarianism — happened to come along the same path, in his car.

The boys reflexively jumped into the khud-side … all of them, except the hero of our story — let’s call him Jack.

Now Jack was a lovable creature and the sum total of his being can be boiled down to two words: brave and simple.

Instead of hiding in the khud-side (the downslope of moutain adjacent to the road), Jack decided to warn his comrades up ahead … Brave Jack!

He sprinted along the road, shouting at the top of his lungs, “Guys, Princi is coming! Princi is coming!”

Boys hiding in the khud-side urged him, “Hide! Come here!”,  but Jack ignored their counsel — his bravery knew no bounds.

Meanwhile, Princi overtook the sprinting Jack in his car. I can only imagine Princi’s surprise on hearing his schoolboy shouting, “Princi is coming! Princi is coming!” on a deserted hill road.

Princi stepped on the accelerator, rushed back to school, and told our Warden to seal the dorms. “Assemble them for a roll call,” Princi bellowed.

There were two doors that led into the boys’ dormitory complex, and no other way to enter — or so Princi and Warden thought.

There exists a secret passage into the dorms, and it will remain a secret forever!

During the roll call, all the boys were accounted for … including Jack, who pretended to be rudely woken up from sleep.

Puzzled, Warden asked him, “Jack, who all went to town with you?”

“No one, Sir,” Jack mumbled, displaying his bravado yet again.

After repeating the same question with increasing strictness, Warden did not get any closer to the truth. However, like Princi, Warden was also a smart man and he was familiar with Jack’s unique qualities.

It was time to change tactics.

“Jack, tell me who all did not go to town,” the middle-aged gent said, his eyes smiling.

Jack’s expression wavered and then he set his jaw firm.

“X, Y, Z,” he named three boys, all the while maintaining a steely gaze into Warden’s eyes.

Our jaws hit the floor, as Jack’s second quality came through with screaming clarity … Simple Jack!

This funny story reveals a neglected truth:

Needless to say, everyone except the three “non-bunkers” got into a lot of trouble that night.

Thanks for reading & have a great day,

A. David Singh

Author and Dog-dad