<p>A recent viral video showing a Class 2 student being slapped for an hour by his classmates at the direction of the school principal in Uttar Pradesh took me back to my childhood days.</p>.<p>I was studying in a government middle school, and teachers back then were innovative when it came to punishing the errant pupils: making the students stand on the bench or out of the class, sitting in kukkutasana or cock pose, writing the home work 10 to 15 times, etc. Also, like the teacher in UP, getting students who failed to answer the questions slapped by those who got the right answer was quite common.</p><p><br>One day, angered by the din the students created, our class teacher decided to spring a surprise oral test on us.</p>.<p>The punishment for those who failed to answer would be decided later. None of the students could answer his question correctly until my turn came. I got up and gave the correct answer. He ordered me to slap all the students who couldn’t answer the question.</p>.<p>I had no other alternative but to slap my classmates. Starting from the back benches, I stared at them, slapping them one by one. The teacher stopped me in the middle and called me back to him. When I went and stood before him, he told me that I wasn’t carrying out the punishment effectively and that I wasn’t using my full force. Suddenly, his heavy hand landed on my right cheek like a hammer, and he said, “This is how you must slap.” Thereafter, I was asked to continue the slapping session.</p><p><br>I did it with whatever force I could muster, and I sat back in my seat. My head was still spinning and pounding with pain due to the effect of the slap I got from the teacher. In the eyes of the other students, I was a hero. But my own cheek told another story. On introspection, I realised that the ferocity and force of the slap that I received from the teacher were nowhere comparable to the slap my classmates got from me, who were the ones being punished.</p>.<p>For many days and months, I was asking myself the question of why I got a bigger punishment than others, despite giving a correct answer. The question haunted me every now and then. One fine day, my inner conscience gave me the answer that you deserved a bigger punishment because the ‘Divine Eye’ had seen you find the answer from the book before you gave the answer to the teacher. My ego told me, ‘Beta, the divine punishment for your mistakes is always bigger and harsher than the worldly punishments.’</p>
<p>A recent viral video showing a Class 2 student being slapped for an hour by his classmates at the direction of the school principal in Uttar Pradesh took me back to my childhood days.</p>.<p>I was studying in a government middle school, and teachers back then were innovative when it came to punishing the errant pupils: making the students stand on the bench or out of the class, sitting in kukkutasana or cock pose, writing the home work 10 to 15 times, etc. Also, like the teacher in UP, getting students who failed to answer the questions slapped by those who got the right answer was quite common.</p><p><br>One day, angered by the din the students created, our class teacher decided to spring a surprise oral test on us.</p>.<p>The punishment for those who failed to answer would be decided later. None of the students could answer his question correctly until my turn came. I got up and gave the correct answer. He ordered me to slap all the students who couldn’t answer the question.</p>.<p>I had no other alternative but to slap my classmates. Starting from the back benches, I stared at them, slapping them one by one. The teacher stopped me in the middle and called me back to him. When I went and stood before him, he told me that I wasn’t carrying out the punishment effectively and that I wasn’t using my full force. Suddenly, his heavy hand landed on my right cheek like a hammer, and he said, “This is how you must slap.” Thereafter, I was asked to continue the slapping session.</p><p><br>I did it with whatever force I could muster, and I sat back in my seat. My head was still spinning and pounding with pain due to the effect of the slap I got from the teacher. In the eyes of the other students, I was a hero. But my own cheek told another story. On introspection, I realised that the ferocity and force of the slap that I received from the teacher were nowhere comparable to the slap my classmates got from me, who were the ones being punished.</p>.<p>For many days and months, I was asking myself the question of why I got a bigger punishment than others, despite giving a correct answer. The question haunted me every now and then. One fine day, my inner conscience gave me the answer that you deserved a bigger punishment because the ‘Divine Eye’ had seen you find the answer from the book before you gave the answer to the teacher. My ego told me, ‘Beta, the divine punishment for your mistakes is always bigger and harsher than the worldly punishments.’</p>