Wait, don't rush to conclusions. Few outsiders know that this no longer happens here and that Porbander no longer personifies violence. No longer do students copy exam answers from guide-books under the shelter of the dagger, no longer do their menacing persona scare supervisors to a chilly silence.

Yet, this is not the news. The news is few have been able to reconcile with the relieving fact that Mafia Raj is passing out of the land of the Mahatma. In a phase of transition that they are in, Porbander and its students, parents and journos don't seem to appreciate the change of guard at the SSC and HSC examination centres from the Mafia to the district education office.

Yes, they are happy that the hot-headed Mehr and Kharwa majority have lost their clout with people like Santokben Jadeja and Bhura Munja having shifted base to Rajkot. They are happy that mafia gangs do not outnumber the civilian population, the press too is happy though they often do not have anything `sensational' to write now, and also the people at large, who can move about at will.

Though no one directly says it and in so many words, the under-current is palpable : they don't like the supervisors, the anti-checking squads, the DEO, the Collectorate and the police taking their job seriously. Asserts Pulkit Joshi, writing his SSC exams,``I was just searching my pen in my trouser pocket when came a supervisor, who disturbed me; he wanted to see each and everything with me, and wouldn't even listen to me. His intentions were to trap me in a copy case''.

``They are not criminals, so what if they make one or two inquiries with classmates (during exams); pehla jevu nathi ahiya baki tou badha sidha thai jaay (it is no longer like the past here, otherwise supervisors couldn't dare catch cheating),'' says a parent Mahesh Virani, without batting an eyelid. His daughter is writing the SSC exams.

Sonal Gandhi, an SSC student, says ``they (the supervisors) suspect us ; just once when I looked behind, the lady invigilator asked me what was I looking and reprimanded me.'' When asked why was she looking behind, she told this reporter, ``just like that.'' Her father says, ``you presswallahs from outside Porbander always wish to show the town as a crime city, but what do you have to say to these supervisors, who are behaving like this.'' When told that the supervisor would obviously ask if you look behind during the exams without reason, he asserts, ``so, is that copying ? they have a police mentality, they wish to catch everyone.''

Agrees local reporter Prakash Joshi, when he says, ``the supervisors and checking squads are harassing students and distracting their attention.'' He objects to Porbander being considered `sensitive' for the board exams. They treat innocent children like ``RDX accused,'' asserts veteran journalist Hemendra Parekh angrily. ``Don't quote me but we had decided not to write about any copying cases being caught in the city; the DEO and Collectorate think they have done something big by checking cheating cases,'' another reporter whispers.

DEO K M Joshi doesn't agree with the charges. ``The supervisors are not sadists, why would they unnecessarily disturb the students. If they have suspicions against someone, they would make inquiries. And there is always reason for this. But obviously, the students don't like this.''

He says they have caught over 100 copying cases in the Porbander centre, which has been declared sensitive for its past record. He is joined in by Bhavsinh High School science teacher V K Tanna to say ``the worst in Porbander was over three-four years ago. I had myself seen students sitting with daggers, sometimes slapping supervisors, or parents threatening invigilators from outside the exam hall.'' Earlier, it was like booth-capturing, but not now, he adds.

You may have to agree with him.