A quarter more. Swami must do something drastic in fifteen minutes. Samuel had scowled at him and snubbed him, but it was hardly adequate. Swami felt that with a little more effort, Samuel could be made to deserve dismissal and imprisonment.
The teacher came to the end of a section in the textbook and stopped. He proposed to spend the remaining few minutes asking questions to the boys. He ordered the whole class to put away their books, and asked someone in the second row, ‘What’s the date of Vasco da Gama’s arrival in India?’
Swaminathan shot up and screeched, ‘1648, December 20.’
‘You needn’t shout,’ said the teacher. He asked, ‘Has your headache made you mad?’
‘I have no headache now, sir,’ replied the thundered brightly.
‘Sit down, you idiot.’ Swami was thrilled at being called an idiot. ‘If you get up again I will cane you,’ said the teacher.
Swami sat down, feeling happy at the promise. The teacher then asked, ‘I am going to put a few questions on the Mughal period. Among the Mughal emperors, whom would you call the greatest, whom the strongest and whom the most religious emperor?’
Swami got up. As soon as he was seen, the teacher said emphatically, ‘Sit down.’
‘I want to answer, sir.’
‘Sit down.’
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