Visit to my school after 8 years!

This vacation has been terrific! I had a clear plan sketched out as to how my vacation in Chennai should be spent. Everything in my agenda including two weddings, one house-warming function, my mom's bday, trip to Tirupati , College friends get-together, School alumni meet and five of my final sem Master's exams went on quite well in the past two weeks!(Just that on the day before my last exam, there was a fire accident in the exam center and all exams were postponed for twenty days. Since I had to leave Chennai much earlier than that, this news came as a shocker. I hung myself upside down and made the univ consider mine as a special case and somehow, I was allotted a slot in one of the other centers and I completed all my exams!). One of the other items in the agenda was to pay a visit to my school and I did that today. The experience was simply fantastic!

I stepped into my school after 8 long years. The moment I stepped in the first sight of my school simply amused me. I was so happy to see those fresh faces on a monday morning in the school premises - some alighting from the school bus, some getting into the classrooms, some just running around aimlessly and some stepping aside for either not wearing complete uniform or not paying the fees on time. I then met my Principal, who became genuinely happy to meet an old student. An informal chat and a couple of photographs later, he said it would be really inspiring for the students, if I can address them. I readily accepted the offer and we went to the prayer assembly. That brought back a lot of nostalgic memories. When the School Pupil Leader initiated the prayer and as the prayer commenced, I couldn't resist myself from smiling, as I have said the same prayer for 12 long years. That was the first time I got an oppurunity to address such a big crowd and that too, without any preparation. I couldn't recollect exactly as to what all I spoke, but I mentioned about my experiences at school, my current position at work and how studies play a major role in people's career and life.

After the assembly, I met a few of my old teachers. They enquired about my well-being and we spoke about all those good-old days, when I used to be a little naughty when compared to my always_studious_hell_with_her elder sister. To be honest, I had a pretty tough time till she completed school as I was always compared with her to prove the world as to how good she was! And everytime she secured the first rank in her class or everytime I get caught for some mischief, it ended up with the same sort of a comparison and all I could was to just curse her! Those were really fun-filled days.

And as I prepared myself to leave, one student from 11th std came and said 'Hi' to me. I thoughtfully reciprocated as I couldn't recognise her. She said she remembered me and that she felt nice to see me again. She also said she was in her 2nd std when I passed out of school. I was totally surprised and wished her good luck for exams and her endavours.

Visiting school after years together is a completely inexplicable feeling and I would recommend all you readers to pay a visit to your schools to feel it, when you get a chance! It is best felt than expressed!

Schooling is something that happens once in a lifetime and that is the stage which tells you who you are and which decides what you will be no matter what you were before! I relish my school days!