Chapter 20
Niraj and Pabi were scared but also very excited as they moved to their new residence at the orphanage. Although it was a comfortable stay at the Jagat Seth house and everyone was nice to them, they were always lonely. They couldn't help in any work and couldn't interact with the servants too much either.
When they got off the carriage at the gates of the huge campus, the servant who was tasked to bring the kids to the school said goodbye to the two and went back on the carriage. The siblings were lost about where to go and what to do next. They just stood there holding a bundle.
The guard at the makeshift gate called the two dazed kids over, "You two are here to register at the orphanage right? You see the large building there? Just follow the paved road there and a teacher will help you get registered."
The siblings nodded and did as told. As they walked to the large building, they marveled at the large campus. It was going to be their home for a long time to come. It was not as beautiful as Jagat Seth's house but the school was much grander. They were in awe the entire way.
When they reached the entrance of the large building, they saw many kids lining up in front of a desk with a lot of adults walking around the area. The kids all looked to be below the age of 10 with some kids looking to be 2-3 years old.
A male teacher with a bushy beard approached the siblings with a smile. Pabi hid behind Niraj out of fear. "Oh, you don't have to be scared. I am a teacher here. Go line up there with the other kids. We will take you to your accommodations after the registration is done."
The registration process was simple. They recorded the names, ages, ethnicity, language, and basic details of the kids. After that, a female teacher handed a pair of new clothes each based on the size of the child. The clothes were designed to be a little baggy and made out of cheap, rough cloth.
"You will only get a pair every year so make sure to take care of the clothes." The teacher warned while handing over the clothes.
The nervous kids along with Niraj and Pabi all stood silently waiting until a group of 15 or so kids was formed. The bearded teacher once again approached the kids with a female teacher.
"The boys will follow me and the girls will follow Teacher Rama here." The teacher ordered.
Noticing Pabi clinging to her brother, Rama walked over to Pabi, "Is this your brother? Don't worry, you will get to see him later. You will see him every day. What is your name?"
Pabi stayed silent. Niraj spoke instead, "Her name is Pabi. Pabi, it's okay. Didn't brother Vir also tell you that we just have to stay apart at night? You will also have other sisters with you."
After Niraj consoled Pabi, she reluctantly followed Rama while he followed the male teacher with the other boys. They went into a large building a little further from the building the girls had entered earlier.
"Fifteen of you will stay in each room, the oldest will be the leader of the room and take care of the other kids. If there are any fights or any problems, talk to the teachers. Anyone who causes problems will be kicked out of here. There are thousands of kids waiting to get in here, we don't need any problematic kids." The teacher warned as he led the children to a room.
The room was partially divided by wooden boards into a sort of cabin room with an open end for each student. Each cabin room had a bed, a table with a small cupboard under the table, and a chair. Each cabin also had a window right above the table.
"Each of you take one bed and settle in. The leaders for each room will be selected tomorrow. A teacher's room is right down the hallway so there will always be a teacher looking over you. Always remember to behave well. And if you have a problem contact the teacher right away."
While the other boys chose the beds furthest from the door, Niraj selected a cabin room right next to the door. He wanted to make sure that he could run away easily whenever needed.
"Put your things away in the cupboard. There is also a storage space under the bed, you can check it out later. Follow me for a tour for now." The teacher ordered the kids.
There were similar rooms along the hallway. And at the end of the hall, there was a single room that was the teacher's room. After that, they were taken to the mess hall. It was a large empty hall with a pile of straw mats stored at the side.
"This is where you will get your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Remember to get here on time every day. If you are too late, you might not get to eat."
The tour continued to the toilet where the teacher taught how to use the toilets properly and how to clean after yourself. The punishment if a kid was found not to have cleaned after themselves was that they would have to clean the toilet for a week.
The group passed other teachers who were providing similar tours to other kids. They walked around the whole campus and got to know each other. Niraj had also made some friends with his roommates.
The teacher then took the kids to the large ground where all the kids were gathered. Niraj saw Pabi there with an older girl. Pabi was holding the older girl's hand and talking to her with a smile. Niraj decided to ask about her later and continued talking to the other kids.
Most discussions happening on the ground were about the kids and their lives before getting to the orphanage. They were sharing their tragic stories. Most of them were war orphans while a few had been orphaned because of other reasons like natural disasters, famine, or crime.
