The monsoon is beyond doubt, the harbinger of nostalgic emotions. How we wish we could relive the very first days of our school with every first shower that June ushers in. A gala midnight chateratti with my cousins revived my memories, catalyzed my thoughts and provoked me into penning down those times.
As June would commence, so would our anxiety to experience yet another year in school. My summer holidays used to be busy with my Tinkle comics, with the covering of my school books, playing ‘Barbie-and-Skipper’ and rushing for my pre-school shopping!
My memories don’t go too much down the lane, but being the eldest of the three cousins, I do remember playing big sister in school. The over-protective one that I played to be (no, I wasn’t bossy and I dare my cousins to give a different version to this!), I remember those lunch-breaks when I used to go to my sister’s II-C class where she would wait for me with a sole friend of hers for our lunch ensemble.
As years passed by, our friends-circle expanded. Our lunch ensembles got merrier. My cousin would have certainly not followed our jokes and jeers, nevertheless she was part of everything. How we still recall those times, our friends’ mannerisms, the way we all ate, the way we played, the way we fell!
I can’t forget those early mornings when we used to be forced out of our beds. The drowsy-droopy threesome that were, we would drag ourselves out to the bus-stop desperately awaiting our bus to arrive to find our seats to slumber again!
My classes- V to VII were the best ones to cherish! Those were the years I still recollect very distinctly. Those were the years when we had the perfect blend of more of fun and less of books! And my class VI-C was the best of them. It was one of the very few terrace classrooms in the entire school. And I was one of those fortunate ones to be envied by my other schoolmates.
How we would gaze out of the window into the open skies. How the raindrops would splatter on our fresh new notebooks and on our faces. And then the frustrated looks that we would give our teachers as to how irritated we were with the rains diverting our attention from the lessons, making it cumbersome for us to make notes; certainly not realizing that those looks could never camouflage our inner bliss- the joy of welcoming the rains, the joy of having no lessons…
These moments will always bring a smile on our faces... The smell of the wet soil ('mitti ki khushboo')...
The memoirs of my school would be incomplete without cheering for the best house of our school- my Red-house. Our typical cheers to the house would go-
‘Soda-lemon-ginger-pop,
Red house on the top.
RED HOUSE- RED HOUSE!
Clap-clap-clap!’
Cheers to those times!
And finally, not to forget, a toast of gratitude to the endeavours of all my Sisters and teachers who have contributed in shaping me up the way I am!!!
As June would commence, so would our anxiety to experience yet another year in school. My summer holidays used to be busy with my Tinkle comics, with the covering of my school books, playing ‘Barbie-and-Skipper’ and rushing for my pre-school shopping!
My memories don’t go too much down the lane, but being the eldest of the three cousins, I do remember playing big sister in school. The over-protective one that I played to be (no, I wasn’t bossy and I dare my cousins to give a different version to this!), I remember those lunch-breaks when I used to go to my sister’s II-C class where she would wait for me with a sole friend of hers for our lunch ensemble.
As years passed by, our friends-circle expanded. Our lunch ensembles got merrier. My cousin would have certainly not followed our jokes and jeers, nevertheless she was part of everything. How we still recall those times, our friends’ mannerisms, the way we all ate, the way we played, the way we fell!
I can’t forget those early mornings when we used to be forced out of our beds. The drowsy-droopy threesome that were, we would drag ourselves out to the bus-stop desperately awaiting our bus to arrive to find our seats to slumber again!
My classes- V to VII were the best ones to cherish! Those were the years I still recollect very distinctly. Those were the years when we had the perfect blend of more of fun and less of books! And my class VI-C was the best of them. It was one of the very few terrace classrooms in the entire school. And I was one of those fortunate ones to be envied by my other schoolmates.
How we would gaze out of the window into the open skies. How the raindrops would splatter on our fresh new notebooks and on our faces. And then the frustrated looks that we would give our teachers as to how irritated we were with the rains diverting our attention from the lessons, making it cumbersome for us to make notes; certainly not realizing that those looks could never camouflage our inner bliss- the joy of welcoming the rains, the joy of having no lessons…
These moments will always bring a smile on our faces... The smell of the wet soil ('mitti ki khushboo')...
The memoirs of my school would be incomplete without cheering for the best house of our school- my Red-house. Our typical cheers to the house would go-
‘Soda-lemon-ginger-pop,
Red house on the top.
RED HOUSE- RED HOUSE!
Clap-clap-clap!’
Cheers to those times!
And finally, not to forget, a toast of gratitude to the endeavours of all my Sisters and teachers who have contributed in shaping me up the way I am!!!
16 comments:
Good post aarti.School life is unforgettable indeed and the memories of those years still linger in my heart.The moments you've described have been a part of not only my,but almost everybody's,school life,albeit with minor differences:-)
Rain and school were something we looked forward to,with equal enthusiasm.That mischievous gleam in our eyes as we pleaded with the teachers to let us go home before the torrential rains disrupted traffic was so characteristic of so many of us:-)
You brought back loads of memories with this post.Nice one!!!
