Reflections1

Mind is full of footprints,  some are clear some are not, some of them are ready to erase needs a brush up once a while to keep them fresh because we relish them. Some we want to brush off because we don’t like them there because they caused pain, but all of them will be there faded or bold. I feel we need them to be there and call them experience. With out them we may do the same mistakes again.

I never been to pre school. I had been in my grand parents house(My mothers parents) for most of my pre school days then my father decided to stop all his business ventures and lead a normal life!!! He moved to kuthpady his parents house. That was the time he moved us also from punaroor to kuthpady.

After the marriage my parents were together for a while in different parts of Karnataka and my father doing the hotel business. My mother seen the good and worst time with my father.

When we moved to Kuthpady I didn’t know what school is my eldest sister was in 8th STD next sister was in 7th STD and I wasn’t in any!!!! So on the first day of the school I still remember my dad came with his brother(Sadu uncle) to the school and filled some forms and they asked me to go to the 1st STD and someone gave me some space on the wooden bench, I kept my bag with the slate and one Kannada book and sat there I saw my dad and uncle leaving the school with eye filled with tears. I think I would have run behind them but I was so scared of both of them.

Kuthpady aided higher primary school was a village school with 7th class. My second sister was in the same school in the 7th SDT. She came around to see me in the class between her classes I was still with tears. My teacher told her to sit with me for a while because this was the first time I was ever away from the home. In the afternoon my sister took me to home for lunch after the lunch I don’t want to go back to school. My sister told Sadu uncle  he just looked at me I picked up my stuff and on my way to school. I was so angry with my sister I didn’t spoke to her on the way just cried.

We had Kamala teacher as our class teacher(She was the teacher to my dad as well!!!!) She was a old lady but lots a enthusiasm to teach and she had two wooden rulers to beat students! She want to beat the students but she don’t want them to get hurt. She use to hold them together and beat the students which gives a big noise but little pain. We use to think she was hitting hard but later on when we get beaten by other teachers with one rulers we realise Kamala teacher was better!!

Recently someone asked me that can you remember the names of the teachers names. I was surprised by that questions I do and I can very well recognise them if they come in front of me and the incidents in the school as well.

I do remember very well in the school days I never had a full slate always my slate use to be a broken!!. Three things lacking in my school days were full slate!, slippers!! and bum part of my school shorts!!! I did sincerely tried to have them but in my remembrance I never had them in  a stretch for more than a month!!. Till the 3rd STD there was no practice of having foot wear after that when my dad bought me one with cheap quality I use to drag my feet when I am walking so the later part of the slipper use to get torn off !!!. We had a cement sliding at the school and I love to playing in that, new shorts, slide in the slider one slide torn off then no bum part. Couple of times my sisters stich them for me then they also got fed up!!!!

I loved to have umbrella but my dad would not let me have one because he thought I would get wet more in umbrella. So he use to get me rain coat. I think I had a feeling that rain coat was for kids only but I am not the one!!!!!

We have an Ayurvedic College on our way to the school. I use to watch all these students with thick books and dream about owning a thick book one day. We had one book for 1st STD(Kannada)!, 2 for 2nd STD (Kannada and Maths) plus maths tables book!!, 4 for 3rd STD(Kannada, Maths, Science, Social studies)!!!

2nd Standard I had lots of friends. I always had lots of stories to tell when I came back form for school I always love to tell stories. My mom never discouraged me even though my sisters did.

Our 2nd STD teacher and 3rd STD teacher had a love affair we never know what was that in those days. Our 2nd STD teacher use to give me or one of my friend a small piece of folded paper to give it to the 3rd STD teacher and we use to take it to the 3rd STD and give it to the teacher there and back to the class. Later another boy form that class use to bring a letter back. For us it was just a fun. Later on when I was in the 3rd STD once our teacher was very upset and 2nd STD teacher didn’t come to the school for weeks me and my friends prayed god please god let the 2nd STD teacher come to the school and let out teacher be happy. We have a temple in front of the school and we offered offerings to the god as well!!! After couple of weeks when the 2nd STD teacher came back she was married and our teacher was very upset and he left the school for couple of days. One way we were very happy that till he come back no class and nice fun. If the head master didn’t come to the school then it is festival for us!!!

When our teacher came back he took a transfer from our school to other school. He was a very nice teacher we all cried because he was leaving us. Those were so emotional days and no barriers for the emotions.

We had a poem call ‘Govina Kathe’ (story of a cow) in our curriculum in the 3rd STD. Whole of the class together recite it loudly.  It is a beautiful poem which explains the honesty of a cow. A cow(Punyakoti) faces a tiger and tiger want to eat because of hunger but cow want to see her son once before the death so she requests the tiger to leave to see her son once and whenshe comes back he can eat her. After a bit of negotiation  tiger leave the cow to go and have a last visit of her calf. When calf realises that his mother is going back to eaten by the tiger he start crying and the cow try to console the son, at this part of the poem most of us start cry in the middle of the recitation.Those days we really thought the story is true.