Gone are those school days…

It has been six years since I graduated out of school but the memories are fresh enough to make me wonder whether those days are really gone. Those were the days when I enjoyed the most. No tensions, no worries but just enjoyment. Did I know the meaning of the word ‘stress’ then? Certainly, our teachers knew it. Our batch was labeled as the most notorious one in the history of Mount Carmel Anglo Indian Girls High School, Tangasseri and we lived by it proudly. Our ICSE and ISCE results also were the best. If I look back now, I am unable to remember the number of times we were punished as a whole. It was easy to find happiness back then in small things. Imagine the fun of imitating our teachers’ right in front of them. Of course they enjoyed it, otherwise they would not have asked us to do it. Dancing, singing, making merry was all a part of our daily activities.

Gaping out at the big sea, through the classroom corridor, I always thought that one day the waves would rise up and gulp down the whole school. What a stupid thought, I know. Nevertheless, to declare that the sea was a very beautiful view would be an understatement. A mile adjacent to our school stood the Infant Jesus Anglo Indian Boys School. Ahem, yes when there is a girls school, a boys school can’t be very far away, Is it? Anyways, we used to love and enjoy the attention the boys showered on us. At the end of the day, travel in the same tempo van back home, singing and playing all the way.

I still remember the time when Mrs Cabbot, (our biology teacher) asked in the 10 STD whether any of us have seen the male reproductive organ. She saw one hand rise. Poor D (class topper), she never knew what she was getting into by raising her hand. Or she must have thought that there might be quite a few hands other than hers raised up. The teacher demanded, “How and when”? She awkwardly answered, “Recently, my cousin brother was born. I saw his”. Anyways she was asked to go to the board and draw the male reproductive system. What a laugh we had! Imagine all the girls giggling and she standing near the board and trying her best to draw and draw.

On entering the plus one, we started to look out and enjoy the sight of good looking boys. There was this day which, was much awaited by both the schools. The ‘Plus Two Day’. It was a tradition followed in which every year, all the plus two girls and boys from both the schools would meet up in either of the schools and the students would perform for the audience. The audience would be the plus two teachers and the plus two students again. It would be a platform for interaction between both the schools. Unluckily, in the 2 years of my plus two, we had only one plus two day but we had lots of fun on that day.

We were all seated together, in such a way that one boy was sandwiched between two girls. Nobody was talking and it was a really awkward situation. Each person was waiting for the other one to talk. Of course, we girls wanted the guys to start off. There was this gang of five boys with musical instruments who was to perform for us some song. One of them, approached S and asked her, “Can you show me the way to the green room”? Now S is another one of my best friends and the laughing riot of our class. To describe her, I would use the words simple, beautiful, hilarious and jumpy. S got up and answered, “May I ask for what”?
The guy was totally dumbfounded but he soon said, “I need to keep this guitar there safely”. In a moment, S snatched the guitar from him and replied, “Oh that’s all? I will keep it here next to this pillar”. We all started laughing like anything. The guy had a blank expression on his face. He watched helplessly as S placed his precious guitar next to the dusty pillar.

Even after that incident, nobody took the initiative to talk. Time was running out. Suddenly, S jumps up literally, claps and shouts aloud, “Come on guys, lets play something”. The guys looked at each other with frightened faces. All the girls started laughing like anything. Soon the guys joined us in our laughter. This gesture kind of lightened the moment and all of us started talking and laughing. Even in tuition classes, which is the only other place where we get to interact with them, we had quite a bit of fun because of S. On one such occasion, in our Math tuition class, few guys were sitting besides S and my other friends. Now one guy who was trying to keep his bag accidentally hits S’s butt. Few minutes later, she jumps up from her seat, turns around much above that guy’s dismay and shouts, “This is the second time you are hitting me on my buttocks”. The whole class including the professor stares at both of them and starts laughing. S sat down totally embarrassed realizing what she did. That is how she is. She first acts and then thinks.

Now S is doing her final year exams for her medicine studies. Very soon she would become a much deserving doctor considering the kind of helpful person she is. We always tell her parents, that when one patient would come to her clinic seeing the person’s helplessness, she would not only treat him for free but also give money and make sure that he gets medicines also for free. Whoever comes across this blog is likely to wonder what syrals means? Each letter of the word is the first letter of my best friends’ names. I guess I have taken enough of my office time to joblessly write this post. Back to work now!