The day had to come. After two years of listening to every adult around us constantly and incessantly talk about our board exams and appearing for them the farewell was a breather. From three days to go for the farewell to one day, to one hour and to the actual event, we spent them all planning. It came and went, like a tide and we were soon standing outside school, never to go back inside. School was over, once and for all. And the quiet was overwhelming. The days were filled with boredom because of lack of activity, the evenings sans any anxiousness of completing our homework and mugging up notes, but the nights were filled with nostalgia. Remembering and recalling our best lived and favourite moments in the corridors and classrooms of this red brick structure that we got around to calling our home.
So here are a few things, in no particular order that we’ll miss the most about school.
The corridors When we didn’t have a sports period or the guts to go down to the ground between the periods, the corridors were our field. Whether it was running around, laughing hysterically or just talking a walk, it was all done in the corridors.
The classrooms Our ‘addas’ for planning all kinds of mischief and executing them with great precision.
The school canteen Come break and we thronged our school canteen area. And it was here that you’d meet people who were constantly looking for someone to treat them, or constantly asking them for money with a promise to treat them the next day. And we must’ve always bitched about the unfair prices for the food that was so bad that it was good but it is these bullet and kathi rolls that some of us miss the most.
The library Yes we never went to the library, but there were times when Jagdish bhaiya got the better of us and dragged us down. Not like we read books even then. I remember playing passing the parcel once in the library with my class as we sat on the floor serving our sentence.
The school ground The one and only word appropriate enough to describe this place is- Haven. No one missed a single opportunity to run down there and missed every single one to come back up!
The bridge You don’t find anyone in the class? Check the bridge. Numerous times we stood on the bridge to enjoy the weather, to watch the match going on in the ground or simply walking from one end to another waiting for the next class to start.
The back stairs The words are enough.
Bal mela One day dedicated to fun, frolic and the students. One day of food, rides, games and no studies. The day we looked forward to, all year. The day our school was the most loved school. The day we miss the most.
Hiding cell phones in class We probably came up with the most creative way of hiding phones. I’m not letting out the places, but 12-D knows. The surprise checks couldn’t do any harm to us, and instead brought out our best creative and jugaadu side.
Annual days This was the time the whole school was abuzz with activity. The sound of myriad instruments creating a perfect harmony, elegant dancers showing off the best moves, but it was the narrators and emcee’s who stole the show with their perfect dressing and dialogues.
Running after Ganesh Bhaiya “Ganesh bhaiya Meenu ma’am kahan hai?” “Gnaesh bhaiya substitution list kyun nahi lagi?” “Ganesh bhaiya gate pass dilwa do” Ganesh bhaiya this. Ganesh bhaiya that! Whatever would we have done without him? The knight in shining armor to help us damsels in distress!
Substitution list The teacher was five minutes late to the class and the whole class would run down to check the substitution list. One subsi- “yeay!” Two- “yeeay!” Whole day- “Ground chalo sab!”
Photocopy wale bhaiya Come class twelfth and we were always running to him to get our assignments and notes (especially from Anju ma’am’s antique register) photocopied. Often submitting our I-cards because we didn’t have the money or getting photocopy slips from teachers to get the work done without any unwanted hassles.
Class 11 and 12-D Two whole years in the same class with the most retarded of people. We came up with all kinds of weird plans of the best kind. Whether it was coming up with our own unique way of playing cricket in the class, to plan secretive parties and pull them off successively, break a tubelight and not let anyone know, leave our mark (quite literally) in the school, not sit in for the class photograph and make everyone around us wait only because we needed to have all our classmates present, ‘blatantly violate all rules’ in the words of Deepa Ma’am and get all of our teachers to sit in for the class photograph no one could have done it better than us.
Teachers Thank You, for tolerating us at our worst, never giving up and shaping us up into the people we are today. For trying their best to give us every ounce of knowledge they had. You’ll always be the best!
The 5 rupee Cadbury Dairy Milk Yes we've always talked about how our school couldn't have been more miser, but the only reason we had to be excited about the various birthdays of our founders was this small chocolate, often sneaking in more than one and eating them away during classes.
