School Rulez
Who did you choose today?
About
At some point in our school lives, we all have faced disappointment. Disappointment with our syllabus, our teachers, our peers or even with our leaders. The student council that represents us has a very crucial role to play in our school lives. They listen to our problems, convey them to the authorities, and together, we all find and implement the solutions OR… well, that’s what they are supposed to do. When 3 smart individuals of Ultimate High School, Delhi, come together to decide the future of their fellow students, they try everything to help them. But you know what they say, right? Help yourself before you help others? Looks like they took it too seriously here.
Ultimate High School is a prestigious school in the heart of New Delhi. Every student here dreams of becoming a part of its student council, at least once in their life. It brings with it, responsibility, respect and most importantly, power. Historically, the alumni of the school who have been a part of the student council, have received admission offers from the top institutes around the world. This is because if they succeed in their role as council members, they receive a Letter of Recommendation from their principal who has created a mark for herself in the world of education. After a rigorous process, out of 62 applicants, 3 students made it to the council. Akanksha Sinha, the daughter of one the trustees of the school, Abhimanyu Olla, the popular boy who struts around the campus with his guitar around him, and Dhruv Malhotra, the all-rounder and batch topper. Despite the rigorous selection process, their batch mates are not convinced of their selections. Dhruv is the only one who has a good reputation in the batch as everyone respects his sincerity. The three of them come together for their first council meeting,
“I think we should do something for incentivizing the teachers… like a monthly rewards and recognition event for them?”, Akansha says as she twists her hair wrapped around her fingers.
“Oh hello!”, Dhruv interrupted as he continued to tune his guitar, “We are the student council not the teacher’s assistant. We have something more important to deal with first.”
“Thank you, Abhimanyu! I thought I was the only one concerned about the quality of the canteen food,” Dhruv sighed.
“Oho, Dhruv, we are talking about sections C and D yaar. God knows how you get all those marks”, Akansha rolled her eyes.
“ Yes, dekho, A is sorted because they are mostly our friends, B… well they are too much into their Art and drama… and, to be honest, half of them are crazy about me”, a wry smile escaped Abhimanyu, “but section and C and D will be difficult to manipulate.”
“They didn’t even show up on our felicitation ceremony. How rude!”, exclaimed, Akanksha.
I have an idea… let’s throw a party for the entire batch! I have learnt this new song that I am dying to perform.
Abhi, mid-term exams are in a week. Who is going to show up?, questioned Dhruv
Uh everyone except you, nerd! I think a pre-exam party is a great idea… I’m already stressed and I need something to make me feel better…”
Hahaha please Akanksha, I’m sure you are already thinking about what you will wear at the party! and Dhruv, dont be a wuss.
Okay, I guess!, said Dhruv
The preparation for the party begins in full swing. Thanks to the epic promotion on social media everybody is talking about it…
Soon the day comes. A night full of music, dance, romance and drinks. The teens have a good time and to Dhruv’s surprise, almost the entire batch shows up. The next day, all their social media accounts blow up with photos from the previous night.
Basking in the glory of hosting an amazing party, the council meets again the next Monday.
“Guys I have some big news!” Akansha takes a break from filing her nails, “The party was just so good that I can finally see some signs of trust from section C and D.”
Abhimanyu removing his earphones enquires, “Woah, what’s up?”
“After the party, Rani from section C and Pia from section D came to me. They were talking about how Meenakshi ma’am is troubling them with lot of work and very less marks in English. So… they would want us to do something about it.” The grin on Akansha’s face couldn’t be contained.
But Dhruv didn’t seem convinced. He stood up from his chair with a shrug, “Wait a minute… that’s not true. She is an excellent teacher and has been the HOD for English for the last 3 years. I agree the workload is more but, if it were’nt for her I would not have improved in English so much.
“God, Dhruv, when will you ever learn?! If we get their teacher changed, they’ll finally be on our side. One step closer to the LOR! Think about it”
Before Dhruv could defend himself, Abhimanyu starts laughing at Akansha, “Arrey, teacher is not good toh, teacher hi hata do (remove the teacher itself?)? Next they’ll say that exams are too tough, so should we remove that also?”
“Exactly!”, Dhruv was reassured to have Abhimanyu’s support, “We can’t rely on such quick fixes for winning their trust. And why are we in such a hurry anyway? Let’s think of something else na?
“And most importantly”, Abhimanyu added, “Akansha, you think they’ll let us do that? I mean she is the HOD after all?”
“Um… hello! Did you forget who my mother is? And besides, we are for the student’s, right? So we must put their problems forward. And Dhruv, I don’t know about you, but I really need that LOR. Everyone knows that my mom is one of the trustees of the school but here, she will not be able to help me. Plus, what else can we do??
