To Tilly or not to Tilly?

Willy, wear the Tilley.
and please feel free to veer off-topic as I have done, on any of my posts.

That aforementioned foto with the Tilley hat became the source for an additional prank, one that I pulled on my boss, the oh-so difficult Principal of the Toronto school where I then taught. I will explain.
My special needs class put on a truly wonderful India Open House for our entire school to tour. It was an interactive presentation that we all worked very hard on to prepare. Some of my students hailed from the subcontinent, so there were tasting samples, games, Gujarati textile displays, a running video, sandalwood incense, art projects, coffee-table books, tikka appliers, musical recordings, spices, guessing contests, opportunities to touch genuine objects, mobiles, posters, a computer Q&A and much more ( we took up an entire hallway).
Two of the most touching moments came when 1) my colleague, Suresh, who was originally from Mumbai, arrived with her class for their allotted tour slot, unexpectedly wearing her most resplendent sari 2) one of our Gujarati kid's father arrived at the very last minute, having brought the family heirloom marble Taj lamp as a loaner for display at our Open House---set within a dark recess, then illuminated by the pale light-bulb within, the lamp was absolutely spectacular and served as a final punctuation for the entire classy show (note that the loaning family was impoverished).
What does all this have to do with the Principal? Well, he was an arrogant, confrontational, mediocre, vengeful piece of work. Working with him over those years was a profoundly pressured experience for everyone in the building (see 'stress leave').
He hated me and resented all the attention that our class was getting for the Open House. Nonetheless, he realized that to be PC, he had to come up to our third-floor display to be seen as 'The Boss attending the Open House put on by kids with special needs'. He noticed the foto collage that we'd placed upon the wall, made from some of my pictures taken in India. One image was the above-mentioned 'Tilley Hat on the steps of the Jaiselmer Bhang Shop.'

With a straight face, I explained to the Principal that the shot in question showed me horsing around on the steps of a traditional 'ammunition store' (i.e. Bhang! Shop). "You see Boss, my collapsed state upon the store's steps was meant to imply in a corny way, that somehow I'd been mock-shot".

He fell for it.
I am done. The End.
Next...

Zebec, your colourful description of the principal seems consistent with my high-school memories. Albeit in Montreal. Of course, that was in the sixties, making my memories, at least in some part, conjecture. To be finally visiting India this winter is an exhilarating prospect. I'll be asking more questions. Perhaps chat with you again.

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