School is out

For what seems like the 10th time this month, the local kids have school off for a minor holiday or religious festival. It feels like the kids here are never in school. I asked a coworker about this curious trend and got a bit more than I was expecting.

In short, the kids get a hell of a lot of time off – much of it for seemingly ridiculous reasons. There is no better example of this than the month kids got off from school in 2000 due to the kidnapping of the state’s most beloved film star, Rajkumar. Yes, you read correctly. I didn’t believe it either but the facts don’t lie.

I’m going to grossly oversimplify this story but in 2000 a gang leader, named Veerappan, kidnapped the 71 year old Rajkumar and held him in captivity for 108 days while demanding the release of several gang members. Rajkumar was freed but events surrounding the kidnapping remain murky.

What is not up for discussion is that business in Bangalore came to a near standstill during the saga. The kidnapping was a political and social crisis and a month of closed schools should tell you all you need to know. To read more about this kind of bizarre moment in history read here.

But anyway, this story left me thinking. What would have to happen in the U.S. to cause schools to close for a month? After 9/11 we had maybe a day or two off. Barring some kind of natural disaster, I just can’t imagine schools being closed for that long. In fact, is there any pop culture figure whose death could trigger even one day off?