Missing the second home (my school)

Today, after many days, as I was coming in front of my old school I saw the banner of celebration of "Post Centenary Silver Jublee" Was hanging above the college gate, and I took a trek to the memory lane some 21 years back in time to 1988, when I first stepped into the premises of SJC (my college), for my first interview (admission test) in life. Luckily, among many children, I was lucky enough to have got the admission. St. Joseph's College, founded in 1884, is an English medium college for boys.The motto of the College was(it still is) 'SEMPER SURSUM', which means "Always Aim high." It was not a co-ed school but anyways, I was too young to know the difference of sexes. There, I never thought or dreamed about that in the next 13 years it would be my second home, as there I would find many new friends, who will be with me throughout my life.

Rainy season had its own magic creating patches of water filled with tadpoles. We kids would sit by its sides and watch the mounted frog(mating) we never understood what was happening all I could think was probably the frogs were having a fight... but then how could the fight be so peaceful with one frog mounted over the other and sitting there peacefully for hours :).


Throughout the senior section, had probably 99.9 % of attendence, mainly because I always want to go to the school to play football in the free periods & lunch break to play Football,. I was the main striker in my team.

Then there were the Eagles which had their body clock tuned so well that they would reach the Playground exactly on the Lunch break. They would hover over the ground and look for the most careless kid. They would just swoop down to pick the food from open Tiffin boxes.It was the most scary of all the things. I remember having to spend one whole day without food having to forgot it for one Lucky eagle. A few naughty kids would offer the lunch to the eagle by holding the bread in their hands and waving them. I knew their mother didn’t cook well :). But that wasn’t the case with me, mine was the tastiest Tiffin ... n I wouldn’t share it with anyone in the world. As most of the times I used to have my tiffin before the lunch break, in the class, avoiding the eyes of my teacher & my partner & other friends(mainly in Senier Section),from saving my tiffin from my friends and other boys.

During our school days the most 2 occasions everyone, either teacher or the students, would eagerly wait were the Annual Sports & the Fete. During fete we have to purchase coupons(compulsary) of Rs. 10. Many boys put up their own stall of food or games along with their teachers. I along with one of my friend had put up a gamestall (Dropping a coin out of the glass full of the sand by strikig the pencil on which the coin was placed) and earned many coupons, which after dividing equally,we used to sell the extra coupons earned to other small boys.

Before and During the Annual Sports, all the boys of our respective houses tried very hard to get the highest points in marching,but after giving our best when the points were were declared, our Gold house always comes the last,which was a surprise throughout my college life. But, the Discipline Shield was always won by our house, mainly because after getting the lowest points in the points table all the boys gets disappointed and sat sadly discussing about the faults about the faults and getting scolding from the house captains, prefects and house masters. While all the other houses started celebrating their victories in one or the other events.
Another thing which gets us eagerly awaited for the occation were the extraordinary fire works (not less than the Olympics) started when I was in class 7 which caught the eyes of the parents and the students was stated as one of the spectacular event of the city, in the following day's newspapers among the city.

Among these great things there were something many boys along with me and my friends don't like and was very much embarrasing about the Sports was doing the marching in just only in the sleeveless vest in the cold winter of mid December, and that too also in front of many parents and especially girls who came to see the sports.

I would have most scared during the whole year throughout the whole school life was the time of declaration of my final results.(Although I was a above average student) I always had the fear that I will be the only person who will fail in the class & my all friends will get the promotion & how will I face them. But when the result was handed over to me, I was always among the top 10 position in the class (in the Junior section) and luckily passed every time with satisfactory marks to me (in the Senior section).

Now, when I sometimes go down the memory lane, I found something missing in my life, and that were the golden school days with our friends and the carefree life, when we do not have much responsibilities and to think about our future seriously. At that time we just have many great imagination about our life and just want to leave the school and grow up early and just get rid of the studies,just like our parents who don't have to study the thick books like us.

But there is a good saying that " The grass is always greener on the other side". At time we used to think something but not understand. But now ,the thought is just the opposite. Now we can understand that our parents might not have to study, but tey have many responsibilities, which is much more difficult than that of studing thick books.