“That is true yaar Dhruv. I have applied to the Trinity School of Music and they will soon mail Princi for her recommendation. I would really like us to have made some major development by then.”
“I don’t know guys…won’t we be responsible if our friends don’t score well?
“I’m not sure… who knows…”
“Honestly, I don’t know either, but we’ll cross that bridge when we need to. So can we just do this right now?” Abhimanyu seemed to have gotten a bit restless.
The team decided to go ahead with the plan. Through Akanksha’s mother, they were able to get Meenakshi ma’am removed from teaching the two classes. The decision was so abrupt that Meenakshi ma’am could sense that some internal politics was at play. Therefore, being the HOD, she felt extremely humiliated and gave her resignation. Soon the news spread, and the council members gained praise from a few, while there were others who were not happy about their teacher leaving the school. Seeing the rising discontent among students, the council met to discuss this.
Dhruv put down his library books with a thud, “Guys I told you that she is a good teacher, and this will not workout. Koi mera LOR bacha lo!” exclaimed Dhruv, begging his team to help save his LOR.
Akanksha picking up her nail paint says, “Dhruv yaar, look what you did. Now I’ll have to re-do my nails … and please, will you just relax. It’s not that bad.”
“ Really?! You realize that if we get section C and D to like us now, but section A and B withdraw their support, then all of this got us nowhere? They are really going to grill us in the town hall next week.”
“Guys, I have an idea”, Abhimanyu breaks his silence.
“Not another party Abhi”, Dhruv slumps on the chair.
“Arrey listen na, how about we make you our spokesperson for the next townhall?… Akansha, dont be confused. See, we’ll portray him as our leader and people already respect him so much that they’ll believe him. After all, topper hai bhai apna. What say, guys?”
“Leader as in? I don’t get it.”
“Akansha, how difficult is it to get this? See, he is a part of so many societies’; he’s the President of the science club which has literally everyone from section A; football captain toh woh hai hi, and he speaks so well… then why not?
“Don’t list my credentials. I know what I am. But how will this benefit them?
“Bro, just see how this can benefit us. They like you so if they were to believe that you supported this idea, then we can get them on our side, right? They anyway don’t like Akanksha and me much, but you can help us. Akansha yaar, samjha na isko (Akansha, please convince Dhruv ya)”
“We are a team Dhruv, with the same goal. You do this for us right now and it could solve our problems.”
“Look, I can’t risk getting a low grade for Service to School, and I really need that LOR, so I am up for anything. You guys think I can do it?
“Of course, bro. Dont worry, we’ll prepare you for it”, Abhimanyu said resting his arm on Dhruv’s shoulder.
The town hall is a quarterly meet that the council members have with their batch to listen to their concerns and discuss ways to resolve them. The council came up with a strategy and decided what Dhruv was going to say and how he’ll help the entire team win the trust of the batch.
Finally, comes the day of reckoning. Dhruv stands at the podium, removes his spectacles and starts off in a serious tone.
“Hi friends, thank you for coming. Before we start with the questions, I would like to address a few things. I am sure you are wondering about what happened with Meenakshi ma’am. Let me tell you, all of us here completely agree that she was a fantastic teacher. But, as your friends, we believe that there should not have been so much work pressure. This an important phase and spending too much time on English might affect your preparation in other subjects. We care about your well-being. We want you to get time to think on your own, participate in extra-curriculars and have fun too. How do you think I manage to score so well? I study as much as required and then spend enough time playing football and relaxing. Meenakshi ma’am was wonderful but her pedagogy was old school. Perhaps she resigned because she had come to realise that. That is all I wanted to say… and oh last thing, we are planning to have a batch picnic on the day of the results of the final exams. We shall now open the floor to you all. Any questions?”
Nobody raised their hand. Only a few of them started to clap. Then the discussion diverted to deciding the location for the picnic. The townhall ended peacefully.
Bro, just see how this can benefit us, they like you so if they were to believe that you supported this idea then we can get them on our side right?
The council realized that their strategy was working. They continued to get all their decisions announced by Dhruv. The other students were happy with the council. Within 3 months, the council had gotten an extension on 3 assignments, 1 test postponed and added another half hour to the sports period.
The students are supposed to fill a monthly barometer to give feedback to the council members. Evidently, their rating went up every month. This was good news, as this rating was what influences the LOR that they would receive. The council members were feeling confident and were busy preparing for exams during the study leave before the finals. Abhimanyu and Akanksha received their LOR’s as their prospective college had sent a request for it already.
After the exams, the Principal called the council members for a meeting, and she was in no mood for pleasantries.
