School in the time of Chicken Pox (part 1)

For a change, why don’t we not roll the dice this time, huh? What do you say, guys? Never mind—just sit back and relax.

Today’s topic: “School in the Time of Chicken Pox.”

We’ll be diving into an era where, I’d say, we got a firsthand preview of what the world later experienced during the Corona times—but with a whole lot more fun added to it. And I’ll say this right at the start: this one’s going to be divided into two parts.

It was during my eighth class (academic year 2016–17), right at the beginning of it. I don’t remember exactly who the first person infected with chicken pox was—but I do remember that it wasn’t taken as seriously as it should have been. And so, it began its hunt for the less immune cadets, ensuring its survival.

As time went by, the number of infected students increased, and the management took drastic measures to protect the rest. The solution? Isolation. The rooms with infected students were completely sealed off.

I remember this precisely—ours was among the first rooms to be isolated (The infected cadet was kalyan chakravarthy (Nickname : Tonda (Chameleon)). We were shifted to the empty faculty accommodation rooms for quarantine, and food was brought to us three times a day. In the beginning, during this isolation phase, there were no classes at all. Our daily routine? Sleep, eat, play with whatever we had at hand, repeat.

At first, it felt like a jolly phase, almost like an unexpected holiday. But as days passed, we started to feel like untouchables, living on the edge of the school. Much later, classes resumed in one of the faculty quarters. With a blackboard on a stand, the teachers continued their lessons from where they had left off. It almost felt like returning from an extended summer vacation.

Soon, new cadets—our juniors—joined us in the isolation camp. No problem—the more, the merrier! With more company, came more fun. To relieve the boredom, we began playing a game we crowned the legendary “Pillow Fight.” No points, no rules—just pure joy.

But we didn’t stop there. To fill our never-ending spare time, we played a classic game we called “Set.” Here’s how it went: we’d sit in a circle, usually 4–5 players. The number of chits used was equal to number of players × 4. A set of four chits would have the same name of a player’s choice (for example: Orange, Mahesh Babu, or anything random).

One person would throw all the folded chits into the air, and everyone would pick four. Then, players passed around one chit of their choice, until someone got a full set of matching names. When that happened, the player had to slam their hand on the floor and shout “Set!” That person became the King for that round. The next hands above him were Minister, Police, and Thief, respectively.

Points were distributed as:

King — 1000

Minister — 800

Police — 700

Thief — 500

You might ask, “What if someone gets a full set right after the chits are thrown?”

Well, I’d say, he’s one lucky guy! (So, have you ever gotten lucky in this game?)

The trick to winning “Set” was mostly luck, but quick thinking and alertness could make you the grand champion of the tournament (a tournament being as long as we wished to play). And for laughs, we used to fake “Set!” calls before actually getting one, creating serious trust issues during the game. That’s when the mind games began—evaluating every player’s face, every second.

This became our daily rhythm. After a month, we were finally free birds, released from the cages of isolation. It felt amazing to get back to normal. We shook our hands with isolation, bidding our goodbyes—but isolation wasn’t done with us yet.

For more on that, stay tuned for “School in the Time of Chicken Pox (Part 2).”

Till then, don’t stay isolated—get out there with your friends and enjoy!

See you, guys.