Page:Calcutta Review Vol. II (Oct. - Dec. 1844).pdf/341

336 fish, tobacco, fruits, betel-nut, pawn, &c., which they present as offerings to the master. Or, they are positively encouraged, for his sake, to bring, that is, in reality, to purloin or steal wood, rice, salt, dhal, oil, &c., from home, or from anywhere else; seeing that those who succeed, by fair means or foul, in presenting such gifts most frequently, have the best chance of escaping the dreaded rod, the best chance of being praised for cleverness though the greatest dunces, for diligence though the greatest sluggards, and for knowledge though the greatest ignoramuses.

On the other hand, as might be expected, the system tends to generate the spirit of hatred, retaliation, and revenge towards the master. This spirit practically shows itself in various ways. For example, in preparing his hookah, it is a common trick for the boys to mix the tobacco with chillies and other pungent ingredients, so that when he smokes he is made to cough violently, while the whole school is convulsed with laughter;—or, beneath the mats on which he sits may be strewn thorns and sharp prickles which soon display their effects in the contortions of the crest-fallen and discomfited master;—or, at night, he is way-laid by his pupils, who, from their concealed position in a tree, or thicket, or behind a wall, pelt him with pebbles, bricks, or stones;—or, once more, they rehearse doggerel songs in which they implore the gods, and more particularly Kali, to remove him by death—vowing, in the event of the prayer being heard, to present offerings of sugar and cocoa-nuts.

Once more, the system, naturally, and even necessarily, leads the young to regard the Patshala, not as a place for healthful, renovative, mental exercise, but as a sort of dungeon or grievous prison-house, to escape from which is the chiefest of all ends, as the desire to do so is the most powerful of all instincts. Many, accordingly, are the pretexts and the expedients resorted to in order to escape the “durance vile” of scholastic imprisonment. The boy often runs off for several days to the house of a relation or friend at a distance, and, on his return, asseverates that he was sent there by his parents. To throw boiled rice on domestic vessels ceremonially defiles them;—hence, when a boy is bent on a day’s release from school, he peremptorily disobeys his admonishing mother, saying, “No; if you insist on my going I shall throw about the boiled rice”—a threat which usually gains him the victory. If a person of a different caste, or unbathed, or with shoes on his feet, touch the boiled rice or pot of another, it is polluted; hence, when a boy effects his escape from school, he often hastens to some kitchen, touches the boiled rice, or the pots in which it has been boiled, and thus