Der Kristall Tag! (Translates to: “The Crystal Day” in German*)

I took an Advance Placement (University Level) English course when I completed my 12th in Napa, California. Needless to say, it was one of the most grueling courses I’ve ever taken. But as you can see, I survived, and it has been three years since.

I stumbled upon this essay while studying for my exams (you know one has to ‘stumble’ upon these things, strangely, right in the middle of exams). It was one of the essays I wrote for the class. The topic given to us was to write a part-fiction, part-fact essay known as “Faction” (since we were reading a book, “The Things They Carried”, where the line between fact and fiction is foggy). That should explain the untrue facts I’ve blatantly written, fashionably called- creative license.


The sound of glass shattering was almost unbearable. A sound as sharp as that that is uncomfortably close to you when you least expect it, can turn out to be one of the most haunting memories of one’s life.

I was in 10th grade when it happened. In India, high school consists of the 8th, 9th and the 10th grade, while 11th and 12th grades are pre-college. In our school, we had four houses- Red, Green, Blue and Yellow. They are very similar to the houses in the Hogwarts School in the Harry Potter series. Our house points were awarded according to all our extra- curricular activities: including sports, school discipline, debates, singing, dancing and theater. In brief, any non- academic activity was considered for our house points.

I belonged to the ‘Green’ house. When I was in the tenth grade, I was elected by the student body to be the captain of ‘green’ house. I was going to be a part of the fifteen-member cabinet (student leaders) of our school. In order to officially perform our duties, the school would conduct a traditional investiture ceremony of its incoming school leaders. Our predecessors (the seniors who would be passing out that year) would dutifully grant their vested power to us, their successors.

It was a hot day in June, with the sun ruthlessly flinging its hot beams at the school glass windows. It was an exciting day for me as we were going to have the first practice for our investiture ceremony, but more importantly, we were all let off from attending classes that whole day for practice. The school grounds were almost parched and deserted except for the fifteen of us and a few teachers. The whole morning was spent in giving us our positions and going through the program orally for us. It took a good amount of time to get organized, so by the time we broke for lunch, the school's lunch break was over and everyone had gone back to their classes. We headed off in groups of two's and three's to the school canteen or rather- an apology of one. It is no more than a small tin box against one of the school walls. But none of us complain. Because, this is the first year our school has had a canteen at all. It doesn’t have much- just a few burgers and rolls; nevertheless we all crowd around it. Hungry and tired after spending all morning on the ground under the unforgiving sun, all I had in mind was a fulfilling meal under the blissful shade of our school building. I bought three rolls for two of my friends and me. As I was buying them, I noticed Sachu and Rohit, two classmates and friends of mine, having a light conversation about the latest action movie. While I waited for the shop keeper to give me change, I idly watched the two chatting animatedly about one of the scenes in particular and I vaguely remember something about a particular movement the actor executed while fighting. I guess Rohit was describing how the actor executes the movement perfectly- “ Man… the angle his body turns when he jumps into the bottomless crevasse…. Just like that dude!” Sachu was smiling passively. He was standing for the post of the treasurer. As a humble, subtle boy, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he would win the post. He maintained his grade while taking part in many extra- curricular activities. Though he was an introvert by nature, he did not mind mingling with people. Presently, it seemed to be enjoying the conversation just to humor Rohit. I smiled at this thought.

Just then, the shop owner called out to me, cutting the conversation out of my head- “ Here you are ma’am, have a nice day!”, I smiled at him in return and picked up my plate. I was just turning around to go, when I heard a terrible noise like steel striking steel with tremendous force. Today, when I think back to that moment, I remember feeling that all hell had descended on us. My insides vanished in an instant and everything seemed to freeze. I remember my friend calling out to tell me, apparently to tell me to get away from the canteen. Her voice seemed to be coming from an unimaginably long distance, as if there was a divide between the universes she was in and the one I was standing in. All I could think of was the sound- no questions, no nothing. I slowly turned to see the petrified face of Sachu as he looked upwards at something falling towards him. And the next instant, it all came down. This is really when the damage occurred. It was one of the school’s glass- paned windows falling from a height of three stories. The first loud bang had been caused by the impact of the window hitting the roof of the canteen.

Coincidentally, the window was from our third floor classroom. The math teacher who was in there, had asked Aditya, who was sitting next to the window to open it and let some cool air inside the classroom. Incredibly, while opening the window, the hinges broke loose. The next thing he knew, he was supporting the weight of the dangling window with one hand. The weight was too much to bear, and, before anyone noticed what was happening, he let the window go- resulting in a three story drop!

After banging into the canteen’s roof, the now semi-shattered window bounced off and fell right next to where Sachu and Rohit were standing, showering glass pieces all over the place. While the rest of us managed to escape the pieces, either by dodging or just by pure luck, Sachu was hit by a particularly sharp piece. Presently, all I remember is the deafening sound of the window hitting the canteen’s roof, and then...utter chaos. I remember that I got a glimpse of Sachu being led away by a teacher. I can never forget that scene- the picture is stored in my memory vividly. There was blood running down Sachu’s forehead. He was trying to stop the flow with his hands. The expression on his face was pretty blank, if anything, he showed a slight hint of nervousness.

He was taken to the nearest hospital, where he was treated well in time for his injuries. Though there was a chance of complete recovery, he had to stay in the hospital foe a month in the least, as there was a possibility of concussions in head injuries like his.

Gradually, life came back to normal in the campus. The newspapers seem to have cottoned on to all the details of the accident pretty fast, putting the school’s management under great pressure to replace all the windows. The inauguration ceremony was postponed indefinitely- or until Sachu returned. Though I was really looking forward to the ceremony, I certainly would not want to take part in it without the presence of the whole ‘gang’. We visited Sachu as a class during his hospital stay. The patients in the neighboring beds must have thought that he was a celebrity, because they were at least thirty of us in the ward that day (much to the nurse’s discontent!). He seemed to me to be really relaxed and taken everything in his stride. He was propped up on bed, trying to go through all the school work he had been missing. Though he understood the importance of having to stay in the hospital for prolonged period of time, I think it frustrated him to spend so much time idle.

His first day of school after the day of the incident, the whole class was in high spirits. We had a mini-party just to welcome him back. The inauguration ceremony, which was held a few days after his return, was a great success.

Life went on, but now, whenever I go back to the canteen ( which is now progressed to being a small building), I can hear the sound of shattering glass in my head, and I think- “The difference between Sachu and the other students that day was the simple matter of coincidence- what right does life have, to make our fates according to something as simple as that?”

The incident is vividly etched in my memory to this day. It made me realize that life, so highly valued, is a fickle thing. It could be snatched away in a moment...

This is a true incident (at least most of it). It’s was selected as one of the favorite essays of the class by the students because they felt it was unique, understated and felt very real. But most importantly, most of them enjoyed it because they learned a lot about India and the kind of schools here.

*Der Kristall Tag: It’s a take on the Nazi incident where the Jews and Jewish establishments were attacked without warning one night, breaking windows and showering glass pieces throughout the city, taking numerous young Jews into custody and ultimately to their deaths. The night later came to be known as, “Der Kristall Nach” or “The Crystal Night”. I got it translated to “The Crystal Day” on the net.