School chale hum ...

I had to go back to school yesterday. No, not because my dad thought I need to start my education from scratch, but I had to get copies of my Xth marks card attested by the Principal, and believe me ... I was looking forward to go to school ... it had been 7 years since I last went there !!!

The gates looked the same. Buildings were more crowded ... the school, the kindergarten section, the stage area, and the auditorium. I tried to walk with composure, but adrenalin was pumping inside. Trying to figure out where the office used to be before, I walked to the same old place. It was now the Reception area, and things started looking confusing. Suddenly I saw a known figure walking down the corridor. I knew him. Red eyes, short stature, asking all kids to walk in a straight line ... he was our physical trainer Mr. ChandraShekhar. He existed when our school was built, he existed throughout my schooling, he's the good old physical trainer till today. He used to handle our Mass PT on Wednesdays ... and he was the funniest trainer you can ever meet.

He seemed to remember me ... i then moved onto the office place ... the place used to be the kindergarten section once ... but now, since the kids got a separate building, this room had become an office. School looked much more beautiful now ... more extravagant, high-tech, and stylish. As my attestation formalities were in process ... I met the one lady I dreaded to meet. Our high-school class teacher, also our Maths teacher. Maths has never been my cup of tea, and her periods have been nightmares. She was a wonderful teacher though, but I dreaded her classes as much as I dreaded the subject.

"Oh Suhas, how are you?" said she. I was stupefied. She knows my name !!! "Of course, I was your class teacher" she said, reading my mind. "You have grown so tall" she said, and I was thinking "What the heck !! And all this while I thought I was growing shorter". Then came our Kannada teacher 'Mrs. Lalitha Hegde'. She was one person whom we teased the most during class hours, but she still was real happy seeing me. I feared where she'll ask me to write an article for 'Kannada Rajyothsava' ... she used to say that even after I left school.

After identifying a few more teachers ... my attestation job was completed. I realized most of our teachers had left school, and had retired. One person I was dying to meet was Mrs. Gordon, our English teacher. She was the Queen of English. Old woman she was, but the most respected amongst all the rest. Heard she retired too ... Ma'am if you are reading this, I'm sure you'll be crying, not of joy, but upon seeing the number of grammatical errors I have committed. I owe whatever English I have to her ... she's the best English teacher ever !! I studied English in School only because I wanted her to be happy ...

School's changed in terms of the outlook ... it looks more flamboyant now ... the high-school girls are Katrina Kaifs, Priyanka Chopras and Deepika Padukones in the making (I also secretly wished I had born about 6 years later) ... skirts have gotten shorter ... fashion has creeped into every nook and corner of the building ... but the walls are the same ... you can keep painting them with glossy colours ... but they still echo the same sound ... as they did 7 years back ... the floors were the same ... somewhere, they had our foot-prints ... the doors were the same ... the toilets are there where they used to be ... somewhere we have contributed to it ... I looked back again as I walked out ... I may never come back to this school again (they don't even have an alumni association) ... this was my school ... the best 10 years of my life was spent here ... I had my first crushes here ... learnt about the birds and bees ... the troubles with friendships ... it hurts to realize we can never get this life back ... I looked at a couple of girls standing near the doorway ... just told them "Enjoy school life ... as much as you can ... " ... they blankly looked at me ... probably they'll realize what I said a few years from now ... and the cycle repeats