Tuck Box

Tuck is a dated term meaning food, typically cakes and candy, eaten by children at school as a snack. In a bid to make sure that kids were not having too much junk food, our school had devised a weird scheme of having a tuck box that you could access only every other Saturday evening.

Every-time you went home for the holidays, you refilled this small tin box with your favorite chip packets, chocolates and juices. And then when the session resumed, this tuck box was locked up in a room only to be accessed on special days. I remember how we kept a meticulous count of contents of our tuck boxes. Ponder and plan what we would extract from it when the blessed Saturday arrived so that we had enough to last us till the next holidays arrived. We planned who we would share out Tuck with, to get the maximum flavor. A bunch of us 8–10 year olds would decide what each of us would take out.

Now you would imagine this was simple business. But it wasn’t. Only junior school got to have Tuck boxes. As soon as you hit class 6, there was no tuck box or a blessed Saturday for you. The school decided, that it only wanted to entertain the junk food cravings of small boys, not seniors, who should know how to do without it. I think back to those Saturdays. You would stand in a straight queue, with the other junior school boys waiting to enter the tuck room. The entire activity was supervised by school prefects, class 10 boys, who were tasked with making sure that there was discipline. I remember how I perceived those class 10 boys. Tall, strong and inspiring fear every-time they yelled us to shut up. They had a special power. If they asked for some of your tuck food, you could not say no. You just hoped that whatever you got out that day did not catch their fancy.

And then there were the class 6 boys, waiting outside the tuck room. With no access. But as soon as you exited the room, they would come up to you and kindly ask to share some snack food. They were kind, they had lost a privilege and craved some non-dining hall food. Most junior boys said “No”. But some, who had had their fill shared some with them. I remember being a class 6 boy too, trying my luck and failing. Sometimes succeeding but eventually giving up the idea of having a tuck box.

And thinking back, the idea of having a tuck box and the importance I attached to it seems surreal. The tuck box belonged to a different Universe.