Holy Memories - A look back at my School Days

School days are everybody’s first love. No many would forget their first day at school, crying at the sight of parents leaving. I’ve had an interesting 1^st day at school. All my school’s sisters gave is chocolates & off I go. I did return that day with 3 stitches dangerously close to my right eye, falling off a small wall. Majority of my schooling was at Holy Cross School where I studies from 1^st grade until higher secondary. 12 years in a school transforms into lots of memories. Our batch was widely regarded as the best & worst of the school’s history.

Most of my close friends are from School. Vivek tops the list with Anne, Raju & Ramya following suit not necessarily in that order. We had our share of controversies to be named the worst batch. The earliest I can remember was 4^th grade when yours truly was accused of writing a love letter to my best friend in her diary. Handwriting checks proved otherwise but imagine a 4^th grade love letter. We also became the only class to rebel against a Vice – Principal’s decision in boys vs. girls issue when the boys were unfairly punished. Boys stood together in a strike that lasted for 2 hours which ultimately ended in VP asking pardon for her incorrect decision.

Part of Holy Cross’ success is attributed to its teachers. My favorite was Thilak Mam. She thought Biology but she was best regarded as the best English teacher of the school. She was famous for pinching students in the ear. Murari might remember because his ear started bleeding after repeated pinching. Then there’s evergreen Mr. Munuswamy. He’s our Tamil teacher who apart from teaching well, also cracks frequent jokes & double meaning dialogues to make classes more interesting (Mayilum Illa.. Mayirum illa). And of course, very few will forget ‘Can u catch my point?’ Very few escaped from the stick of Kalaiselvi’s mam. A smart Mr. Kishore was girls’ favorite while Meenakshi mam was guys’ favorite.

Almost everyone took to extra coaching for higher secondary exams. Friends would remember me wearing an overcoat & riding a Hero Puch for the early morning math tuition. There were times when we used to lie to gather even on non tuition days at the early hours to play cricket.

Many of us experience 1^st love in school. There were quite a few love stories which I’ve known of in school but will refrain from writing. Mine though was a different one. It was my friends who wrote the story, screenplay, dialogue and directed a love story between me and a girl, which was immensely popular not just with students but teaching staffs too. But then, looking back it was quite a bit of fun.

When I look back, I must admit that my school life was as great as my college days. There was enough freedom for us to socialize but seldom crossed the limits. There were enough opportunities even for an average student like me to take part in career enriching activities. Friends would remember me taking part in various GK competitions. Sadly, Holy Cross School never really scaled greater heights after we left. Still, in my world it’s the best school (4^th best in the state in 2002), that thought me so many things within and outside the syllabus.

The Nostalgia of Deepavali

India is THE country for festivals. If we do a rough calculation, almost everyday there is a festival being celebrated with importance by some community or the other. But the grand daddy of them all is Deepavali (I refer to it as Deepavali, not Diwali because of my Tamil roots). The whole day is so beautifully set up with Pooja, Sweets, Lights and of course Crackers. In modern times, Deepavali is also about special TV programmes and new movie releases. One thing that separates Deepavali from other Indian festivals is the buzz that it creates more than a month before it actually happens.

I still remember during my school days where new clothes bought weeks before were the biggest temptation as we were prohibited from wearing them before the festival day. The other irresistible stuff is the crackers. Once bought, crackers were spread in the terrace during sunshine for them to dry even more so as have the desired effect. We were not supposed to fire crackers until the final evening before Deepavali. Occasionally we were given 1 or 2 crackers to burn which gave us so much joy.

On the day of Deepavali is the real excitement. The normally late risers like me would wake up by 4am. The first thing that we would do is pick the most audible bomb from the box and burst it in front of the house. Kids have a competition on who would burst the first cracker of the community. Then oil bath and morning Pooja. Then kids would start with the crackers while parents begin their preparation for the grand lunch that would consists of at least 10 types of dishes. Until lunch, kids' attention is divided between the special TV programmes and the crackers. The excitement of bursting crackers never fades down till late afternoon. Crackers were burnt on various platforms like tins, pipes and even dog's tail. During late afternoon, sweets were distributed to friends, relatives, neighbors and for people in need. Children also share their crackers with less privileged children. By now its evening and the focus shifts from bombs to colorful crackers like flowerpots, rockets etc... The whole house is decorated with lights giving a real festival picture. So much happiness and so much goodwill in one day… Legend says that Deepavali is the day where good triumphed over evil. In modern times, Deepavali is the day where people share and spread love and brotherhood with others.

