Hiraeth (.n) - A homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which may be never was; the grief of lost places of your past
I can never put all the childhood memories in words, as I finish
writing a bit I remember the 1000 other things I missed out on ….when I am
overwhelmed with memories , I will write up .. This might be a start to my monthly blogs
now !! again are we starting On a Wednesday after a long lovely gap ? Let me
take it as a 10 year challenge now!!!
I read a beautiful article one of my cheerful school junior
Bella wrote a few days back and then I came across this word Hiraeth. I saw that friends and family were sharing Bella's post as she mirrored their thoughts and made a nostalgic start to my thought process
too. And yes you did influence me to write this little article about my good
times in the colony and school Bella… I dedicate this bit to all my classmates, batch
mates, seniors, teachers and families who were part of my growing up. My
earliest memory was when we ended up in the school assembly lines with the
Junior school leader looking out if everyone maintained the line and decorum to
reach the prayer ground of our school. Then came the 8 periods of 30 minutes
each…
Our school bell rang on time every morning after assembly.
This bell that sang the best tunes to our ears after each period ended had a
major role in our life’s J.
This bell gave us a sense of time, hope and happiness. It kept us looking
forward to our favourite teacher , favourite period and the immense pleasure of
ending the day with a long ringing clangour…
The art period and art sir in KV would have been everyone’s
favourite. Our Art room was bustling with activities and boards showcasing the
best pieces of art done by kids which inspired us to mimic some and our art
Sir. The second best was the CCA period which took away the majority of the
afternoon times in activities like solo singing, group dance, solo dance , quiz,
extempore and group singing. We were all so dumbstruck by the talented kids who
showcased their talents on this fine day.. we enjoyed and encouraged them with
nonstop applauses for sure. If we belonged to a particular Sadan (yes we were
split into 4 groups every year – Aravinda Vivekananda, Vyasa and Valmiki) then the applauses would reverberate even more from particular sadan supporters. I
still recollect how we had separate divisions for labs. The early memories from
primary school was to run across the divisions to the very last wing of biology
lab and peek in to see the Skeleton held in glass display unit. My little crime
partners who knew more than me used to tell me how they knew more about the
live rats and frogs that were kept and fed to be dissected.
The school days were amazing as they were and so were the
days when we had power cuts. We hardly had any to make the mark, however when
we had those power cuts we never lost the chance to run outside in the dark and
get everyone in our avenue to sit on the soft and cold beach sand. Any
opportunity to get food down was not missed. We sat in groups and sang
anthakshri .. The play time was our favourite too .. I am not sure if the 90’s
kids would be able to relate to what I would say , the ones from 80s and 70’s
definitely would. We had a gala time returning back from school… the bell when
it went off at 3:20 pm reminded us of many things that had to happen in series
between then and 6 pm… I never can evoke very clearly the times I rode my cycle
to school, but coming back home was the best as there are things you are
looking forward to… blocking the way and making sure you cycle with your group
of classmates was one of them… we then ganged up next to GSO and spoke until we
got called by Diana’s mother.. she would say, girls you have been there for
half hour. That’s when we got reminded of our mother’s face. The next 2 minutes
would be nonstop cycling to reach home. The whole schema would get a toss if we
had our marks or progress reports from quarterly, half yearly or annual exams
out. We would not waste a single minute anywhere ..the bell rings at 3:20 and
we were home at 3:23 J
the most submissive kids would appear inside us from nowhere during these
times.. Then came our playtime. Yes we played outside in heat and mud until we
got tired. We joined together and made up games and I cannot remember anytime
we were out of ideas or disagreed with anyone what to do in that evening. To
name a few the most favourite was cricket ,badminton, hide and seek, country
and john kallu . There were seasonal games with tyres, gilli danda, kites,
pambaram (top) and paper boats of course. Screaming was considered cool in our
heads and we just used to scream at the top of our voices if we found the
slightest reason of being caught out on hide and seek or hit a sixer in criket
. The play time ended when the second shift of office buses returned. That was
6 pm... if we did not return or were too engrossed in the game, we definitely
heard our moms screaming and scoring more on the decibels..
Our parents, mostly dads who worked in the Atomic Research
Centres had three shifts of buses 7:30 am ,8:30 am and 9:30 am….most of the
parents stuck to the 08:30 shift and returned home at 5:30 pm. My dad always
was an early bird. I have witnessed dad’s punctuality for 22 years . It was
always the 07:30 am rush hour and come home at 4:45 for a cup of hot tea and
yummy snacks my mom made….
All I wrote above was just a series of thoughts that came to
me in the last half hour.. They are not in any order. It just reminded me of
the good times we had at primary school and I wrote them down. I am sure a
child has her/his character created by the time they hit their teens. The place
where the child grows up gives the foundation for values we have in our lives.
I am ever so thankful to the school bell, the regular bus services that took
dad to and from office, the signal reminder from Diana’s mother and the decibel
shouting from the mothers in our avenue . Everything I said and more shaped us
to be the individuals we are…