“I don’t know what you all are up to. You want to make the teachers the bad guys, go ahead, but the consequences are being faced by the students. Do you want to know the average marks scored by your batch? 65%. Yes, Mr. Dhruv, according to your plan, the students should have scored well like you right? Then let me tell you, only you and six other students are above 90% this time. So, can I get an explanation? Or do you think another picnic tomorrow will solve the issue?””
The council members remained silent.
The following day, as the results came out, the students were not happy. They immediately begin to blame the council members for this. The council needed to act fast and curb the murmurs. The team announced a batch meeting for the next day and came together to discuss about it.
“SOS! SOS! SOS!”, Akanksha was frantically biting her nails.
Abhimanyu was vigorously shaking his knees. “Akanksha yaar, please just relax and let us think”
“Relax? Abhi, you know how my grades have gone down this term? All because of stupid English.”
“Bola tha don’t get rid of Meenakshi ma’am.”
“Just shut up ya Dhruv. You toh have got 95% na? So be happy and let us think what to do now.”
“Nothing doing guys, I have a simple plan. We go out there tomorrow, tell them that it’s the teachers who are against us and play the victim card.”
“Matlab? You want us to make them go against the teachers? Please yaar I can’t deal with your plans now. My parents have already threatened me that they will stop my football if I don’t sort things at school. MIT also hasn’t called me yet and if we go against the teachers then how will I get my LOR?? Ugh how did I get into this mess?!
“Dhruv, I understand, trust me. But we have no other option, because honestly, we did mess up… party and then ma’am left, then the extra sports period… I mean, even I hardly focused on the exams this time. But yeh sab we can’t tell them na?
“Wow now you see a problem with all this? What was I saying all this time? You guys have got your LOR na so why would you care!?”
“Relax Dhruv, see you are anyway an all-rounder and you have got good grades also then there is no way that you won’t get it. Plus…it’s not just your decision, right? We are all together in this.”
There was silence in the room. Dhruv was confused and agitated. He didnt know what to do. “Fine… if you guys think it will work…I just can’t think anymore right now.”
The next day at the batch meeting, Dhruv comes to the podium, with his head bowed and a shaky voice, “Hi friends. It is sad, what has happened. If you think we did not notice how harsh the teachers have been with checking of the papers, be assured that we have.”
“Yes, a lot of questions from the maths paper were also not discussed in class before”, Akansha added.
“Exactly!”, Abhimanyu didn’t miss a beat. “Even the pol science paper was extremely lengthy.”
Emboldened by their support, Dhruv raised his voice, “Do you all think this a coincidence?”
The audience looked puzzled.
“We are not going to let the teachers be unfair to us. We are going to stand up for what is right. But we need your support”, Dhruv could feel a rush of adrenaline as those words flowed out of him.
Abhimanyu stood beside his leader and joined him, “If we don’t say something now, we will be the ultimate losers. We need your support.”
“We shall boycott our classes tomorrow on wards and protest what has happened with us” Akansha addressed the crows. “We need your support.”
The students get agitated and start clapping and cheering. A protest is then organised against the teachers. Students would be in the corridor during class time and would hold banners saying, “We want revaluation”, “Fair grading is our right”, “Is this a revenge?”
This went on for 3 days till the principal decided to take the matter into her own hands. She called Dhruv for a meeting.
“Dhruv, you had applied for a scholarship at MIT right?
“Oh yes ma’am. I was really worried about it. But now that — “
“Well, yes, they have asked me to be your referee and if I think you are a suitable candidate”, Principal Mam interrupted him. “I just called you in to let you know that I am afraid, I will not be able to go ahead with the process.”
As if someone snatched the light out of his eyes. “But why ma’am? What is the issue? I have been an all-rounder and even this term, I have topped the batch. I really need this scholarship. And all this…it was not just my decision, there are two others with me in the council, what about that?”
“You should have thought about that before blaming the teachers for your council’s mistakes. Well, either you clean up the mess you have created or bear the consequences. As a principal, I cannot recommend a student who creates instability in the functioning of the institute. And you are their leader, right? Then why should I not believe that this was all your idea? Akansha’s mother is a trustee of the school, she would never do such a thing and Abhi, well the boy cannot think beyond his music. So, it’s for you to decide now.
His entire life flashed before his eyes. Is this what how he had planned things to go? But what could he do now? The damage is done. Dhruv walked out of the Principal’s office with his head hung low. He knew Akansha and Abhimanyu were waiting for him in the Students Commons. But that’s not where he was headed.
Dhruv took centre stage in the assembly and announced to the batch, “I, Dhruv Malhotra, announce my resignation from the students council, effective immediately. Here on I want nothing to do from this protest. I will not be one of those who blame the teachers for their incompetency. I come here to study and that is what I will do. Therefore, I resign.”