Rains - water-logged roads, cavernous potholes, wet socks, drenched notebooks, the unforgettable afternoon naps, playing marbles in the compound, rare holidays and most memorable of all, the smell of new textbooks! Indeed, what beatuiful memories are associated with the rains!
Lauta do mujhko, woh bachpan ki yaadein
Woh kaagaz ki kashti, woh baarish ka paani....
This post brought some of my most cherished memories.
None more cherished than the wonderful concept of RAINY DAY. Rainy day for us was the the day school used to be declared closed due to excessive rains. What added to the fun was we got a chance to get drenched all thanks to "very heavy rains"..lol
Wish they introduced "rainy days" at office..sigh!!
Hey good one yaar. Just to add on, the beauty of Parsi Colony and Hindu Colony in the rains was simply mindblowing, with all those lush green trees and the lawns.
It is still hard to believe that in the heart of Dadar,we still have trees that would put some of the forests to shame.
Hey mayu,
i wanted to write so much about the 5 gardens, parsi colony et al.
but i didnt want to bore my readers with them, at the same time. they r all so close-to-the-heart moments yaar. And our early morning hoopers, remember!!! thr was such a significant change in our heights post hoopers, right? ;)
Good you r thr to share them wid me... dadar used to get so much flooded, and we used to get an off from school!!!
Of course, they were the best part of the summer hols.... but getting up in the morns was tough......
i remember the floods of Dadar and King Circle..... it was simply amazing...........(hey i guess i am too nostalgic... but then Dadar always reminds me of the happiest years of my life)
Ah, those beautiful memories! Of rain lashing on the windows of the classroom, of watching one's classmates, especially the ones sitting next to the window, squeal with despair whenever the waters blew in, of eating roasted corn on the windy promenade of Marine Drive, of drinking warm coffee, and cuddling into one's bed coverings like a baby in its mother's womb!
Rain also reminds me of our trip to Lonavala, of how we trekked all the way to that waterfall near Bushi dam, and how Kartik dropped the bag containing his and Satish's mobile phones, and how the lights went off at night and a few of us went off to see the nearby graveyard.
Rain always brings so many pleasant memories. No wonder so many people love it so much.
Yes Mayu,
Dadar and the Plaza cinema... and the Tilak Bridge pavements packed up with posters of Bollywood stars. And how we would stand and gaze at them.
Vivek,
The most vivid moments of our Lonavla trip were when we walked up the Bushy dam right till the top, against the water currents, holding each other's hands... not knowing where our feet would land up next. And how your specs fell down in the water, and how we managed to find it.
Nice post...Rains have a special place in my heart. Right since childhood i always tried getting wet during the first rain. Also, the smell of wet earth during the first rain is just awesome. As a kid, it was a routine for me and my friends to play football when it used to pour heavily. i will always remember those days where i used to be totally drenched in khichad after playing football and the look of disgust on my mom's face on seeing me..lol..i used to enjoy it..And yes, i can never forget 26th july where i walked for abt 8hrs in neck deep water..but that was just an one-off incident..apart from it, i guess, i have real pleasant memories which i will always cherish..
"Rain Rain go away, come again another day!" i totally disagree with this.. Aarti u reminded me of those school days, when schools were shut down due to water logging.. me and my friends would go or an "area ka round" and walk through the muddy water... sweet memories...
Excellent Post!!!
(Those days ki) Yaad aa rahi hai..mujhe yaad aa rahi hai...
"Rain Rain go away, come again another day!" i totally disagree with this.. Aarti u reminded me of those school days, when schools were shut down due to water logging.. me and my friends would go or an "area ka round" and walk through the muddy water... sweet memories...
Excellent Post!!!
(Those days ki) Yaad aa rahi hai..mujhe yaad aa rahi hai...
-Krishna
new blog. pl. check.
Hey...sry for commenting late...just got my net back....
Although I used to dislike the rains coz I cudnt go out to play with my friends...U, Kris...all of u r making me extremely nostalgic.... stayin in Gurgaon & listenin to u guys just reminds me of what I am missing!!!!
Gud one Arts!!
sorry for commenting late!
I don't like rainy seasons that is to go ut in all the muck but like to stayat home and enjoy with a cup of tea and bhajiyas!
School days were really memorable and the very exciting thing i found was the new books we used to but at the start of the term I used to get very excited with all the bundle of new books and i used to read the balbharati and history books before bcos those my fav subjects!
and school time pranks and gossip just difficult to forget
thanks aarti for bringing such goog memories back!A really nostalgic one!
Hey aarti im sorry i really thought a comment for this one. anyway excellent piece got me nostalgic and misty eyed. really miss those carefree days. wish i could get them back although all i wanted to do then was to grow up soon and be where i am today!!! Well even today rains bring back memories of new books the smell of new brown paper and plastic sheets, crisp new uniforms, butta and hot choclate. Thanks buddy for reviving those memories.
Thanks Maya, Adi, Neeraj, Mayuri, Vivek, Mahesh, Kris, Raj, Roops, kav for sharing your old skool memories!
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