The whispering subsided as Singh marched in with a slender cane, taped at both ends to prevent splintering. The boys knew what to do and did it without any fuss and much grace: step down from the chair one at a time, move to the front of the room, bend over a chair, take the strokes without flinching. Following the advice given to him in the staffroom years ago when he had joined, Singh went for the area just below the buttocks. This enabled him to inflict maximum pain with least effort.

Sachdeva was the only boy who created a scene. He giggled, cried, bent over, stood up, bent over again. Singh called for two boys to hold his hands down. ‘Sissy,’ said someone; ‘Chickass,’ said another. Jasper was up last, getting two extra for bluffing and insolence.

Singh sat down, exhausted and a little short of breath. He suddenly felt very old—ten years ago he could have caned a hundred boys and not felt a thing. His right arm hurt a little. The class sat in silence. Those angling for prefectship in senior school took out their books and pretended to study. Most just sat and stared into space.

The lesson was almost over when Singh saw Jasper pass something to Pervez. What caught his eye was the flash of colour, like a paradise flycatcher streaking across a drab landscape. In a school of grey uniforms and brown-papered notebooks, the slightest hint of colour stood out like a rainbow. That was how Miss Das had caught Singh’s eye in the first place.

He walked towards Pervez for a closer look. ‘What did you just put in your bag?’

‘Nothing, sir.’

‘Stand up when I’m talking to you.’

Pervez stood up.

Singh turned to Jasper. ‘What did you just give him?’

‘Nothing, sir.’

‘You’re lying again, you bastard,’ said Singh pushing Pervez aside and reaching for his bag under the chair. He opened the buckles and overturned it letting the contents rain on Pervez’s head: pencil stubs, a broken ruler, blue Sandoz rubbers, compasses, textbooks, dust balls, small stones, a piece of electrical cord, a rubber band catapult, paper pellets and four issues of Debonair magazine.