As told by- The School Bag
Sling- shot or a catapult, a much- priced possession of most young boys in the mid 20th century was a weapon much guarded, traded and goes without saying, used. Anything round, small and hard was used as a shot whereas targets were varied.
Our little friend Purja traded his magnet collection, painstakingly collected over the months of taking apart of most of the household electrical gadgets, for a much used, slightly damaged slingshot. Parting with the magnets, though very painful could not be avoided. The owner of the slingshot would not settle for anything else. Not being one of those who mulled over the past, he looked forward to exciting times ahead. The practice shots were taken from under the tree, over the tree, behind the bush, under a bush, over the bed, from under a bed, from the terrace, from behind the wall and every other place imaginable. After having mastered these, our friend decided to experiment with the targets of increasing difficulty namely a moving target from a moving point. Gardener and other household staff as targets while riding a bicycle were out of question due to multiple known and unknown reasons that could not be overlooked. So what better moving point than the inside of a bus, and what better targets than all those vehicles moving outside the bus. Our friend was set to move on to higher levels. To add a dash of sophistication to the whole operation, he thought of adding a war cry. Magically, “Tora Tora Tora” fell into his lap. Just by sheer chance his parents took him to see a movie based on the infamous world war- II attack on the Pearl Harbor by the Japanese forces and the war signal had been “Tora Tora Tora”. Our friend’s parents wanted their son to know the important historical events that became the cause of dropping of nuclear bomb by the USA on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But our hero’s brilliant brain stopped functioning after the war cry that he immediately decided to adopt as his own.
The painful event that unfolded is listed below-
Sitting at his favorite window seat in his orange colored school bus, slingshot ready with a pebble for a shot, he spied a buffalo in a tractor trolley. Hitting the ample back- side of a black buffalo, he thought, was the ideal choice for his first practice shot at a moving target from a moving point. He knew for sure that the buffalos were dumb enough to register shots or shooter unlike the fussy household staff. He felt safe inside the bus. Even if something did go wrong, no one would guess the origin of the shot since the bus would move on. Or so he thought. Hence, with much care, a closed one eye, a steady elbow and a full-throated war cry of “Tora Tora Tora” he let the pebble leave his sling- shot.
What went wrong, he could not say. The pebble, that fool of a shot, decided to hit the man riding a scooter just beyond the tractor trolley, barely visible from the side of an ample back side of the buffalo. The man gave chase and stopped the bus at the next traffic light. Our friend was dragged, by the ear, from under his favorite window seat and given a good dose of rather offensive scolding. His slingshot was impounded and the shots of various shapes and sizes thrown out of the window. The man left with a warning.
On reflection, it was his war cry that did him in. It gave up his position to the enemy. So our little sling shooter decided to do away with all sound effect in his future ventures. Wise decision? With his talent for getting into trouble- hope so!
Sling- shot or a catapult, a much- priced possession of most young boys in the mid 20th century was a weapon much guarded, traded and goes without saying, used. Anything round, small and hard was used as a shot whereas targets were varied.
Our little friend Purja traded his magnet collection, painstakingly collected over the months of taking apart of most of the household electrical gadgets, for a much used, slightly damaged slingshot. Parting with the magnets, though very painful could not be avoided. The owner of the slingshot would not settle for anything else. Not being one of those who mulled over the past, he looked forward to exciting times ahead. The practice shots were taken from under the tree, over the tree, behind the bush, under a bush, over the bed, from under a bed, from the terrace, from behind the wall and every other place imaginable. After having mastered these, our friend decided to experiment with the targets of increasing difficulty namely a moving target from a moving point. Gardener and other household staff as targets while riding a bicycle were out of question due to multiple known and unknown reasons that could not be overlooked. So what better moving point than the inside of a bus, and what better targets than all those vehicles moving outside the bus. Our friend was set to move on to higher levels. To add a dash of sophistication to the whole operation, he thought of adding a war cry. Magically, “Tora Tora Tora” fell into his lap. Just by sheer chance his parents took him to see a movie based on the infamous world war- II attack on the Pearl Harbor by the Japanese forces and the war signal had been “Tora Tora Tora”. Our friend’s parents wanted their son to know the important historical events that became the cause of dropping of nuclear bomb by the USA on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But our hero’s brilliant brain stopped functioning after the war cry that he immediately decided to adopt as his own.
The painful event that unfolded is listed below-
Sitting at his favorite window seat in his orange colored school bus, slingshot ready with a pebble for a shot, he spied a buffalo in a tractor trolley. Hitting the ample back- side of a black buffalo, he thought, was the ideal choice for his first practice shot at a moving target from a moving point. He knew for sure that the buffalos were dumb enough to register shots or shooter unlike the fussy household staff. He felt safe inside the bus. Even if something did go wrong, no one would guess the origin of the shot since the bus would move on. Or so he thought. Hence, with much care, a closed one eye, a steady elbow and a full-throated war cry of “Tora Tora Tora” he let the pebble leave his sling- shot.
What went wrong, he could not say. The pebble, that fool of a shot, decided to hit the man riding a scooter just beyond the tractor trolley, barely visible from the side of an ample back side of the buffalo. The man gave chase and stopped the bus at the next traffic light. Our friend was dragged, by the ear, from under his favorite window seat and given a good dose of rather offensive scolding. His slingshot was impounded and the shots of various shapes and sizes thrown out of the window. The man left with a warning.
On reflection, it was his war cry that did him in. It gave up his position to the enemy. So our little sling shooter decided to do away with all sound effect in his future ventures. Wise decision? With his talent for getting into trouble- hope so!
Great stuff!I feel that this story held my attention better than the others because it was shorter than most others!!!
ReplyDeletethanx PJ, i will keep that in mind.
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