Short stories are not long stories cut short. They are vortices of emotions encapsulated in crisp, forceful lingo close to human heart — a point amply proven by ‘After You Sir', a collection of stories written by former Indian Navy Captain Ramesh Babu, drawing upon incidents from the school life of generations of cadets at Sainik School, Kazhakuttam.
Release today
To be released by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at the closing ceremony of the golden jubilee celebrations of the school on Saturday, the anthology, the author says, is a tribute to his alma mater. Hailing from a high-range village in central Kerala, Mr. Babu studied at the school between 1971 and 1978. However, he interacted with over 100 old boys of the school across generations over the past one-and-a-half years to gather enough ‘experience' to put together the volume, the proceeds of which will go to the school's Students' Scholarship Fund. Mr. Babu was instrumental in setting up the fund for less-privileged students in the year 2000.
The stories, mapping many facets of childhood at a boarding school, cobble together a collective autobiography of the school's student life, the spirit of which remains largely unchanged till date. Based on actual events, the stories are punctuated with a range of teenage emotions and deeply felt experiences — from homesickness and volatile relationship with parents to surrogate-mothering by matron, boisterous and secretive teenage adventures and heart-breaking tragedies, as Captain G.R. Gopinath, who introduced low-cost flying in India, observes in his foreword to the book. (Captain Gopinath is an alumnus of Sainik School, Bijapur.)
Sample this for the measured writing of Mr. Babu: “We were born in different Indias. Elsamma was born in pre-independent India and I in independent India. She was born 18 years before me and could well have been my mother, considering how early women were married off in those days. But Elsamma is my sister, my only sister, and I am her brother, her only brother. This is our story. It could also be your story,” is how he opens a story.
‘After You Sir' is the result of a collective effort by the school's alumni —united under the Old Boys' Association — with tasteful illustrations by Mathew Dominic, editing by Soni Somarajan, design by P.N. Shanavas and its website, ‘afteryousir.in' hosted by Ajithkumar, all proud old boys. The book, published by the Mumbai-based ‘Fortytwo Books Galaxy', has already won the applause of authors like Shobhaa De, Shashi Tharoor and Rashmi Bansal.
It is a tribute to his alma mater Sainik School, Kazhakuttam, on its golden jubilee.
