Rolling Stone

Don Bosco Boys' School is situated in Matunga area of Bombay city.
The campus is massive. There are two cricket pitches, one hockey
ground, a basketball court and a volleyball pitch. There is an area
called the 'gym' which is actually a skating area. The primary section
and the secondary section are separated by a beautiful church. The
grounds are always lush green and inspiring. People from all over
Bombay city want to admit their children in this great institution. Don
Bosco Matunga is without doubt one of the top five schools in
india.
Andy had recently arrived in Bombay. His father worked in a public
sector bank. The gentleman had recently been appointed the Chief
Officer of the bank's only computer centre in the country in Bombay.
His family had followed him to the city. Andy was his only son and a
student of seventh grade. Andy had been a good student in Calcutta
where they stayed before. His father wanted him to join a school like
Don Bosco where all-round development was encouraged. Andy appeared for
a test and cleared it. He was therafter interviewed by the principal of
Don Bosco, Mr Vaz. It was really a formality. From the next day Andy
became a proud student of Don Bosco.
Andy was admitted into division B of standard 7 for which he was
eligible. However things were somewhat tough for the new student. There
were benches laid all over the classroom on each of which two students
perched themselves. No one in Andy's class was willing to let him sit
next to themselves on the first day. As a result he spent the first two
hours in his new school in the spacious library. Then, in the lunch
break a plump boy made him an offer. And he simply couldn't refuse.
This boy Sunny would let Andy sit next to him if he handed over his
entire lunch to him. Andy had no second thoughts. From that day till
the module tests Andy went without lunch. After the tests were over and
the results were known, the class teacher spoke to him for the first
time. Andy had secured the highest marks in mathematics and that made
him somewhat noticeable. He mentioned his seating problems to the
teacher and was assigned a permanent place. In two months time he
regained the ten kilos he had lost. His results kept getting better and
at the end of the year he was placed third in the class. A very strange
thing happened during the year. One day when checking the school
notice-board for standard 7 he detected his name in the standard 7
hockey team. Andy did not even know how to hold a hockey stick. Playing
the game for the school was entirely out of question. He made urgent
enquiries with the hockey captain Randolph. Randolph admitted that it
was he who put Andy's name into the squad. He had felt that it was
natural for a tall, well-built person like Andy to play hockey in the
city of Bombay. Andy was sorry to disappoint Randolph.
The next year was full of activity for Andy and his classmates. They
were now the 'Seniors' in this very visible school. It was like they
were carrying the flag. Andy was placed in standard 8C. His first
problem was within the class. His teacher Mrs Pinto disliked him. And
what a dislike it was. No matter what he did he would be scolded for
it. There were some really bad moments. When Andy gave Mrs Pinto some
flowers on her birthday she said they were second-hand. Everyone other
than Andy was selected by her to attend a youth seminar. Things reached
such a point that Andy began to believe that Mrs Pinto really had
something against him. She took Mathematics and he was given 75 in a
test when he had actually made no mistakes at all. After much argument
Andy had 100/100 next to his name. This was also the year of Bapat. For
Andy that is. Bapat was the school cricket captain. Andy had enrolled
in the trials as a fast bowler. He was selected and that is how he came
to know Bapat. Bapat taught him many things. The first of these was
that the essence of great leadership lay in efficient teamwork. Bapat
always said that each member must be made aware of his importance. That
person must be unequivocally encouraged to perform his allotted duty.
Bapat was not a mangement guru just a great leader of men. The days
Andy spent in Bapat's camp were among the best in his life.
Andy was now fourteen years old. In the ninth standard he was now Don
Bosco's brightest star. He was not only good in academics but a decent
cricketer. Add to this the fact that he was also on the school debating
team. Not everyone took all this happily. Some of the boys particularly
repeaters threatened to beat him up. One of them a giant called
Mookerjee actually gave him a thrashing. Holding Andy's head in his
giant palm Mookerjee struck it against the wall of the toilet many
times. But Andy was smart enough to land a kick between Mookerjee's
legs. After that the bullies kept away from him.
At the end of standard nine the students of Don Bosco become eligible
to participate in the most exciting event in the school-the election.
Before that they can vote but not offer themselves as candidates. As
Andy was preparing for the annuals the elections were also approaching.
In fact elections are held the day after exams end. There were two
clear candidates for school captain this time. One was Ronald Fonseca.
The other was the outsider, Andy Smith. There were no campaigns to
speak of. The candidates would speak to the electorate just before the
actual election process. Often, if not always the election speech would
determine the final result.
The exams had ended yesterday and today was the all-important day. The
students were gathered in the auditorium in full strength. At exactly
nine-thirty the proceedings began. The first to speak was Ronald. As
always he was full of himself. He waxed eloquent on all his
achievements academic or otherwise. He also said that he had served the
school as an ordinary student and should be given an opportunity to
lead it as school captain. Andy was next. His speech was brief. He
emphasized the fact that he had been part of Don Bosco for only three
years. He had faced difficulties, he had found obstacles. But the
school was a wonderful place to grow up in. He was proud to be a
Boscoite and would always be. Very soon votes were taken on designated
ballot-forms. The results were declared an hour later. The verdict was
clear. By a landslide margin of 75\% Andy Smith was declared the new
captain of Don Bosco Boys' School, Matunga.