Reuben: ‘Regular’ guy. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

To get, or give, 100 per cent is not an uncommon dream. But to dream of having a 100 per cent attendance record? In school? Well…

While most kids were faking stomach aches and temperature to get out of just one day of school, Reuben Thangarajan had a very different ambition: to achieve 100 per cent attendance. From kindergarten to Class XII, come rain, bandh or shine, Reuben would trudge his way, weary or otherwise, from his home near the CPM headquarters to Assembly of God Church School. Had the Alimuddin Street bosses been in their offices every morning, every day, they could have caught a glimpse of work ethics at work.

Reuben made his dream come true. Not a day missed, in 12 years. “When I was in Class IV, I already had 100 per cent attendance. So I thought, why not? If I had managed for so long, I could manage the rest,” smiles 18-year-old Reuben, studying B.Com at St Xavier’s College. Though some of his friends think his record is “strange”, it was no chore for him. “I used to love going to school. I had a huge gang of friends and we used to have good fun.”

So, on bandhs or really rainy days, Reuben would walk down to school, which started at 8.20 am. “The durwans would tell me that school was closed and I would walk back,” recalls the first-year student. “Some days, like before the exams, I would be one of the only students around. The teacher would take the attendance and then I would go back home.”

College opened barely two months ago, but his record has received its first blemishes. “One day I was late for class,” he frets. After that, too, Reuben has missed a few lessons and an odd morning here or there. “My first-year record is already ruined and I want to enjoy my college days. But I plan to try for 100 per cent again from second year.”

With his “very regular” father for inspiration, Reuben seems to know where he is going, at least when he wakes up every morning. But long-term planning is not for him. “Man proposes, God disposes,” he laughs. So, for now, he is taking his life a day at a time; living life by the attendance register.