Ah! Finally, I'm writing about the good old times.Yes!
Ahem. Okay, so..
Two institutions have so far had a great impact on my life. My current college(Fr.CRIT) and my school - St. John the Baptist High School. All kinds of experiences and memories are attached to this place. Right from the uneventful KG years to the glorious 8th, 9th and 10th when we formed the F.F.E.
In many ways, St. John for me has been like the world in miniature. There were all kinds of people in there; and I'm not saying just students. Even the teachers were all one of a kind. There was this teacher in Sr. KG who threatened us by saying that she would take a pencil, put it in our mouths and remove it from the back of our necks. At five years old, I could simply not fathom how something put in the mouth could come out that way. Things you put in the mouth went down, right? And what was beyond the throat anyway?
Then there was a teacher in the 2nd std who would tell us she'd staple the lips of anyone who talked. This I understood perfectly, but I never had trouble keeping quiet and being inconspicuous. I did get punished for not doing homework though. Her conventional way of punishment was to take anything from two to four wooden foot rulers stacked one above the other and hit students on the shins and calfs. Every single person in the class cried, except one girl, who never showed any other sign of emotion either. And me. I don't remember ever crying in school.
If ever I crack a particularly stupid joke, this friend of mine makes a sad face and says very cautiously "Er.. were you abused as a child?". It's hilarious to see his expression when I tell him about all these things!
There are two times when I got into a little bad company, which is inevitable in St.John- once in 5th-6th and once in 9th after the start of the renaissance.
7th standard was the first time I made a concious decision about life. God knows what made me do it then, but things changed immediately. It was like going into high gear all of a sudden. I stood 4th in the class, won quizzes and even took part in a dance. 3 first times in one year; 4 considering my first crush.
So for me, life began at 12. In St.John.
It was in 8th std when I met most of the friends I still hang out with, and the remaining schooling years were spent in the forming of our group. There are so many things that I'd like to write about here, one post is too small. So let me start with a random event-
10th standard
Once my friend Aniket and I were sitting on the 1st bench in the english lecture when Mavis miss asked us to go to the library for some work. From what I heard, we were supposed to get a small poem for the KG students. It did sound odd but we didn't bother. It was good enough to be out of the class. So off we went and came down with 'pussycat pussycat' written neatly on a piece of paper. Mavis miss took the paper from us, watched our smug faces with what JK Rowling would call an 'unfathomable' expression, and went away without a word. In the recess on the next day, I ran into Aniket and Mavis miss in the corridor. And there was Jacinta miss too, all through utter coincidence. Now I remember Jacinta miss as an understanding, calm and soft spoken person. But then why was Mavis miss talking to her with an angry expression? And why were they both-one in shock, other in disbelief- looking down at the two of us? Before I could answer these questions, Jacinta miss had started to lecture us and Mavis miss had left, saying '...so I told them to bring a song to play in the school assembly and this is what they get..!'
Man, talk about miscommunication! What would it have taken us to confirm what we were actually supposed to do?! Why would a teacher ask 10th std students to get a nursery rhyme anyway?
Still, all in all, it was fun. Thank God we had always been in their good books. Turns out, you don't lose your reputation for taking the mickey out of the teachers, intentionally or unintentionally!
