It was maths class on the second last day of school. Students sat in the class, impatiently, eyeing the clock, and hoping for the Bell to ring a few moments earlier.
The monotonous voice of their 'depressing' maths teacher was evidently made into background noise, as kids focused their energy to discuss the upcoming holidays animatedly.
Their present teacher was a substitute for their original maths teacher, and was not very popular among the students. He was taking place of a widely popular teacher and a decade-old member of the school.
He was also known to dish out punishments without cause, to start complaining about his colleagues in front of kids, and even diminishing the authority of their original teacher. He didn't command respect as some individuals do, and the unruly batch of 14 year olds were juvenile enough to ignore him completely and play the fool in his class.
The hands of the clock seemed to be glued to it's position. And students irritation became more apparent by the moment. It seemed that their 'torture session' would continue for another half hour.
Much to the delight and surprise of the students and shock of their teacher, the bell rang 27 minutes too soon. Initially an unanimous cry of joy erupted the room, as everyone started celebrating early dismissal.
Their joy was short-lived as a second bell followed the first, and the third bell followed the lead of the first and second. Three bells in a row signalled an emergency. An emergency evacuation to be precise.
Looks of rejoice was wiped out of everyone's face, and expressions of fear and shock took its place. A cry of despair could be heard from their teacher, who looked helplessly in both directions and then, to the surprise of the students, chickened out and ran out of the room.
This scene was comical, and they wanted to discuss this at length. But there was no time to lose. Children knew exit drills well, and the seemingly immature and overly impatient batch of tenth graders, took a calm lead.
They filed out of the classroom on command, and, keeping a calm composure, headed for the stairs. Reassuring the juniors, the tenth graders managed to swiftly lead the seven and eight graders to the emergency exit, while the teachers dealt with the more troublesome primary school.
Making sure that they left no man behind, the teachers escorted the scared but chattering children out of the building. People, though first suspicious of the whole incident of being a drill, were quickly convinced otherwise when roumors of a fire breakout or an huge earthquake began circulating.
Despite the exciting but scary turn of events, the whole school managed to keep a brave face. They all lined sensibily in the field, reassuring each other. Meanwhile, the substitute maths teacher was found in the far corner of the field.
Everyone remained silent as head teachers voice was heard across the school speakers:
"This is not a drill. An earthquake has caused this evacuation. I am proud of the way you swiftly and calmly followed our instructions and evacuated the building. If anyone you know is missing, kindly report it to your nearest teacher. Keep calm and sit in the field itself."
Thankfully, all children were safely outside, and the tenth graders looked about amused as they remembered their teacher's reaction. He was even more scared than the fifth graders.
The tenth graders reported their maths teacher's peculiar behavior to their coordinator. No one knows what
happened when he was confronted, but that was the last that teacher was seen in the campus.
Principal made this announcement later that day:
"I'm pleased to announce that Mr Das (the original maths teacher) is deemed fit enough by his physical therapist to resume his position in our school. He will be joining us after the holidays. "
This was as good as a send off the tenth graders could hope for.
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