Biju's Mad Plan

Biju cringed with anxiety. But he had to act, as per the plan that had taken shape in his little head since the past few weeks. Sitting at his classroom desk, he watched the row of classes along the length of the school building. The rooms reminded him of the graphic details, of grandfathers splendid narration of the Central jail where Biju’s great grandparents were male and female jail-wardens respectively. The iron barred windows, the uniformed students; the stern looking teachers in every room, all seemed to make the classrooms more like a prison. It was not a pleasant place to be.




Definitely not a place that Biju fancied waking up in the wee hours of the morning for, or get washed in the cold well water, or get dabbed with fragrant talcum powder, or get dressed in fresh clothes. The worst part was saying `ta-ta’ to mother. As father pulled him along, muttering about the school jeep leaving without him and the troubles of then having to drop him by some different means of transportation and not reaching in time for the school assembly…. It all seemed like being taken to the slaughter house. Biju certainly didn’t look forward to going to school every morning. He wished and secretly prayed for many more city and state hartals and holidays. But well, things hardly changed. Each morning was the same. Getting up early and rushing to school.



Biju didn’t mind it now. He’d got used to it. When he came back home towards the end of a hot and tiring day at school, he’d wonder of all the fantastic fun and games he could have engaged in the mornings and afternoons if he’d been at home. Living in the outhouse of a big bungalow in the interiors of a small town of a lush green state like his was just great. Besides the paddy fields and the rubber plantations skirting the hills and valleys around his village, his immediate surroundings had huge teak, coconut, mango, cashew, and jackfruit trees. Since the grand old lady of the house lived alone, with frequent phone calls and occasional visits from her two children living abroad, the house or the huge yard surrounding it was hardly maintained. But Biju loved the wilderness. The serpentine pepper creepers on the mango trees, the low branches of the cashew tree, the peculiar curves of the coconut trees, and the abundance of the jackfruit trees, all enchanted him. Smaller plants like the many stray shrubs of different shaped and coloured chilies, tomatoes and ladies finger, the fragrant leaves of turmeric, stand alone trees like papaya, and coffee, and the plentitude of wild flowers and berries, made his Sunday afternoon romps very interesting. It was more an exploration. He dreamt of a day when he would go up the notches on the coconut trees like Unni tandaan, pull a swing on the topmost branches of the mango tree and learn to shoot down fruits like an ace archer.

But now, that would all have to wait. Going to school day after day barely gave him any time for such planning or practice.



According to Biju, the best time for exploration was after the initial few rains of the season. He liked the smell of the earth, and the sogginess of fallen leaves. Biju never thought of them as `dead leaves’. Instead they were protective dry covers for his favorite creepy crawlies. He would chat up with the ladybirds and the grasshoppers. He would stare in amazement at the coiling piles of tiny millipedes and the marching armies of angry red ants. The best part was monitoring the growth of sprouting new seeds of jackfruits and mangoes. He enjoyed carrying these newly germinated seeds to show the grand old lady, and if she was impressed, ask for permission to plant it in some corner of his choice. Amachi, as Biju called her, would mostly say that the plant will take ages to bear fruit, unlike the `super fast’ fruit trees bought from the plant nursery. But Biju was prepared to wait. He had all the time in the world. But this school was eating up a huge chunk of time from his days.



Once back from school, it would soon grow dark and all mothers would herd their children into their respective homes and that would be the end of another beautiful day. Kids could hardly protest. Sapped of all the energy at school itself, these little bodies would anyway be running in reserve during the couples of hours of evening play. Biju’s father and mother worked as driver and maid for the old lady. As the old lady’s caretaker they had to attend to several errands, and tasks throughout the day. Actually Biju knew his parents were only too glad to send him to school. Not only because they thought he would one day become an officer and a gentleman, but also because they wanted him out of the house and their care. Not because Biju was a naughty boy, but he was quite a wanderer and often went `missing’ in the neighborhood. Although Biju believed he could manage himself very well, his parent thought otherwise and ended up screaming out his name every two three hours. So, sending Biju to a secure and safely guarded place like school every morning, they thought, helped them to concentrate on their other duties.



But little did they know of Biju’s mad plan. He’d been planning it for a very long time. It was now time to execute it. And why not? He was big, and strong. And above all, he was brave. And he was one, two, three, four, five, and a half ……