He walked ramrod straight into the packed classroom. A long black coat, white duckback trousers, black cap and thick black rimmed spectacles. "Salaam (hello), teacher!” the boys greeted him in a singsong fashion.
"Salaam, class!” he reciprocated in a gruff voice. He drew a grotesque figure on the blackboard with a white chalk. Like a cross between ET (Extra Terrestrial) and Taras Bulba (character of a cossack in a romanticized historical novella of the same name). "He is Baluja!” he smiled, revealing his horsey teeth. Class IA, English medium, had a confused look. One podgy fellow on the front bench mustered......