School days..when life seemed all rose and pinkish!

The boys were smartly dressed in light pink shirts and maroon trousers. The girls - some had pig-tails in place neatly tied with ribbons; some had dimpled chins, and they all were cute and smart. They bonded their mutual affection and friendship over the playgrounds and classrooms. That was long way back. That was when I joined Greet's Academy. It is now a pleasant recollection to me as I remain in retrospective of those years in my school when I would wake up at 7.45 in the morning to reach the school by 8.15.

I vividly remember Lilly Luiz Ma'm, our Principal, doing rounds with a cane always handy! She was strict, but caring.

The assemblies followed by the march past back to the classes were a daily routine. Those who adhered to proper uniforms would get back to the classes while the unfortunate ones would meet the P.T teacher on the way!!

Neetu writes in her webpage few lines of a song we were taught in school as kids:

"I am a promise
I am a possibility
I am a promise
With a capital P ..”

Reminds me of those scripture classes we had as kids, where we were taught the Bible.. And for the irrepressible children that we were, it never usually took long before chaos reigned the scripture hall. Eveytime we turned noisy, the teacher would try to counter it by uttering "Peace! Peace!" .. and hence we fondly named him 'peace maker!'

October 12th every year would see Greet’s Academy engulf in an atmosphere of jollity and boisterous bonhomie. The day is observed as the ‘Annual Day’ in alignment with the b’day of ‘Aunty Greet,’ as we fondly call our founder Ms. Edith Virgina Greet who hails from the U.S., and who is a missionary who came to India in 1947 to serve the poor and the needy.

And those interschool competitions, Science exhibitions, and other events where most of them would participate with enthu while few chose to be passive!

P.T periods were eagerly awaited and we would go for Basketball, Volleyball and Kho-kho. Unlike most of the schools today, cricket didn’t have much prevalence inside our school compound.

The library period on Tuesdays were occasionally taken over by other teachers whenever they were pressed for time in completing the syllabus.

Saphire, Diamond, Ruby and Emerald - the four houses and the competitons.

Thomas Kurian sir, replacing Lilly Luiz Ma’m as our Principal, instantly struck a chord with us students by the way he carried around himself. There was an indefinable quality about his face and body language that always evoked uninhibited admiration. Sadly he is not with us anymore.

And which Greetian can ever forget Leelammachechi & Mercychechi ?!

Everything just seems like yesterday.

I still remember like yesterday Jose dancing to the tunes of a Konkani song for a group event; Dhanya's Nagavalli performance; and those combined studies with Vivek and Ajeesh at my home which usually ended up as cricket sessions in the terrace!

Years passed by as new faces kept coming in year after year while some bid adieu, and then came '99 – the final year spent in Greet's.

Standard 12.

Extra classes after the regular 9 periods a day. Special classes on Saturdays. The P.T period on Fridays.

The excursion to Ooty.

The surprise class tests by Dominic sir where if you scored below 5 upon 10, you were awarded 0!! .. and then him being replaced by Radhika miss as our class teacher, the fun element remaining unchanged! .. All for which I was more like a silent spectator enjoying every bit happening around in the class.. ha ha !

Special classes mostly by Radhika miss and Sreedevi miss.

The farewell party.

And the final school bus trips to Bhavans for the public examinations, after the prayer in the chapel followed by the banana fries served by Leelammachechi.
Everything seems just like yesterday !

And then later on in the day you open your gmail to find that yet another person who had once walked down the corridors as a classmate, is on the verge of entering motherhood! How time flies!!! .. Just when one thought everything seemed like it happened yesterday!

Every single moment spent in Greet's was sparkling, something which you realise in its entirety only as you step out of the school and enter into a completely different world.

I was more of a reserved kind, but not once have I ever felt left out. Those days were truly memorable. There was fun, laughter, backslapping and humor, all for which I was more like a silent spectator enjoying a movie. And at the end of the day, the entire class would ring in unison "Thaankyeew teeecher" in a rhythm!.. Memories keep rushing in as my fingers strike the keypad and its becoming too difficult to marshal them.

Thaankyeew Greets Academy, for gifting me those moments which I would cherish as long as my faculties doesn’t abandon me :)


-Balu
15/08/08