Reports that I once took bhang in High School, though true, have been exaggerated.
Many schools of thought have been advanced trying to explain this occurrence but I will put the record straight to silence my critics. We all know that bhang is a banned substance and anyone caught with those leaves is highly punished by the state.
But that realization did not deter students from engaging in that ritual. Though, our mode of partaking in those leaves was different. Iin fact the whole school was involved in a ritual that shocked the school administration. At first I was also perplexed at the behavior exhibited by my fellow students until the truth dawned on me that I had also consumed the illegal smoking substance. Unknowingly.
It started as a joke one Friday evening after evening preps. Boys started barking, well, like dogs.
It all started in a dormitory called Madaraka at around 10.30 pm. Students from other seven dormitories were not amused and dismissed Madaraka as a bunch of attention seeking boys.
That dormitory was made up of the worst bullies and therefore nobody was surprised by their barking antics. But alas! That irritating barking voice spread to nearby Jamhuri and Uhuru dormitories.
You see, after evening classes we were all free to visit the school boiler near the kitchen and fetch a cupful of water for preparing hot chocolate drink. This was done after 9.45 preps and also after 4 pm classes.
The chocolate drink was not compulsory but almost all students with the exception of bookworms indulged in it. What was for sure was 'mkorogo' as we called drinking chocolate was a must, daily. I I digress.
It so happened that on that Friday after taking mkorogo the three dormitories caught that irritating bug of expressing themselves. By 11 o clock Lenana, Kenyatta( my dormitory), Nelion, Batian and Harambee dormitories had joined the barking bandwagon..
Essentially the whole school compound sounded like one big dog training ground as boys outdid each other in barking.I also barked and it felt so good.That night the barking stopped around 12 am and there was no teacher who came to check on us despite the school being a one big barking zone.
The next day, a Saturday, business went on as usual and nobody cared to inquire the reasons for the incessant barking the previous night. That day we were privileged to have an outing. This was a sacred day for students since we could go wherever we wished from 2pm to 5.30 pm in the evening. It was the time to visit various drinking dens and sample variety of illegal concoctions that passed as alcoholic drinks sold in that area.
Despite some boys being inebriated we they could still go for evening preps but that day was different, it was an entertainment day. On entertainment day when freedom reigned in the air, boiler was always empty by 9pm. It was about that time hell broke loose in the entire school compound.
Boys masquerading as dogs were everywhere. Barking could be heard in all corners of the school compound. It was chaotic. Some teachers, male teachers, came to inquire what was the cause of the sudden turn of natural order but no questions were answered and barking resumed immediately they left. They caught no one since they saw no one bark, but they could hear.
The school slept quietly and on Sunday the school was uneventful. On Monday as the teacher on duty was inspecting the dormitories two students from Madaraka dormitory were found asleep during class hours.
After much interrogation they admitted that they were behind the incessant barking in school.
They said that they had put bhang in the school boiler. On Friday half a stone of bhang had been dropped and on Saturday a whole stone had been put in the boiling water meant for mkorogo. They were expelled. Now we all know how I took bhang.
