There is nothing like nostalgia. I always love going back into memories and revisit all the nice times I had at my school. I studied in St.Xaviers school, popularly known as the Boys Convent. For 10 years....... from Class I to X (except for a brief stint at Vignana Vihara in VIII). We got a concrete building when I was in Class II and we all moved from a tiny asbestos shed that we shared with an ITI, to a sprawling double storied building. When I saw the building for the first time I had the same feeling that Shahjahan had when he saw his magnificient Taj. But he could see it only from the rat hole in the corner of Red Fort. I think I am far better...
We had two head mistresses. First, Sister Gracy and then Sister Mercy. I remember only Sister Mercy because she gave me a character in a drama that we played on our school stage for the anniversary. The play is about a greedy man who adulterates ghee, gets caught and had to pick a punishment of his choice - to drink adulterated ghee or to be whipped 100 times or to pay a fine. He drinks half the ghee and then takes 50 lashes and then pays the fine. In that play, I am the one who whips him 50 times. I felt really bad for lashing someone and cursed Sister Mercy for giving me that dirty role. I would rather loved the character that collects the fine. This is one of the two plays that I ever acted in. The other was a skit that we played when I was in high school and played in Guwahati at a conference of United schools organization under the aegis of one of our social teachers, Mr Chowdhary (fondly but secretly called as Boost). Barring these two, I was never into theatre.
I always had a great admiration for my teachers. One Teacher whom I like the most is Sagar, our telugu teacher - a lean man who became round after marriage. I remember him coming to school stressfully pedaling his old cycle and being greeted gleefully by his past, present and future students. His class was the most interesting one for anyone. He explained social issues by beautifully interspersing them in our language lessons. I would say that my social thinking is largely shaped by him. Another teacher I liked was Dominick, our Hindi teacher. I liked him because he used to tell XXX jokes which were so exciting to my freshly developing testosterone. Today, I attribute my good knowledge of eroticism and bad hindi to Dominick.
I was my class leader from Class III to Class VII. And briefly in Class IX as well. A class leader always has certain privileges (except the fact that he has to stand when the rest are sitting). My major responsibility is to note down names of guys who speak in the small intervals between one class and the other. Another responsibility is to tell stories in such intervals so that the first reponsibility can be handled with ease. It feels so great when you can talk and nobody else can. I used to create stories which were painfully loooooooong for me and for the listeners. But none of us was left with an option. When I was in Class X, we started the Learners Club along with two other friends Avinash and PB. We invited the District Collector for the inaugural. We also published a small magazine called Learners' Magazine. But it didn’t last for long. There was no Succession Planning and once we left for college, the club became a memoir. I understood how difficult it is for any social organization to sustain for long. Reaching Mount Everest may be easy but living there is a challenge.
I always had a great admiration for my teachers. One Teacher whom I like the most is Sagar, our telugu teacher - a lean man who became round after marriage. I remember him coming to school stressfully pedaling his old cycle and being greeted gleefully by his past, present and future students. His class was the most interesting one for anyone. He explained social issues by beautifully interspersing them in our language lessons. I would say that my social thinking is largely shaped by him. Another teacher I liked was Dominick, our Hindi teacher. I liked him because he used to tell XXX jokes which were so exciting to my freshly developing testosterone. Today, I attribute my good knowledge of eroticism and bad hindi to Dominick.
I was my class leader from Class III to Class VII. And briefly in Class IX as well. A class leader always has certain privileges (except the fact that he has to stand when the rest are sitting). My major responsibility is to note down names of guys who speak in the small intervals between one class and the other. Another responsibility is to tell stories in such intervals so that the first reponsibility can be handled with ease. It feels so great when you can talk and nobody else can. I used to create stories which were painfully loooooooong for me and for the listeners. But none of us was left with an option. When I was in Class X, we started the Learners Club along with two other friends Avinash and PB. We invited the District Collector for the inaugural. We also published a small magazine called Learners' Magazine. But it didn’t last for long. There was no Succession Planning and once we left for college, the club became a memoir. I understood how difficult it is for any social organization to sustain for long. Reaching Mount Everest may be easy but living there is a challenge.
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