I don't remember the first day I joined school. I was amazed at how big it was but when you are in class 3, the whole world looks massive.
The best thing about school is definitely the friends I made there. I am lucky to have met some people, who are truly phenomenal. It's not like we talk everyday. It's not even like we meet once a month. It is a birthday, new year thing that we have but when we do meet, it's back to the beans and carrot curry, Emmanuel's white shorts and his "whaaat maaaainn", and our Bio ma'am who always seemed pregnant.
My teachers in HPS have had such an amazing influence on who I am today(Appa Reddy's antics, Babu's "I have two sons, both are boys", Jimmy's "you are made of impure chemicals" kinda dialogues notwithstanding). Some teachers who've made a difference are -
Dennis sir, who ensured that the Music performances were always the best in the concert. But nothing quite prepared me for "Fiddler On The Roof". The kids today are a million times more gifted and they were really unbelievable and let me tell you quite frankly, that my sister(as Hodel) easily sang the best. Her rendition of "Far from the home I love"(I hope these are the right words) brought tears to my eyes.
My class 5 Vijayalakshmi ma'am, who still asks me about Sunith whenever I go to meet her. One of my earliest memories in school was just after we were appointed as prefects. Ma'am had some work and couldn't take a class so she asked me to read out some Maths problems in class. So I started and there was this one problem,
"Mr. MOTIlal..." and they didn't let me finish. Everyone in class started laughing except Sunith. Maybe I should thank ma'am for what I have now. :)
me, Hemalatha ma'am(my class 5 Maths teacher) and Vijayalakshmi ma'am
My Primary School Telugu teacher, Aruna ma'am, for teaching me slokas which have helped me during some very tough times. I remember winning the Telugu recitation competition in class 3 and class 4. I recited this poem "నేనొక పూలమొక్క కడనిల్చి". I don't know if those were the right words. Anyway, in class 5, I came 4th and she told me that was because I hadn't prayed enough. I should thank her for inculcating this lifelong habit of praying every morning.
There are some more fleeting moments which I remember.
class 6: when Dennis made all of us kneel down in front of the princi's office cos we played holi at school.
class 7: Mansukhani's meteorite stories and I am probably the only one who still believes there's some element of truth.
Apparently when her husband and her were driving down some road in the middle of a desert, a meteor came and fell right in front of her car. She thanked her lucky stars, got out of the car, took the meteorite and now uses it as a paper weight. No kidding!
So what's so unbelieveable about that?
And what about the time when she stayed at the Raj Bhavan and ate in a golden plate, which by the way, was presented to her when she was leaving?
class 8: When i asked Sunith, "did you listen to that song, 'when love and hate collide'?" and he said, "I dont hate you".
class 12: When we protected all our mini sports day posters like some nuclear secret and those Nalanda fools actually thought they were winning and things completely changed in the next few days and they stood last!!!
when we won a million trophies on Sports Day :)
class 12: When they announced our names in the front field and how we felt so shortchanged 'cos we had our Investiture ceremony on the library steps. The only time in the history of HPS that this happened. They robbed us of a beautiful memory!
class 9: When we had to describe the life cycle of a silk worm in the science exhibition and I had to explain the concept of mating in Telugu to someone's parents.
class 5: When they announced my name as a prefect before Sunith's.
When we marched the headmistress to the pedestal every morning.
When we gave the plates and spoons at lunch.
When we played 'marampiti' in the quadrangle.
class 6: When we went for the World Cup match between Zimbabwe and West Indies and shouted "Lara raara" like we were so intelligent to have made that up!
class 11: When we went all the way in an auto to Badruka to participate in a Debates Competition and didn't have enough money to pay the autowallah. Maybe this is where the idea for my whole "autowallah culture" research paper originated.
class 8: When we travelled in second class to Ajmer for our tennis tournament. We slept on a platform in a station in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night waiting for the next train to come.
class 10: when some female came and maaroed a "he's mine and only mine" hindi movie dialogue to me and my best friend said, "who the hell are you to say so? She isn't even interested in him but just for that, now you have both Div and me for competition, let's see what you'll do.."
class 10, 11, 12: when we won the girls shield for 3 years straight and I went to receieve it every single time.
class 10: when I fought with my family to let me stay back in school
class 11: when we were so thrilled to have lunch in the main lunch hall, finally
every single friday: when we would smile at the "bearer" and ask for 3 cultets more
class 12: when I called up my cousin(who also studeied in HPS) the day they announced the prefects in class 12 and he said, "Oh I thought there was only a Deputy Head Girl. When did they change that?". Now don't blame me if I think all men are chauvinistic.
class 6: when my sis joined school and I was so protective about her.
class 10: when AC gave me 10/10 for a speech I made about my sister, for the English orals.
every single year: when we saw our paintings and craft items in the art and craft exhibition and how the primary school's always seemed better
almost every single year: when we went to the zoo for the millionth time for our class excursion
class 9: when we went to Nepal and how we proudly sported our HPS jackets;
when we first saw Mt. Everest from our hotel room and decided we should put up an eagle(our emblem) right on top, some day.
class 9: when we sang the School Song during the Platinum Jubilee and I saw some alumni with tears in their eyes.
Now I know how that feels.
HPS, in my heart, is beyond my alma mater, beyond my second home.
It is a place where I learnt how to be a good human being and how to live my life, on my own terms, with confidence. Isn't this what education is all about?
