I just relived some moments of the past a couple of days back . I met with one of my friend’s younger sister who is expecting her Xth (BOARDS) result in a few days time. She is damn nervous and like a majority of students , the fear is coz of MATHS ,the subject in which a couple of people has an assumption that , I am good at.
As she was very nervous , I suggested her to feed a WHITE cow with Aaata(dough) in morning ,till the results are declared. I think it would help COW for sure.
Any ways , it just reminded me of my school days . And the thing which striked instantly were my bunking experiences. I ll share most of them over here.
The primary reason of me started bunking school and later becoming a pro at it was my brother. He was one year senior to me. (He failed once ,then we were equals. He failed again I became senior J). For those grammarian pundits who are following this blog , he is one year elder to me. We were in different schools after VIII th std. He used to narrate stories that he has bunked and went here and there. Those were STORIES. (no wonder he is doing fine in his construction’s businees.Have some of u seen Akshay starrer Khatta Meetha).I innocently believed them and waited for my turn to get into IX th standard as I ll be going to a school far from my neighborhood.
So Bunk number 1. Day Friday . First Day First Show. AMBA (cinema hall) Movie CHOTA CHETAN 3D . Went with some colony mates . Who were professional bunkers. Enjoyed the 3D experience fully . Had fun!
Now on my way back to home. My brother waiting restlessly for me and as soon as I entered he said , is the color of your school bus green. I said Yes. He asked ,have you come in school bus I said yes . He understood that I bunked and he got a reason to enjoy. He said everything to Dad . Dad asks me did you bunk . I simply said . Yes . Galti ho gayi . Wont do that again. He said nothing. I thought the episode was over.
It was unexpected for a student like me ,who “looks” very studious. But looks most of the times are deceptive.
Now comes the turn in the story. Next day my class teacher asks me to come in front and asks where were you yesterday. I said as usual fever tha. Then without counting he beat the shit out of me in front of whole class. It hurted badly as all the girls were present in the class L
How did he come he to know about my 3D experience?
I reached home and when my father came back in the evening . He called me and said I came to your school and met Principal mam. She was a beautiful lady. I think she was also one of the reason of my father travelling to Rohini from Adarsh Nagar and then to his office in Azad Market in summers. The another reason which he shared with the Principal was a concern of a father. He thought I have fallen into bad company so please take care of him.
Princy called up my class teacher . Mr Rakesh Rahi and asked did Deepak came yesterday. He did not know and checked the attendance register and said YES. ( he was so lazy that he used to mark attendance randomly!) Then ovsly my father got furious and so did Pricipal and the class teacher was scolded by both. How much did they scold him was directly proportional to the force in his slaps.
Then I realized how can anybody beat such an INNOCENT looking kid.
He was not incorrect.
Then the Amitabh (bacchan saab) of me woke up and I asked my father
AAPKO SCHOOL AAANE KI KYA JARRORAT THI? AAP KYO AAYE?
(Why did you come to school and what was the need of that?)
Dad had no answer or he thought its useless to answer this question or he thought I had no right to ask this question or I don’t know what he thought but…
I went to the room and CRIED like hell..For the first Bunk , that huge punishment. Beaten in front of all (I wish all girls were absent on that day) . I felt so lonely. I felt my brother ,my father , principal, rakesh sir, everybody was against me. Everyone was against me.
I suddenly stopped crying and with all the bollywood influence , stood up ,wiped of my tears ,washed my face and in mirror I said to the stud in the mirror You have to show them what is bukning. I will be the best BUNKER of the locality/delhi/india/world. Forget the scale . I wanted to be the best. The very best.
The started the bunking expedition. Started with some light bunks initially . Passed time at video game parlours. Those game parlours were very popular around then (1999 around). I was an excellent player. Now some of you realized how I got spectacles. I did not study.
Anyways , then came breakthrough. Our school bus got discontinued for some reasons. We were very happy though!
I got my best friend for bunking or the helping hand. It was.
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DTC ALL ROUTE BUS PASS!!
It costed Rs.12.50 per month and you can travel anywhere in DTC buses. Anywhere means ANY WHERE.
So initially we went to my favorite place (It still is) Kamla Nagar Market. Roam around here and there and watch happening DU crowd and dream we will also become stud one day. DU has its own charm . And especially North Campus.
We used to take some rounds outside SRCC as some of my fellow bunkers had dreams of entering into it one day. I had no dreams like that. My dream was to be the best bunker.
But those places were not safe to hang around as most of my relatives lived nearby Kamla Nagar and my dad’s office was nearby. We were tired of hiding behind scooters and all as soon as we thought some relative/known was passing by. We were not at ease in those areas.And in school uniform we were easily identifiable as bunkers. I wanted ease and peace so that I could feel comfortable and think about life. My life , my future and more importantly my Next Bunk.
So I finally decided to change the place. And it was always my call as I was the organizer/coordinator of all the bunks. I used to do them with ease without any cell phones , no networking sites. It was simple face to face. Simple question . Chalna hai tto yes otherwise no. But once It is a yes , it can’t be changed. The penalty was . you will be ousted from the upcoming bunks. Though you could change a No to yes.They were so well planned that nobody Bunked any Bunks.
Now the venue was decide for next bunks. It was CHIDIYAGHAR! ZOO. The question to your mind would come ZOO? What . It was a logical place to go for several reasons.
1. The entry was only Rs 2 for whole day.
2. There used to be some foreigners always. We had a fascination to talk to them in their ENGLISH fluently. We had no interest in watching other species in zoo. We were interested in HOMO SAPIENS.
3. The MOST MOST MOST important , there were no relatives(except Monkeys),no jaankars and none of the bunkers had their Father’s working place nearby.
4. Nobody used to see us with suspect eyes there. As it was the place for school kids to come in School Uniform!
We were at ease.
There were operational issues. Zoo used to open around 10:00 am types. But we had to start at 7:00 am. So I finally decided to make full use of MUDRIKA. It’s a bus which starts and finishes off at the same bus stop. It completes a circle. So we used to get in Mudrika from AZADPUR and came back again at AZADPUR. I hope some of you know understood RING ROAD. It used to take 2 hrs. Then in the next turn we used to get down at ZOO. Thanks to my friend DTC ALL ROUTE BUS PASS.
We were kind of bored after 10-12 bunks in ZOO.
I have been born and brought up in Delhi , so have never visited villages. It was a dream always to go to villages and spend some time in fields and all. So we went to villages NARELA, SHAHBAAD DAIRY,KHURD,KHERA KHURD and all. Wherever my friend The Pass was able to take me.
I became so popular for bunks that anybody from any section ,who wanted to bunk , came to me and said bhai chalega. And BHAI kabhi mana nahi karte.
Soon I was bored as I never got caught. After the 3D experience. So the number of bunks reduced. As the school life was about to get over, I wanted to stay more in it rather than out of it. I ,like every other was slightly apprehensive about what would happen after school life. It was fun. I never wanted to miss the fun. So reduced the number of bunks from one per week to one per two weeks to one per….The school life was over.
I sincerely thank all to my co bunkers who have always been my side with my war against those who believe bunking is a crime.
My biggest thank is to the Government for providing DTC PASS , Mudrika, Nice Ring Road and a safe heaven like National ZOO. I think we used to feel the same in zoo as OSAMA in Abbottabad!
But the story does not end over here , I finished 2nd in the School in Academics. Topped in Economics and Home Science but Topped all Delhi (I guess) in bunking.