Eating in class Discussing what we had for lunch that day, opening our lunches within the first two periods, and finishing them off within two minutes followed by going on a hunt for the next one. Getting scolded by teachers continuously, often having our lunches confiscated but that didn’t matter to us in the least. It was all repeated the very next day without an inch of remorse.
And in the end Amity, The red brick structure that has been very aptly labelled home. Thank You, for bearing with us all these years! It's been a hell of a ride!
The corridors When we didn’t have a sports period or the guts to go down to the ground between the periods, the corridors were our field. Whether it was running around, laughing hysterically or just talking a walk, it was all done in the corridors.
The classrooms Our ‘addas’ for planning all kinds of mischief and executing them with great precision.
The school canteen Come break and we thronged our school canteen area. And it was here that you’d meet people who were constantly looking for someone to treat them, or constantly asking them for money with a promise to treat them the next day. And we must’ve always bitched about the unfair prices for the food that was so bad that it was good but it is these bullet and kathi rolls that some of us miss the most.
The library Yes we never went to the library, but there were times when Jagdish bhaiya got the better of us and dragged us down. Not like we read books even then. I remember playing passing the parcel once in the library with my class as we sat on the floor serving our sentence.
The school ground The one and only word appropriate enough to describe this place is- Haven. No one missed a single opportunity to run down there and missed every single one to come back up!
The bridge You don’t find anyone in the class? Check the bridge. Numerous times we stood on the bridge to enjoy the weather, to watch the match going on in the ground or simply walking from one end to another waiting for the next class to start.
The back stairs The words are enough.
Bal mela One day dedicated to fun, frolic and the students. One day of food, rides, games and no studies. The day we looked forward to, all year. The day our school was the most loved school. The day we miss the most.
Hiding cell phones in class We probably came up with the most creative way of hiding phones. I’m not letting out the places, but 12-D knows. The surprise checks couldn’t do any harm to us, and instead brought out our best creative and jugaadu side.
Annual days This was the time the whole school was abuzz with activity. The sound of myriad instruments creating a perfect harmony, elegant dancers showing off the best moves, but it was the narrators and emcee’s who stole the show with their perfect dressing and dialogues.
Running after Ganesh Bhaiya “Ganesh bhaiya Meenu ma’am kahan hai?” “Gnaesh bhaiya substitution list kyun nahi lagi?” “Ganesh bhaiya gate pass dilwa do” Ganesh bhaiya this. Ganesh bhaiya that! Whatever would we have done without him? The knight in shining armor to help us damsels in distress!
Substitution list The teacher was five minutes late to the class and the whole class would run down to check the substitution list. One subsi- “yeay!” Two- “yeeay!” Whole day- “Ground chalo sab!”
Photocopy wale bhaiya Come class twelfth and we were always running to him to get our assignments and notes (especially from Anju ma’am’s antique register) photocopied. Often submitting our I-cards because we didn’t have the money or getting photocopy slips from teachers to get the work done without any unwanted hassles.
Class 11 and 12-D Two whole years in the same class with the most retarded of people. We came up with all kinds of weird plans of the best kind. Whether it was coming up with our own unique way of playing cricket in the class, to plan secretive parties and pull them off successively, break a tubelight and not let anyone know, leave our mark (quite literally) in the school, not sit in for the class photograph and make everyone around us wait only because we needed to have all our classmates present, ‘blatantly violate all rules’ in the words of Deepa Ma’am and get all of our teachers to sit in for the class photograph no one could have done it better than us.
Teachers Thank You, for tolerating us at our worst, never giving up and shaping us up into the people we are today. For trying their best to give us every ounce of knowledge they had. You’ll always be the best!
The 5 rupee Cadbury Dairy Milk Yes we've always talked about how our school couldn't have been more miser, but the only reason we had to be excited about the various birthdays of our founders was this small chocolate, often sneaking in more than one and eating them away during classes.
Eating in class Discussing what we had for lunch that day, opening our lunches within the first two periods, and finishing them off within two minutes followed by going on a hunt for the next one. Getting scolded by teachers continuously, often having our lunches confiscated but that didn’t matter to us in the least. It was all repeated the very next day without an inch of remorse.
And in the end Amity, The red brick structure that has been very aptly labelled home. Thank You, for bearing with us all these years! It's been a hell of a ride!
