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sickness. Perversely, PBR, the hypochondriac in the group, had no symptoms, and was in the pink of health, but worried that he would die of pulmonary edema! Only after the army doctor reassured him, did he start smiling again.
This turn of events left us thinking of the day ahead and another 150 km to Leh. With team-mates falling sick and the army doctor cautioning us, we decided to sleep over it and decide the next morning. However, the day saw the condition of the two team-mates no better, and we decided to descend immediately to low altitude.

The ‘Bullet Brothers’ were the only party which made it to Leh. Coming down was zippy and fun. Being down at the lower altitude was a great relief because our team-mates were feeling better. Deciding to cover more distance in that day, we did not camp at Patsio, but kept going till Shingri, and camped at the Border Roads’ Organisation Camp for the night. It was good to get back to civilization, to have a good bathroom and to see trees. This last was very important for me, because the desert was depressing me.

After a good night’s rest, the team was back on the road to Manali. The roads being good, it was speed-testing time for the Unicorns and the Pulsar. Riding at high speed got us to Chandigarh earlier than we expected. All through the journey, our bikes gave us no problems (not even a puncture which we were worried about) and they brought us back in one piece. Salil’s Pulsar did produce some squeaky noises and I had to tighten a nut in my bike where some oil was dripping.

There is no fun on a road trip if we keep planning too much and don’t take a risk. I would recommend this road trip to any adventure-loving Dosco who wants to get to know his stamina. At the end of the day, it truly tests the endurance of the man and his machine.

Letter to the Editor
Of Censoring and Censuring!

Some time ago, an ‘underground publication’ known as RATS, was circulated in school. Although the authorities chose to downplay the entire matter and, in my opinion, managed to suppress the ‘would-be’ effects of the publication, its purpose was served. Boys expressed themselves and, rather surprisingly, were not very explicit in their expression. This merely points out the fact that our students know how to take responsibility for things, and the authorities should acknowledge that! Moreover, masters got an opportunity to see the way we look at things and the goings-on in school. They got to see how changes in our environment can affect our attitude. Yet, RATS revealed something important. The fact that an ‘underground’ publication had to be printed for us to be heard, shows that we do not feel free to write what we want to. There are so many publications that could have published this truth about the average Dosco’s feelings. But none did, or maybe, to stretch the argument further, no one ‘cared’ to write to any publication. Why did no one have the courage to write to a publication like say, the Doon School Weekly, and express the same emotions? Were they afraid to claim credit for the article/s? It speaks poorly of our community that someone should be afraid of communicating his/her feelings to the community. Therein lays the fault of the ‘censor board.’

Recently, I wrote an article on ‘sneaking’ and it was not published because, apparently, writing on delicate issues such as ‘sneaking’ needs to be handled in a certain manner, which I had not done. I beg to differ.. I was severely censured and told it could not be published. As a member of the Doon School community, I feel I am within my rights to write articles like the one I did.

The school is changing, especially where the senior-junior relationship is concerned. Why is it that when a senior is treating a junior, it is considered a ‘treat,’ but when a junior gives money to a senior, the senior is reprimanded and held culpable of intimidation? Let me remind those who have forgotten, that giving treats at the Tuck Shop is just one of the many ways of showing gratitude to those who you think have helped you. Agreed, there are people who force juniors to give them ‘tuckey dough,’ but I also believe that, given our ingenuity, we can find new ways of breaking new laws. Making the law so rigid that there is no breathing space between a senior and junior is not a highly effective or efficient way of stopping seniors from ill-treating juniors. We are drifting apart from each other. A senior is not comfortable in the presence of a junior and vice-versa.

I hope that this article gets published and that I trigger off a few debates which might lead to a positive change.

Career Call

The careers’ notice board will focus on the top colleges in the country which offer courses in the fields of Arts, Commerce and Sciences. All those interested should look it up.
(careercounselling@doonschool.com)