Essays

It was on a fine morning in October when I was summoned, together with four of my other classmates, to the Principal's office! The person who summoned us was none other than the head-monitor himself. While we headed unsteadily toward the Principal's office, we tried to figure out what offence we had committed to warrant this "call-up". We could not think of any.

So, we were in the Principal's chamber and what a surprise we received! Fifteen of us, from various classes, were made class-monitors! It was far from some unpleasant event that we had expected. There we stood in the Principal's office; the cream of students, or so it seemed. I could not figure out the reason for my appointment as a monitor.

So began a completely new phase in my school life. It was strange to wear the blue shirt of a monitor and the extra heavy badge that threatened to tear a hole in my shirt. Also I had to change my school habits altogether.

The thrill and excitement of being a monitor gradually died down. Oh yes, a monitor has a certain amount of power over the other students, like ordering them to line up and not to enter the classrooms during recess, it was great fun being able to exert some authority over people. In extreme cases, it was satisfying to know that the monitor can even book an offender, sending him to the disciplinary committee for punishment.

However, besides the boring patrolling of corridors, I soon learned that a monitor is sometimes a teacher's slave. I had to do chores for the teachers that I had never done before, I had to carry books, run to the tuck shop, get a student from a certain class, organize every little thing and on top of that still had to be above average in my studies. Fortunately, I could manage to strike a balance between my duties, the chores and my studies and let none of them become overbearing.

I also learned that nobody likes to be bossed around, Once I made the mistake of shouting at two boys for talking during the Assembly. In addition to that I took down their names. All this was done right in front of other classmates. They were sorely humiliated- After school that day they came for me. I was on my way to the bicycle shed when they confronted me. I could see they were angry and they uttered some unmentionable words and adopted the stance of some 'kung fu' fighters commonly seen on television. Knowing that I was in for a fight I put up my fists too, wondering how I was going to get out of this lot. One of the boys lunged toward me. I braced myself! He never reached me, for he was caught in mid-lunge by a disciplinary teacher, who had appeared as if from nowhere, Mr. Saxena was a big man and only d fool could trifle with him. The next thing I knew was that he held two struggling boys in mid-air by their shirt collars. When eventually they realized the hopelessness of their situation, they ceased struggling. Mr Saxena put them down.

"Now, what's this all about?" Mr Saxena demanded.

So began a flurry of explanations on my part and the two boys. When we finished, Mr Saxena made me shake hands with the two boys with the promise that we would forget the matter there and then. We agreed to, grudgingly. How could we have done otherwise with Mr Saxena staring down at us?

After that incident, I became very careful about being overzealous with my duties. The two boys kept their promise and they never bothered me again, but I could always detect a bit of resentment on their faces every time they happened to see me. I never bothered them again too. We had learned our lessons.

All in all, I must admit that being a monitor had taught me many things about living with my fellow beings. I discovered that to enforce man-made laws is not an easy task. Different people that break the law vary in nature. No two offenders can be treated in the same way. Tact, understanding and sense of humour are required in equal measure so that a law'enforcer is not carried away by his Job.