The students are shocked and outraged. They pounce on the rest of the council members and ask them what is going on. Things start to fall apart from there. The students trusted Dhruv the most because for them he was the council. With him withdrawing, the entire movement died down. The next day, classes resumed as usual. The other council members were nowhere to be found. Dhruv attended classes as usual and refused to discuss anything regarding the council or the protest which was now over. The next week when things were better at school Akansha and Abhimanyu decided to meet and they requested Dhruv to join. He agreed.
“Dhruv do you have something to say to us?” Abhimanyu stood across the table and asked.
“What will he say Abhi?! I can’t believe you did this to us…”
“Guys, I’m sorry ya”, Dhruv said with a start. “I panicked. It was about my MIT scholarship and I just couldn’t risk it. That is more important to me than any of this council crap. You guys got what you wanted right?”
“Ok, Ok… calm down Dhruv, I get it. Let’s not talk about that now, but we will have to handle this together ok?
“I don’t know how… I can’t think of anything.” Perhaps for the first time in her life Akansha seemed worried.
“Let’s just ask them na?”
“ ‘Them’ who, Dhruv?
“The students, Abhi. Let’s just ask them what they want, how they want it and we’ll just get it done.”
“And what about all the shit they are going to give us? I cannot go in front of the entire batch. I just want Dhruv to get his LOR.”
“Don’t worry Akanksha, we tried one way to get it and it did not work out for all of us, let us try a different approach”, Abhimanyu assured.
“Leave that to me Akanksha. Guys, you’ll trusted me all this while, right? All I’m asking is to trust me one more time.”
The team calls for another batch meeting. Dhruv requests all teachers and the principal to join them and apologizes to them formally. The next day as the meeting starts, their principal comes to address the gathering.
“Students, I will not take much of the council’s time. All I want to say is, please hear them out with an open mind and give them another chance. The student council has been the pride of Ultimate High School since its inception. I am sure this batch will not disappoint us.”
Dhruv takes over and starts to speak. “Hi guys. The last time we were here, I made a lot of promises to you. But today I just want to apologize. We made a mistake and we regret it. Unfortunately, we could not get Meenakshi ma’am to come back. We realize we cannot undo our mistakes. So today all we ask is for your help and patience.”
Akansha joined Dhruv. “We may have lost sight of the larger goal to serve our self interest, but please trust us one last time. We want to hear from you…tell us your concerns and we shall figure out what to do about it… you and us, together.”
The crowd remained silent. The condescension and disappointment was blatant in their eyes. Just then, they hear a familiar voice.
“Good people make mistakes and hurt others. But then they learn from those mistakes and TRY not to make them again.” The auditorium cheered with Meenakshi Mam on stage. She smiles at the council and quietly stands next to the principal. The crowd breaks out into applause. Dhruv, Akansha and Abhimanyu join the celebration with a lump in their throat. The day ends with the council, teachers and student representatives meeting to discuss the issues that the batch has been facing and what can be done to resolve it.
We may have lost track because of focusing too much on our LOR but trust us one last time and tell us what issues you are facing. We will hear you out and together we can figure out what to do about it.
In the end Dhruv walks up to the principal. “Ma’am, it is true that the LOR is very important to me. But from today I promise that I will fulfill the duty that I am supposed to and then if you think I deserve it, I must get it. Thank you for your support.”
About the Author
Shivani is a free spirited, optimistic soul who loves to spread her positive energies and can easily lighten up the mood. She is currently pursuing the Young India Fellowship at Ashoka University. She is in the phase where she has to make some important decisions regarding her career. Her positive outlook helps her navigate through this crucial phase and the challenges that come along with it. Through the ups and downs, Shivani still manages to keep the drama quotient in her life, high. Hopefully the dramatic gossip-girl side of her shines through this story.
About the story
There are times when individuals are in a position of power and that power changes their outlook. Right before the elections our politicians have a beautiful set of promises that they make through their manifestos. It includes all the possible things that the public has shown some disappointment over. They want to win their hearts and wants the public to accept them readily. However, once they are in power, they tend to change course and only look to fulfill their self interests. It is not a bad thing to have some personal interests while you are trying to serve a larger group however, one must ensure that those personal interests do not supersede the interests of the group. At times when politicians are questioned about their digression, instead of accepting their mistakes they tend to project them on others like on the decisions of the opposition party. Often this is done through a charismatic leader that the public loves. Patricia Millers, in her book Demagoguery and Democracy describes a charismatic leader as one with whom followers unconditionally comply with by believing that the leader has some supernatural powers. This story deals with how a leader’s personal interests can get in the way of them being able to serve the larger groups interests while getting the followers to comply with him through charismatic leadership
