Swami And Friends Quotes
"He considered Monday specially unpleasant in the calendar. After the delicious freedom of Saturday and Sunday, it was difficult to get into the Monday mood of work and discipline."
"To Swaminathan existence in the classroom was possible only because he could watch the toddlers of the Infant Standards falling over one another."
"He had a table on which all his things, his coat, cap, slate, ink-bottle, and books, were thrown in a confused heap."
"His reverie was disturbed. He felt a terrible pain in the soft flesh above his left elbow."
"He shuddered at the very thought of school: that dismal yellow building; the fire-eyed Vedanayagam, his class-teacher; and the headmaster with his thin long cane."
"The one conclusion that I can come to is that you do not want non-Christian boys in your school."
"It was with pleasant surprise that he stumbled into his own set, which he had thought was not at school."
"Schools were meant for more serious things like geography, arithmetic, Bible, and English."
"When he answered a question, he did it in a tenth of the time that others took to do it."
"He had no doubt that it was going to be drawn right to the bottom of the circling eddies."
"In a few days Swaminathan got accustomed to his position as the enemy of Somu and company."
"He took a pinch of earth, uttered a prayer for the soul of the ant, and dropped it into the gutter."
"The indifference of the gods infuriated him."
"He secretly slipped it into his pocket and, after shaking an empty hand outside the window, returned to his duty at the desk."
"If one has got to read even during holidays, I don’t see why holidays are given at all."
"You are a fine lady, Mother, why don’t you leave us poor folk alone?"
"Father, will you tell me if the mangoes were ripe?"
"We are not taught this kind of thing in our school."
"You kept us waiting till now. Why did you not come earlier and tell us that you could not find them?"
"Work was rather heavy in the Board High School."
"Every teacher thought that his was the only subject that the boys had to study."
"When the four-thirty bell rang, Swaminathan slipped his pencil into his pocket and stretched his cramped aching fingers."
"The four-thirty bell held no special thrill."
"At the end of this you ran home to drink coffee, throw down the books, and rush off to the cricket field which was a long way off."
"Swaminathan was overjoyed to hear this good news."
"He has spent hundreds of rupees on this team."
"I don't care to have every street mongrel come and tell me what to do in my school with my boys."
"He sat under a tree on the roadside to collect his thoughts."
"He felt a momentary ecstasy as he realized that he had come to the trunk road."
"He felt like bursting into music out of sheer relief."
"He kept tottering onwards, knowing well that it was a meaningless, aimless march."
"He called to his father, mother, granny, Rajam, and Mani. His shrill, loud cry went through the night."
"Swaminathan laughed and laughed till he collapsed with exhaustion."
"Swaminathan stared blankly before him. He could not comprehend his situation."
"Swaminathan had a sense of supreme well-being and security."
"He was flattered by the number of visitors that were coming to see him."
"Father went out with one of his friends. Before going, he said, ‘Swami, I hope I shall not have to look for you when I come back.’"
"A great sense of desolation seized Swaminathan at once."
"The world seemed to have become blank all of a sudden."
"He swore that he would never go there again."
"The thought of Lawley Extension without Rajam appalled him with its emptiness."