The term was ending in 2 months time and school decided to take the
students of class 7 to class 9 on a picnic at a farmhouse. Dania was
sitting with her 2 friends near the pool when a boy from their class
came and told them that class 9 girls are in trouble and the teachers
have decided to punish all the girls of class 9 in school tomorrow.
Dania was shocked. The boy told them that there had been a food fight
near the swings. The headmistress was furious because of the wasted
food. There were some girls from class 9 involved. But they ran and hid
inside the rooms as the teachers came. So the class 8 girls told them
that class 9 girls did it. They didn't know the names of the girls, so
the teachers and headmistress have decided to punish all the girls of
class 9.
"What nonsense!!" Dania exclaimed. "Class 8 girls are
bitches, why did they have to tell. I am not going to take any
punishment because of some stupid girls."
The headmistress's
attitude could scare anyone. She lined up all the class 9 girls in the
farmhouse at the end of the picnic and gave a good scolding.
"Who were involved? Tell me now otherwise I will punish everyone in the school tomorrow. Confess and I will go easy."
Nobody squeaked. All the girls stood looking at the ground.
Why don't they confess, they will get everyone in trouble.
All other students were watching.
"One last chance. Anybody wants to confess?"
After 30 seconds of silence, the headmistress got angrier.
"Okay, make sure you all come to school tomorrow. If anyone of you is absent, she will fail the class, I will make sure of it."
Dania
could not sit still in the bus after the humiliation the senior most
girls in the picnic had to go through. She thought probably the
headmistress would make them do uthak baithaks outside her office as she
usually did. The headmistress often punished students that way. A 100
uthak baithaks outside the headmistress office would not be so
humiliating as she would be accompanied by 15 other girls and no other
student would be watching. Dania could not be more wrong.
The
next day when Dania went to Shipla teacher's tuition after school, a
girl from class 6 asked her with a bright smile, "Why were you
punished?"
The smile on her face was the indication of the level
of disgrace Dania had seen that day. Although this girl had seen Dania
doing uthak baithak and kneeling down many times, but now when she was
asking this question with so much amusement told Dania she could not go
any lower in degradation. She is now the ultimate manifestation of
Bangali murgi.
The whole school had watched as all the girls of class 9 knelt down in the assembly.
There they knelt holding their ears, while other classes went to their classes, line by line.
They
were made to kneel down for half an hour. Then they were made to stand
holding their ears for an hour in the corridor. Then they were assembled
in front of the headmistress's office. She came out with a long wooden
scale. Now all the girls thought that they would be given strokes on
their palms, but all were surprised as the first girl received a loud
thud on her buttocks. The headmistress was here to spank them. Dania
thought it would not hurt much, it was just making a loud sound. But
when Dania's turn came, she clenched her buttocks in anticipation, then
the scale landed on her butt. When the scale met her butt, "Ahhhhhh!"
came out of her mouth. She could not believe the pain. She did not rub
her hands on her butt as it would look shameful with a male peon and
security guard watching. Then round 2 started. The headmistress was
coming back for another stroke. Just as the scale kissed Dania's
buttocks again, she led out a cry and could not stop herself from
rubbing her ass. All the girls were rubbing now.
"Take them into
the assembly ground and make them murga." The headmistress told the PE
teacher, who had been in charge of the whole punishment up till now.
Dania was shocked. Every girl was. This could only be a threat. A way of scaring.
But
when they were led into the assembly ground, and the serious and stern
look on the PE teacher's face told them to assume the murga position,
the girls knew it was actually happening. No one wanted anymore beating.
They
were made murga in the assembly ground for almost half an hour.
When Dania was in murga position, she felt as if she had been stripped
naked in front of the whole school. There was nothing left. No layer of
self-respect, honour, dignity. She was as good as a raped girl. Becoming
murga in the school uniform was somewhat more humiliating than in home
clothes. None of the 16 girls had ever experienced it before. Dania did
not know who watched her. It was just before lunch time that they were
asked to get up. After break they were made to go back to their classes.
When Dania came home, she felt like a nothing. She had faced so much
humiliation, that even the maid Batool looked more respectable to her.
That was the last punishment she got that year.
[Chapter Six to come]
