Page 131 - Lavender-B-7

Thanks to Keshta, none of us could hear more of the story.

By then it was ten o’clock. Dong dong, the school bells rang, and we had to return to our
classrooms. As soon as I went there, I spotted Dashu, entering the room, a huge grin on

his face. We all told him, ‘Did you hear? How Nabu was attacked by dacoits yesterday?’

Immediately Dashu threw his books down, stamped his
feet, waved his arms about and started laughing, ‘Hee
hee hee, ho ho ho, khee khee khee.’ Laughing like a mad
person he sat with a thump on the floor. Then he held
his stomach and rolled around, all the time dissolving in
fresh gales of laughter, khee khee khee, hee hee hee, ho

ho ho.

We watched him, astonished. When panditmoshai came,
1
Dashu was still laughing. We were thinking, ‘Has he
finally gone completely mad?’

After a few minutes of this rolling around, Dashu seemed
to calm down. He picked up his books and sat on his
seat. Panditmoshai asked, ‘Why were you laughing?’

Dashu pointed to Nabin and said, ‘Because I saw him.’

Panditmoshai was not amused at all. He scolded Dashu
roundly and sent him off to a corner as punishment. But Dashu did not care. For one hour

he kept hiding his face behind a book and giggling away.

During tiffin break, Nabu caught hold of Dashu. ‘Hey, Desho! What was the meaning of
that? Why were you laughing?’

Dashu said, ‘Of course, I will laugh. If only you had seen how you had danced yesterday
with that basket on your head.

Then you would be rolling around like me as well.’

We shouted, ‘What do you mean? Who danced with a basket on his head?’

Dashu shrugged. ‘Don’t you people know? There, ask Keshta and Jogai. They told me not
to tell anyone.’

Annoyed, I asked him, ‘Why don’t you tell us properly what happened yesterday.’

Dashu said, ‘Last evening Nabu was walking alone by the big
garden of the Sheths. Just then two boys-who-cannot-be-named grin: smile broadly
ran up to him, put a basket on his head, sprayed water all over stamped: brought down
(one’s foot) heavily on the
him and ran off.’ ground
gale: an outburst of laughter
1 a respectable term for teacher
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