In a mechanical world that we live, there is a need for festivals like these for refreshment and to do a soul searching. After two years of celebrating Deepavali in the land of the British while mastering my technical skills, I’m going to be in my home for this year’s Deepavali. A childish excitement has embraced me again. The new clothes, the crackers and the sweets take me back in time to the good old days. I love this. Do u?

The Agonising Wait

8 m0nths ago, when i set out to the UK for higher studies, I dreamt of this day to come.. May17th is the day that I'll be going back to my beloved India for a 2 week visit. Family emotions, reunion of friends, catching up with relatives are all that's in store for me. Bike trip (my favorite of all the plans), meeting a best friend who I last met 10 years back, hill station tours with family and friends, release and the prospect to viewing 'Shivaji' on day one and my birthday will make this short trip, the most busiest and the most memorable one.

But the most agonising part of all this are the days that lead up to it. Days that went in a flash become longer and longer.. The more phone calls u make to ur dear ones, the more anxious u become.. Every dream that u experience will be either in a flight or in home or roaming with friends.. That's the part i'm in now.. The agony just cannot be described fully.. Lots of NRI's will go with my views (I mean the ones who WANTS to come back to India).. The one important fact that compunds that agony is my exams. Exams on the 14th and 16th is the last thing I want before the departure. The more I think of it, the more I hate exams and the more I love to go back. But i one way i think i got to experience this feeling... It just gives a burning drive to make the the 16 days, the most memorable in my life..

So what do i miss????

This is a question that i asked myself after i landed in the UK... When i thought about it for a while my mind returned with astonishing amount of 'MISSING' list....

Family is obviously the first thing.... (although sometimes u feel like missing ur friends more than ur family....that's the magic of friendship...) But yes, mom and dad r d ones u miss d most... b'coz they r ur source of genes.... ur blood.... ur everything..... personally i miss d bashes i get from my mom when i sit in front of d TV for a long time... nowadays my mom askes me to get a TV for myself if i feel bored here.... what a change??? ofcourse not doing a single job in home... no cooking, no washing, no cleaning.... I can realise that when i' on my own here....

Friends..... here comes the BIG miss list... Whenever i think of this thr is a sudden empty feeling that surrounds me... I had a huge gang of friends around me..... Terribly miss them.... It was like strings of a guitar... everybody were very different from one another yet the best of friends..... The other day when i was in London with my new set of friends, i thought how good it would have been if i had my VIT gang wit me.... I was almost in tears thinking abt it....

The no of fights i had with my best friend Abi (nayyy... hez actually my best enemy), the no of times me and abi tortured jeeva (karuvaya, kyana kirukk r d 2 decent words we used with him.. rest is censored), the no of time jeeva use d word F_ _ K, the no of times i bashed chinni, the no of bike rides i had with ash in my bike and abi, jeeva, prabhu and Dr in their bikes, the no of presentations that i did with raju, the no of times i asked kaivu to give me a smile , the no of time i called anshu as bokka, the no of times i was called 'ennada kanna' by pravs, the no of times i listened to kani speak (she'll speak some crap but still u'll never get bored), the no of times i teased sindhu, the no of times me and thee cried for fun (actually adu oppari...), the no of times i roasted kadalai with bhuvs, the no of times we listened to satish talk, the no of times we imitated rock's tamil (ennada pannudu), most importantly the no of times madhu teased me... (ni pant podarathuku ore karanam thaan),the no of times me, gokul and jeeva discussed virtually everything in the same of group study,and of course the no of times i spoke with Indu.....

and of course people who know me will never forget 'YES SIR' .....

Miss my college terribly(Sharp contrast to the way we used to curse the coll when we were there).. i was in the best college and the best department... (VIT, BIOTECH), KJ's golden words (what d fuck is happening in this dept), arnold sir stuggling in our classes, Sethu-the perfect teacher, one dumb headed A_ _ H_ _ _ _ called anand samuel, library...err...lovers park, food court..err...another lovers park, canteen (place whr most of d friendships and loves start and end), a comedy called assignments, an even better comedy called exams, passing chits across d class in the first year, when technology improved chits were replaced by sms's (the best part is that when the class gets overboring sms is sent to the person sitting next to u), the long walks around the campus with a girl next to u (nw that's one thing that i really miss here)...... thr is everything about VIT that i miss......

Yercaud and the training is one unforgettable one but that will take another post..... it has that much..... madhu, jeeva, sindhu, abi, satish will accept my point...

Chennai is another place that i miss like anything..... that again is with another post b'coz that simply is chennai... if i write along with this u guys will get over bored....

A single drop of tear from my eyes that dropped into Thames river is a clear testimonial of how i miss my friends, my coll and my family......