The Turkish Cap

The school bell rang. Recess at last! We rushed
out of the classroom. I took the 'gulli ° out
of my satchel before I ran out. Khushal took
the ' c l a n d a a n d followed me. Panna, Raghubir,
Brijpal, Prakash, Kaushal, Bishen, Nityanand,
all dashed out, followed by others. We reached
the ground outside our school compound where
we usually played.
Prakash drew a big circle. Khushal entered it.
It was his turn to begin the game. He placed the
'gulli' in the centre of the circle, and took the
'danda to strike the gulli. The others took their
positions round the circle. Everybody's eyes were
on Khushal. He struck the 'gulli' hard. It flew out
of the circle and went quite far. None of us could
catch it.
Nityanand was the first to reach the 'gulli'.
Picking it up, he threw it back with all his strength.
Khushal struck hard again. It went flying in
another direction.
Bishen was fielding that side. He tried to catch
"Short stick used in the game of tip-cat (gullidanda).
" S t i c k used in the same game.
it but it slipped through his fingers. He picked it
up and threw it back towards Khushal. Khushal
once again hit it back.
It was my turn next. But the way Khushal was
hitting I felt my turn would never come. I would
have to wait till the next day. I was hoping Khushal
would miss just once. Then I would be able
to start. But Khushal was proving too good a
player for us.
Then Panna threw the 'gulli to Khushal. It did
not even reach the circle. Khushal struck it forcefully
towards Brijpal. Brijpal could not catch it
either. It should have been an easy catch. I cursed
him for missing it. Brijpal was also sorry foi
the slip. But what could he do now? He flung the
gulli back with a vengeance. Khushal didn't miss
this time either.
The 'gulli was now flying towards me. I was
ready to catch it. But it never came!
All of a sudden there was a lot of noise. A man
in kurtci* pyjama was standing in the middle of
the play field. His turkish cap was lying on the
ground, upside down. The 'gulli seemed to have
hit the cap on its way to me. The wonder of it
all was that the 'gulli' had landed inside the cap.
The man was furious. "You naughty boys! See,
what you have done. I will teach you a lesson,"
he shouted.
"Long loose shirt worn with pyjamas.

"I am sorry, Sir," Khushal said promptly. "I
did not do it deliberately. It just happened. But,
I am very sorry."
. "Is this your playground? Why don't you play
in your school compound?" the man shouted.
Brijpal went up to him. "Sir, we are sorry for
what happened. Our school compound is very
small."
"That is why we play here everyday," Bipin
added.
"And this is how you play here, isn't it?" the
man said wryly. "I'll go to your headmaster. Then
you will leam how to play and where to play."
Khushal and Brijpal pleaded. "Sir, please excuse
us. We will be careful in future."
The man did not appear to be satisfied. I
thought I could save the situation. I picked up
his cap to hand it over to him. He snatched it
from me. I could not remove the 'gulli from it.
Turning round, he started walking rapidly towards
the school. All of us followed him, begging
his pardon all the way. But he wpuld not listen.
I stole a glance at my friends. They all looked
mournful. I too was scared of the headmaster's
temper.
The man entered the school building, and went
straight to the headmaster's office. The peon outside
tried to stop him. He just brushed him aside
and went in. We could hear loud voices coming
from within. All of us were praying silently. We
had crept to the courtyard facing the headmaster's
room. We tried guessing the conversation they
were having and the consequences. Soon the
peon came and called us. One by one we entered
the headmaster's room.
"Who is responsible for all this?" he asked in
a thundering voice. "How many times have I told
you to keep within the school compound?"
We looked at one another. No one could say a
word. The headmaster raised his voice, "Are all
of you dumb? Why don't you speak up?"
I made bold to reply, "Sir, we are sorry. We
shall be careful in future."
The headmaster merely said, "Apologise to this
gentleman, all of you."
"We have been begging his pardon, Sir," it
was Brijpal.
"You must apologise in my presence," the
headmaster insisted.
We chorused, "We are very sorry, Sir."
"O.K. boys," the man said and turned towards
the headmaster. "And thank you, Sir." He looked
satisfied, and moved towards the door.
Just as he was going out and we were about to
leave, the headmaster asked, "Now, whose stroke
was it?"
I looked towards Khushal. He was looking at
me. I looked round. My heart was beating faster
and faster. But how could I blame my friend?
With a sinking feeling, I decided I would take the
blame. A faint smile played on the headmaster's
face. Somehow I felt it was not for any punishment
that the question was asked. I opened my
mouth to reply.
But Khushal was quicker. "Sir, it was my
stroke. I am very sorry."
"What a stroke!" the headmaster exclaimed.
"You strike the 'gulli', hit a man's cap, make it
fall, and then land the 'gulli' inside it! A master
player, no doubt!"
I could not suppress my laughter. But I could
not laugh in the headmaster's presence, either.
So, I checked myself and with some difficulty
managed a wide smile. When I looked round,
the others were also trying to suppress their laughter.
We were eager to go out and have a hearty
laugh. The man with the turkish cap also turned
round at the door. He too looked amused. Still
smiling he went away.
We trooped out of the room. Then we let ourselves
go.