Journey to the school

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      In front of our house, there was the main road, through which buses were running every fifteen minutes, incessantly.  My journey to the school was not through the main road, instead it can be described like this.  I would climb down the many steps from the courtyard of my house, either with my father or with my mother, cross the main road and enter into a mud road which was a private one, in the opposite direction of our house.  Walking a few steps through that road, if I turned right, I could reach our nearest neighbour Mr Johny's & Ms Kunjamma's  house.  But we would walk past that road to reach Mr Johnson's & Ms Achamma's house, where their youngest son, Peter, who was studying in Std II , would be getting ready to go to school.

     Mr Johnson and Mr Johny were brothers and they belonged to the richest family of our village.  Eventhough the rich pupils studied in the English medium school, Peter happened to study in the Government school because his father, Mr Johnson was only a farmer, having no other income.  Moreover, his eldest brother and two elder sisters studied in the Government school and the reason might be the English medium school was not fully developed as a High School at that time.

     It is during the first week of June that the South West Monsoon come over Kerala.  Also it is at the same time that the schools re - open after the mid - summer vacation.  As a result, we always started to school with an umbrella.  I remember that Peter had not only an umbrella but also a raincoat, to escape from the rain.  I, Peter and one of the persons from his house started the journey to the school, through Mr Johnson's compound.  Then we entered a paddyfield, which was owned by various branches of the same family.  Crossing the paddyfield, we would again enter into a plot owned by Mr Johnson.  Walking through a narrow path formed by the constant walks, we would reach another mud road, where I would see various huts where labourers in the paddy fields lived.

     My mother had told me that I should call them uncles and aunts because they were my distant relatives.  It was from one of these houses that Mallika, who had also joined in the 1st Std with me, came to our gang.  From there, we would enter another mud road, cross it, reaching a narrow pathway where dry leaves scattered on the moistened land.  In the middle of that path, there was the house of Mr Jose,where the inhabitants were only Mr Jose and his wife Ms Eelikkutty.   At the end of that path,there was the road near the canal, we would cross the bridge over the canal ( which was a small one ) enter into another narrow path.  There lived Mr Gopalan and his family, in a small house.  Here, there was a mud road again, walking through which we could enter into the main road and go to the school straight.  But, instead of doing that, we would enter into the one acre rubber plantation, where there was a narrow path which was formed by the continuous passing of the people.  Then, we would enter into the main road, cross it, and enter the courtyard of the school.  There was another way also to the school ie, many steps were built into the courtyard of the school, from the main road.  When we reached the school, our feet would be covered with dirt.  Sometimes we would wash our heels under the tap in the main road, near the steps.

     I used to go to school, with a slate and pencil, a textbook, a notebook, a lead pencil, a tiffin box and a water bottle all set in a plastic bag which was made by aunt Molly.  For erasing the slate, we used the plant, paperomia reflexa. For writing in the notebook , there was lead pencil.  But everyday my pencil was lost which caused unrest to my father.  He carried out a new plan ie, whenever he bought a new pencil, he would cut it into two pieces and gave one piece to me.  "You can use the second half after you have finished with the first", he said.  From that day onwards, I went to school with a half pencil.

     When I had entered the mid term of the 1st Std, there was the talk about joining Sunday School classes.  We usually attended the Mass in the St. Mary's Church, Valambur.  My cousins were already studying there.  Oh! I forgot to introduce my father's family.  My father had one elder sister and two younger brothers.  The elder sister was married and settled in a place which was a little far away from our village.  She had five children - all of them were elder to me.  The younger brothers were Mr Yacob and Mr Yohannan.  Mr Yacob had two children - Benny ( 11 years) and Maji (9 years) .They were elder to me because Mr Yacob married earlier than my father.    Let me also say that Mr Yohannan was a bachelor at that time and he lived with my grandfather & grandmother.  However, I was joined as a student in the 1st Std of the Sunday School in the 1st week of January, 1980.

     The church was a small chapel.  Beside the chapel, there was another church, a well - built one.  "Some years ago, there was a quarrel among the people and the church was split into two, and we joined this church," my mother would say occasionally.  The 1st Std was at the back of the chapel.  One line of girls and another line of boys with the Teacher in the middle , in semi circle.  The 1st Lesson ended like this ( almost like this because I learned it in Malayalam ) .

              "Our great grandfather is Adam

                Our great grandmother is Eve

                God sheltered them in the Garden of Eden

                When they committed a Sin, God drove them out from there".