MASTER

6 multiplied by 6?

I blabbered twelve in haste!

I was standing on the old wooden bench shivering in fear,

As the village school master made his way towards me...

Thin lean n strict,perenially angry,with a large thick cane in hand...

6X6 he continued??

I nodded my head like a bewildered cow,

In a slow arc of his cane,

Deadly as a hurricane,it struck my legs with a bitter sound..

I wailed in agony,as my ears were caught in his grip..

He pulled it , twisted it hard hoping that the correct answer would
dramatically arrive on my tongue tips...

Another time I screamed,
even before his cane impacted the soft flesh of humiliation..

He strode back to the board,

Asking me to write the six tables a hundred times...

Slowly sobbing away I stood on top of a wooden bench,drenched in shame..

I told myself never to incur his wrath again...

I learnt his lessons like the holy scriptures...

and I prayed to the gods to spare me each time he walked around with his cane...