7. Warden

Seventh chapter in In Search of Swami series

Rama Krishnan was typical old school with his safari suit and thick rimmed glasses. He looked like Major Sundarajan from early K Balachander films, except with his bald head. He was the warden of the hostel during my first year.

He wasn’t the strict kind of warden that we usually see or hear in films and stories. He was very friendly with students. May be because of his age and looks, everyone respected him a lot. As I said in my previous chapters, everything went clockwork and there was no need for an external force to control us and moreover we students were preoccupied with our work.

Nothing major unwanted incidents happened that year, but something big happened in coming year, which will divide the school. We will talk about that incident later.

Rama Krishnan used to have food with the students. Every afternoon during lunch he used to sit on the table, while we will be seated in six rows on the floor. Half way through that year, Varadarajan, who was History teacher in the school used to come along with Rama Krishnan to have lunch at hostel mess.

Varadarajan looked slim, clean shaved looked like bit thin Ajith Kumar. He had those gold colour rimed thin glasses and a soft voice. He used to quietly come with our warden have lunch and quietly leave. At that time we never realized that there was an Anniyan hidden inside that Ambi.

We experienced that Anniyan during my 6th standard, when he became the hostel warden. Rama Krishnan retired. Varadarajan was a master blaster. Cane was his weapon and the store room was his play ground.

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Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

**Above image by the blogger