A teacher got up on the podium and gave a speech from a large metal funnel-like thing. He also introduced the concept of the brass bells. If a bell rang three times, it meant a class was over. Five times meant it was a break or the break was over. Eight times meant it was time for food.
Right after that, another teacher pulled out a brass plate and hit it eight times with the hammer. The other teachers carefully led the children to the mess hall. The food was wheat flatbread with curry and pickles. The children were told that rice and meat were also on the menu every week.
The boys and girls had their food in the same hall for now. It was logistically easier so it was done in that way.
At the end of the day, the total registered orphans numbered 543. The girls were just 186 with the rest being boys. The hall was large enough to comfortably seat sixty kids each in 10 rows. The teachers sat distributed between the kids to keep a watch on them.
They were served by the permanent help hired to take care of the miscellaneous chores at the school. There were 10 men and 15 women hired to cook and do other chores and they would be staying within the campus as well.
After the meal, the teachers took the children to the rooms and explained their schedules. They had to wake up early, wash up, prepare, and come to the empty ground for light physical training. After physical training, they would have seven classes each lasting an hour with a 5-10 minute break in between.
Breaks of about 30-45 minutes each were also provided for breakfast and lunch breaks. The classes ended at around four in the afternoon. After lunch breaks, the children were given free time to do anything they wanted for two hours until dinner. After dinner, they had to get back to their rooms for a regular roll call.
Niraj sat on his bed while holding the black wooden tablet that was about the size of a large book. It was solid wood painted black on one side. Taking out a stick of chalk, he began writing the alphabet that he had learned during the day.
It was fun for Niraj to be able to have his personal blackboard which he can scribble on whenever he wants to. It was more fun than writing on the dirt ground.
"You will get one stick of chalk every two days. Make sure to not waste it by breaking it or scribbling on other things. You will be punished if you deface school property." Teacher Brij, who was in charge of his class had warned the whole class.
For the training period, each teacher was put in charge of a class of 10 students. The teachers would have to rotate every month for the next 4 to 6 months. Teachers were also encouraged to sit in each others' classes and discuss their methods and methods for improvement through meetings and discussions.
At the end of the training period, all the teachers will collectively discuss the best pedagogy for each subject, the best training method for teachers, and points for improvement in the future. Vir will also take an active part in these discussions which were scheduled to be conducted every five to ten years from then on.
…..
"Are the orphanage and school running fine? Are there any problems?" Fateh Chand asked the same questions regularly every two weeks or so. He was very concerned about the projects.
"Yes, grandfather. Some unruly kids were expelled and new kids were brought in so even the problem of the kids misbehaving has been solved. The seats for normal school operations were also filled last week. Some merchants even sent children from their direct families. Everything is going smooth." Swarup explained. He was in charge of the orphanage school project with Vir.
"What about the factory town?" Fateh Chand looked at Madhab for the answer.
If the orphanages and schools were part of the soft power strategy, the factory town was part of the hard power strategy. It was to become the base for their military power as well as a massive source of financing for the military and other projects.
Madhab calmly answered, "We are increasing our pace but since we are creating each factory with the idea of future expansions, just two buildings have been completed. We are also building large kilns for making in-house bricks. When they are completed, we can ramp up construction by hiring more people."
"The two buildings are being used to produce paper, chalk, blackboard, and pens? It looks like that with the addition of a printing press, we will have a complete education industry on our hands. Ironically, we are creating it to increase our military strength."
Fateh Chand smiled wryly at the dichotomy of the family that was promoting education to increase their war capabilities.
Vir consoled the old man, "We can't educate others if we are weak ourselves."
"Yeah, that is the saddest part. The Marathas are starting to appear around Orissa once again. The peace doesn't seem to be lasting for even a year. We can't afford to keep relying on Alivardi. We need to begin training new soldiers soon." Fateh Chand sighed.
Raghoji Bhonsle was dissatisfied with the result of his invasion a year ago. He came so close to conquering the entire region of Alivardi's influence but had to retreat empty-handed. Now he was strapped for cash with angered voices in his army rising due to delayed pay.
Finally, Raghoji was unable to hold on until he could reorganize and increase the army that had been depleted during the last invasion and battle against the Peshwa Balaji Rao's army. He sent his most trusted general Bhaskar Pandit with his light cavalry to start pillaging Orissa.
With the experience of the previous year fresh in their minds and their greed for wealth, the Maratha army had begun pillaging the villages at the border areas. The Maratha dread that had scared the entire region was returning.
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