Holi

Merry shouts of "Holi Hai!" and the beating of
drums woke me up early in the morning. I was staying
in the school hostel, sharing a common dormitory.
Rushing to the window, I looked out and saw a colourful
crowd on the road. Some boys were spraying colour
on one another and laughing loudly.

I felt sad and left out. Last year Mama and Papa
were at home for Holi. A captain in the Merchant
Navy, Papa was now at sea aboard his ship and Mama
was with him. Grandma was in Delhi, but lived far
from school. At the most I could expect a visit from
her. She was sure to bring me a big box of sweets. 
There was no sign of our warden, Miss Singh.

Perhaps she was still asleep? I bathed and put on a
white shirt and shorts and went down to join the
other hostelers for breakfast. They too had no relations
to go to. Besides, we had been strictly forbidden to
play 'Holi' in the school premises. There was, therefore,
nothing to do after breakfast but wait for Grandma. 

I stood near the main gate, my face pressed against
the iron bars. Suddenly, I heard someone call my name. 
"Dilip! Dilip!"
Looking up I saw to my great joy, my friend Raj, 
balanced on his bicycle. He was covered with all sorts
of colours. "Well, aren't you coming?" he asked. 
"Where?" I yelled.
"Home, of course. Mother has prepared a lot of 
sweets!"
I was so pleased and tempted by this chance to play 
Holi that I forgot all about Grandma. Without thinking,
I slipped out of the side gate and sped off with Raj
on the cycle. In a few minutes we were at his house.

Raj's father owned a motor workshop. In fact, my
father always got his car attended to by him. When I
reached his place, the whole family—his two brothers,
little sister, mother and father—was in the courtyard.

Each of them held a syringe. A few more syringes lay
next to a tub of coloured water. Jumping off the cycle,
both of us grabbed a syringe each. But before we could
fill them, we were sprayed by the others. 

Laughter filled the air! We ran about filling and
refilling our syringes and spraying each other. Green,
red and yellow water was squirted all over. 

We must have splashed, sprayed and dashed about
madly for more than an hour. So we were tired and
hungry. Raj's mother brought us sweets and soft drinks. 

"Now, Dilip," she said, "go take a bath and change
into Raj's clothes. Then we will have lunch." 
I ate to my heart's content and slept the whole
afternoon. 

At about 5 o'clock, Raj woke me up. "Get up,
Dilip, let's fetch milk." So, off we went with a can to
the milk-booth nearby. 
As we stood in the queue, I heard a stern voice.
"Dilip! What're you doing here? Who's this boy?" 
I turned round. It was the warden, Miss Singh, and
she was looking daggers at us. 

I was unnerved. "This is my friend, Raj," I managed
to speak. "We've come to buy milk." 
"Your grandmother came to see you, but you could

not be found anywhere. Did you take anybody's

permission to go out with your friend? " 

"No," I said softly.

"Come with me," the warden ordered. I meekly 

followed Miss Singh to school. She took me to the

headmaster. 

Mr. Kumar spoke angrily. "Dilip Chopra! You left

the school premises without permission. Do you know

the police have been asked to look for you? Your

grandmother has also sent a telegram to your father". 

I was struck dumb with fear.

"Dilip, what have you to say for yourself?" asked 

Mr. Kumar.

I kept mum. I knew there would be no pocket-

money for me for months.

As the headmaster was about to speak again, there 

was a knock and Miss Singh entered, with a police

officei. He asked me a lot of questions until he was

satisfied that I was the boy lost and found and that I

had gone to Raj's house on my own. Then he took a

big book out of a bag he was carrying, got it signed by

Mr. Kumar and left. 

The headmaster turned to the warden. "Miss Singh,

this boy should be punished. He should be confined to

the chair next Sunday and should not be allowed to

play. He must write a letter to his grandmother

apologising for the agony he caused her. He must also

ask you to forgive him." 

I looked up at Miss Singh. "There is no need to

punish him, Sir," she said calmly. "At least he told us

the truth." 

The headmaster nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, Sir, thank you, Miss," I mumbled. 

"I'm sorry. I shall never again leave the school premises

without permission."