Caught in the act

As I have stayed in a hostel since I was 12, I was exposed to the pranks and additives of the world quite early. My smart ?! friends of th...

As I have stayed in a hostel since I was 12, I was exposed to the pranks and additives of the world quite early. My smart ?! friends of the hostel always took the lead and I followed them unquestionably. I simply couldn8217;t help being brainwashed by them. And in certain circumstances they did use words and competitions like adventure8217;, bravery8217; or machoism8217; which were enough to provide me in doing what they wanted me to.

Few examples which I shared with my troop out of those jacks8217; were going for night functions, running away after the hostel superintendent had slept. Of course, I didn8217;t dare to go to the theatre which my more adventurous friends did and were also caught. Then there was changing of seat-plan in the examination hall. We used to enter the examination halls at night there were no rods in the windows after Sir had slept and changed them according to our wish, and in the process either we friends would sit close to one another or would bring certain8217; girls close to our seats.

By the final year of class ten, my gurus8217; already had mastered the arts of smoking, chewing tobacco and even drinking. But as far as chewing tobacco is concerned, I couldn8217;t master that and had to keep on spitting.

On a certain day, I had taken it just before our class had started. The bell had rung and I therefore was about to spit it away. But then came my guru8217; who insisted in my going to the class with the tobacco saying, 8220;Can8217;t you do that little job?8221; He said that it would be my test that day. If I could keep the tobacco throughout my class, I would come to their rank.

I gave in and accepted his verdict and in I went considering it to be my battlefield. But as I couldn8217;t spit, I had to swallow the juice of the tobacco. I felt a little dizzy. But there was that test which I was undergoing. I had to prove that I was no less macho than my guru8217;. But things began deteriorating. And finally that happened 8211; that very thing which I was afraid of 8211; vomit. I vomited at the very heart of the classroom in front of everyone, even our teacher.

I couldn8217;t attend my class anymore that day nor could the others. And thus that was the end of my relation with tobacco and also my good reputation in the entire school. And now although I feel that all those pranks were funny, I also feel bad and sorry and ashamed a great deal. I now try to console myself with Samuel Johnson8217;s words to justify those actions of mine which say, 8220;Courage is a quality so necessary for maintaining virtue that it is always respected, even when it is associated with vice,8221; even though I know that, 8220;Courage consists not in hazarding without fear, but being resolutely minded in a just cause,8221; as told by Plutarch.