page 2
( 15 )
The mid summer vacation was the season of harvest for mangoes and jackfruits. I have some sweet memories about them. Forgive me readers, I would explain it in another chapter. Now, I want to share with you my schooldays again. I and my father went to Government Lower Primary School, Kadayiruppu, for getting Transfer Certificate from there to join the Government Upper Primary School, Kadayiruppu. While giving Transfer Certificate, the Headmaster gave me many advices. From his talk, I realised that I was in the 2nd place in the Annual examination. "The 1st place must have gone to Dinesh", I thought. My brother, Dani was admitted in the 1st Std.
( 15 )
The mid summer vacation was the season of harvest for mangoes and jackfruits. I have some sweet memories about them. Forgive me readers, I would explain it in another chapter. Now, I want to share with you my schooldays again. I and my father went to Government Lower Primary School, Kadayiruppu, for getting Transfer Certificate from there to join the Government Upper Primary School, Kadayiruppu. While giving Transfer Certificate, the Headmaster gave me many advices. From his talk, I realised that I was in the 2nd place in the Annual examination. "The 1st place must have gone to Dinesh", I thought. My brother, Dani was admitted in the 1st Std.
I was delighted when I entered the Government Upper Primary School, Kadayiruppu because it was near to my house. I entered Vth Std and noticed the classrooms were separated with screens. I think I was in the 2nd bench. There was a new language to study - Hindi. Eventhough Hindi is the National Language of India, it is spoken only in some of the Northern States. Therefore, the Southern States' Schools followed a trilingual policy - mother tongue, Hindi and English. Soon I realised that learning is a difficult task. Two languages were new to me - Hindi & English. All the other subjects, Science, Social Science, Mathematics & Malayalam were to be studied in detail. The four lined copywriting book for English and two lined book for Hindi and of course for Malayalam were purchased and the alphabets were written in it daily.
Some of my classmates in the Government Lower Primary School were gone to other schools and in their places, some new ones came. In the 1st bench, I saw a 'smart' girl, laughing everytime, black in colour. "Her parents might have pampered her very much", I thought. Three pupils made us wonderstruck - Jeena, Prakashan and Suresh. They came by bus. Their busstop - Moosarippady - was only the 3rd one from our school. "Why do they come by bus ? Why don't they walk to school ?", these were the doubts that arose in our minds. But we didn't have the courage to ask them because Jeena was a bold girl. Lekshmi, the daughter of Jayachandran Sir, sat beside me. Her brother was in Std VII. I think Jayachandran Sir didn't teach us any subject in Std V.
There was a garden in front of our school. It was divided into four parts, I think. Different types of flowering plants were there. A tap was there inside the garden. A big tree stood there near the wall of the school, spreading upto the nearby road. Noone was irritated in it because it was a shade to everyone from the heat of the sun. The staffroom was in the main building which was in the shape of a rectangle. On the left of this building, there was another building of the same shape. The Vth Std was in that building. On the right side of the main building, there was another building, consisting of two or three rooms. Someone said to me that the last room was the Science Laboratory and we shouldn't enter that room. We should wait until we reach VIth Std to enter that room ! Near to that building, there was a well from which we could draw water. Behind all these, there was the playground. At the end of the playground, there was the toilet for the girls and at the other end, the toilet for boys.
In the first quarterly examination, I didn't perform well. When I returned after writing the examination, aunt Laly was present in my house. She asked me each question in the question paper. Many of the answers were wrong. I felt unrest in this. Aunt Laly was a person who failed in the 10th Std examination. She tried to pass two times in her native place, then she came to our house and attended classes in a parallel college and tried to pass twice. But she failed. I asked her, "then why didn't you pass the 10th Std ?" After that, she didn't ask me anything.
Oneday I was returning from school, with a group of girls. I don't know how it happened - Jeena was there in our group. When we reached near the pump house, I noticed one thing - uncle Narayanan and two others were going a little far away from us. Seeing that, I told to everybody - "that's my uncle". Then, Jeena turned towards me and asked,"how does he become your uncle ? I know him very well. He is a Hindu and you are a Christian". I didn't know what to say. So, I again repeated the words,"he is my uncle". Then she again argued,"he is a Hindu, you are a Christian, then how can he become your uncle ?" I was slowly coming to the reality. I have revealed a secret which had been kept closed for long. "What can I do now ?", I felt like losing my mental balance.
In the first quarterly examination, I didn't perform well. When I returned after writing the examination, aunt Laly was present in my house. She asked me each question in the question paper. Many of the answers were wrong. I felt unrest in this. Aunt Laly was a person who failed in the 10th Std examination. She tried to pass two times in her native place, then she came to our house and attended classes in a parallel college and tried to pass twice. But she failed. I asked her, "then why didn't you pass the 10th Std ?" After that, she didn't ask me anything.
Oneday I was returning from school, with a group of girls. I don't know how it happened - Jeena was there in our group. When we reached near the pump house, I noticed one thing - uncle Narayanan and two others were going a little far away from us. Seeing that, I told to everybody - "that's my uncle". Then, Jeena turned towards me and asked,"how does he become your uncle ? I know him very well. He is a Hindu and you are a Christian". I didn't know what to say. So, I again repeated the words,"he is my uncle". Then she again argued,"he is a Hindu, you are a Christian, then how can he become your uncle ?" I was slowly coming to the reality. I have revealed a secret which had been kept closed for long. "What can I do now ?", I felt like losing my mental balance.
