Feb 15th 2007:This date will forever remained etched in my memory.For this was the day when my school finally decided to bid me and my 200-odd classmates goodbye,officially.The unofficial farewell ‘ party’ as one might call it,had been hosted by our juniors,who were probably pretty glad to see us,probably the most non controversial batch in the entire history of the school,finally get out.Maybe for them it was fun,but for me it was no less than traumatic.I still remember how I felt that day.It was so hard to say goodbye to school life;to all your friends , to all teachers ( yes,I must’ve cursed every one of them behind their backs but still….),to all the memories….sigh….and today I see the same juniors ,clutching the souvenir books and meeting up with their friends for what might be the last time.Its not like we don’t get to meet our schoolfriends later in life,its just that the magic of the friendship sort of fades once we are out of the school premises.We are too much into our own world,in which school ,which once occupied a main position in our mind,now takes a backseat .Our world now consists of college,college friends,professors,lectures,bunks etc.But our attachment to school is still far greater than our attachment to college.How can the enjoyment of four years match up to the enjoyment and goofing ups of twelve whole years?
I know a lot of people,many amongt my own friends,will disagree with me.But school life still holds a special place in my life.It is only after we go to college that we realize how simple and enjoyable school life was.For in school,there are no politic games played at every corner,like in college,where,even for a simple audition,you need to have a set of ‘ useful contacts’.School life had that sorta innocent charm that still appeals to us even now.
As I write this article,various images of my school life keep popping in front of my eyes,thus causing me to smile and think how dumb I was at that time,and how innocent.The sneers and taunts about my two plaits,which were considered a fashion disaster in 8th grade and which once pained me,now cause me to laugh at myself,imagining up the whole scenario.The eventful time when I was made the monitor of the class and the only useful thing I did was to improve my writing skills by writing about the activities of one particular classmate of mine,who,needless to say was a very mischievious character and then getting him into a row with the class teacher,who,luckily for me,totally believed whatever I said!The time when I and my classmate were sprayed with acid in the chem. Lab during an experiment,the times in the library,the long walks in the playground,the times when,as 5th graders,we used to go to the bookshop and secretly buy those fancy pen pencils,d time wen we escaped from the school gates without the guards knowledge………..wow,those times were simply great. And,like all great times,they will never come again.Only the memories remain………..
Its not that I never go to school now.Since I have the added advantage of having a school close to my home,I visit it pretty often,though mostly after the school hours,alone,( since my friends, being less attached to school,find this tour of mine boring )hoping that I get a feel of my own schooldays.But,sadly,even that feel is gone.Gone forever,never to return again.I meet my school friends even now,sometimes in school or even on the roads,but we are never able to connect in the way we used to at school.Somehow at school,we had so many things to talk about and now the only thing we both can talk about is my college,her college,her friends , my friends,her boyfriend( who,by the way,never existed in school life,or even if he did,he was just ignored maybe),my latest crushes ( if any,coz I happen to be boyfriend-free and have lost count of my crushes!)etc etc…………
And now,the only thing I do whenever I see any kid going to school on a cold frosty morning,especially if it’s a fat,frumpy girl with long oiled hair,buried under the weight of her bag striding towards school,is to reminisce,and think….aah…those good old days!!!
