A lesson in responsibility

Our school auditorium

We graduated to the auditorium in the second standard. Now we could see the entire school campus, a bird's eyeview. There was plenty of air in the new place, but it lacked the ambience of a class room. We could overhear what students of other classes were taught. The clustered class rooms looked like a big honey comb; and I felt like a bee in one of its tiny cells. A great buzz of the bees was always there; at intervals and noon the bees would fly around as if the nectar is near.
Life and times in the second standard was different as teachers demanded a greater responsibility; you are no more a kid and have graduated to a senior.
Along with the class, many other things also got promoted to the next level. These included lessons, home works and punishments. Losses were many. Our privilege to board the school bus along with the nursery kids was taken off; at noon we had to fight with others at the common tap to wash our hands. To add the woes, Sr.Anslem always kept her eyes on us; every movement was watched, and were scolded for a minor lapse.
But my school days became more responsible, as my brother Madhu also joined the school in the UKG. I had to go and see him at the lunch break, and my every visit was registered and presented to mother at home. I would seek the help of any of my friends, usually Roy or Sarath. We would go through the untarred road through the left side of the auditorium, (now the topography has totally changed). We were not allowed to go through the corridor in front of the first standard, down the steps. I would look through the nursery window, till he sees me to get an aknowlegdement that my visit has been registered. Sr.Anslem's sanctions or any other unforeseen circumstances did not account for an excuse. I have to be there at noon. That was my mother's order.
One day I was not able to get out of class. There was a student strike in the high school and Sr.Anslem became more vigilant. Usually such student strikes did not affect the functioning of the LPS; but Sr.Anslem imposed more restrictions during such days. The bees were not allowed to fly around at noon. We would shut inside our hives; our wings fanning all the time for the air, and resonating the big hive with our great buzz.
I told Roy, that I wanted to go and see my brother. Roy said that the Queen Bee won't allow. She would have allowed us, but we feared to go near her; we were actually afraid of the cane that she would hide between the frills of her long white skirt.
We did not want to suffer.
So we decided to take a short cut, down the steps.
We had already found an excuse, that both of us had stomach ache, and we wanted to go the toilet which was adjacent to the kindergarten.
But the little bees were caught in the flight and produced before the Queen bee. She fletched her wings and took out the sting. We got one each just beneath the buttocks. The Queen bee knew that it would be difficult for us to sit on the bench, so she generously allowed us to stand outside the office room for an hour.
Roy did not speak anything.
He did not even look at me.
I felt sad and wept. Roy never accompanied me to nursery after the incident.
I learned three things about responsibility, which was also the very first lessons about life, that school life taught me .

1. Responsibility means hardship, suffering.
2. There are no short cuts to become responsible.
3. No body can share your responsibility.