Pran Nath and Priya Nath, who had been accustomed to an atmosphere of great love and affection at home, suddenly found themselves in an environment that was hostile and frightening. The softspoken nuns and lady teachers of Hampton court were replaced by the harsh male teachers of Allen Memorial. These teachers known as “masters” invariably carried canes in their hands and spoke in tones that were altogether imperious and commanding, giving the impression that they hated the boys that they were teaching. There was not a trace of love in them. The boys had to stand up before them and say “Sir” all the time.
Many of the boarders in the school had become hardened by their contact with such sadistic teachers and were bullies of the worst sort. Allen Memorial had at one time been an orphanage, and the customs and traditions of the orphanage had been carried across to the school as it existed. The harshness and discipline wielded on the students made life a nightmare for them. There were instances of the masters getting carried away by their sense of power and beating the students with their canes with ruthlessness.
Pran Nath had always been a brilliant student when he was at Hampton Court and stood at the top of his class even at Allen Memorial. However, Priya Nath had never cared to study when he was at Hampton Court, because of the lenient attitude of the lady teachers there. He had always been amongst those at the bottom of the class. However, coming face to face with the male masters of Allen so terrified him that he studied hard for the first time in his life – and began topping his class in every test and every examination, thus realising the vast potential for study that existed within him.
Mateshwari would ever afterwards say that Priya Nath had lost his jolly nature after going to Allen Memorial and had become serious and studious, and that it was a loss. Priya Nath’s humour and childish antics had filled the home with great happiness and made Shri Nathji and Mateshwari laugh in the otherwise silent atmosphere of the house.