Back to School..confessions..pages from the school memories rooted strong as the banyan

ஆலம் விழுதுகளாய் வேறூண்றி இருக்கும் பள்ளி நினைவுகளின் பதிப்புகளிலிருந்து ஒரு சில பக்கங்கள் ...

In a way i am doing injustice to the English Teacher Nirmala Krishnaswamy(our x princi) by starting the blog in tamil[reason may be the effect of bunking the english classes:) ] at the same time I am happy doing good justice to my tamil teacher Malarkodi.[எல்லாருக்கும் எருமை தயிரு ஞாபகமிருக்கும்ன்னு நெனைக்குரேன்.]
Anyways language is not a barrier for those wonderful journeys.!

The transliteration of the starting lines...
'pages from the school memories rooted strong as the banyan'

The banyan logo of the school perfectly suits the title of the post.Banyan represents eternal life because of its seemingly ever-expanding branches so as we are with lot of branches across the world by spreading the knowledge from those woods*.

Lets board the time machine to take us back to the mid 80 s ,where most of the memories are still afresh . On the voyage there are lot of confessions [ஒப்புதல் வாக்குமூலம் ].

lets start with the prayer...

Prayer always starts with the bajanai Goshti.[Sharada[vocals],Smitha [with her harmonia potti]  and Radha]following a one news reading and one thought for the day(sama mokkai ithuthan..)
We do some research in the harmonium in 12 c2 and make it  stop working so that there is no prayer the next time..)

the below song comes to our minds..this one sung in primary school...

matha pitha guru banthu saka..
naryana satya narayana..
alla thumho...
yesu thumho...
butha saurashtra mahavir thumho..
naryana satya narayana...

[ first i heard this song when i joined in 2 nd std ....]
 equality starts in the school and thats the way our education has been designed.[சமத்துவம் இங்கதான் ஆரம்பமாகுது]

Primary[Elementary] school.
We had no fences that time and were free to move around and this is the place where dog shows happen. Lot of memories in primary school, tamil recitation of thirukkural(I jus remember this whenver I read the one with Sujaatha's descriptions which I own now..) and handwriting competition...

The majestic front elevation of the primary school.The windows are of the 4C class room an isolated class form other sections, with a good location jus behind the sports room.We were so lucky to select good condition foot balls before other section guys take them away to the games period.

←3B class room...2b was the class I  joined in Vana Vani..with Valli maam as class teacher which started our learning path of a foriegn language English, where we started using our english. We used to complain.'mam this boy is pinching me...' I used to practice this line for more than a week ,in way it was my first usage of spoken english.

3 rd standard a promotion from pencil to pen.An exciting experience.
custard apple..(vellanga) was famous in our school ground. The high school guys pelt stones on them and we jus wait for picking them and putting in our lunch bags but this was banned in primary school .Each afternoon there would be raid for them in lunch bags . So sad , guys who get caught are given a punishment of kneeling down in front of the class.

going to middle school...

a separate location and has its own state of the art ground with three palm trees and one banyan tree...at exact centre of the ground..... somebody shakes these trees ...
u can get around 100 tennis balls caught by this tree for more than 10 yrs...
middle school was little boring as we dinnot have shuffling for the whole three years..the same old girls and boys...:( in the class...but guys have become little matured..and gals too..so lot of stories..and gossips..but our gang had a clean chit from those gossips...)
It had a nice squash wall....good things were , we were allowed to borrow National Geographic books... from our geography teacher Shanta Natarajan...(we used to borrow this books for its beautiful pictures..;) It had camera ads...n i go back to those yrs and think of that pages...when i hold my canon eos rebel in my palms..) but it was difficult to steal these books as we did in library due to the high security for these books......but for the General library books...the security lapse was more which allowed us to steal some hardy boys and Nancy Drew..[still I have some of them..] .. a small master plan was needed to get them from library by escaping the eyes of the library teacher....




Tamil class outside the class room 0n the sands under the banyan tree , the most enjoyable...for various reasons...
this place on the photo just had beads from the tree...its now completely rooted down to the ground...this was the gathering place for the squash tournaments..which was adjacent to the 8 A section..
foot ball...one of the favorit games...and also the cheapest ..u just need four stones and a palm seed....the match starts @ 7.30 am before the prayer....@ the prayer..we are all with drenched with sweat..and the first hours are always sleepy hours...winners are always our boys... parents being the losers needing to buy new pair of shoes....boys with open crocodile mouths in their foot....jus the socks peeping out form the shoes...(they cost around 110 rs ..)..new pair of shoes last for just 10 days..and rest of the quarter with open croc mouths....

high school....

guys going from their khaki half trousers to steel grey pants..a transition for the boys..a bad news for the purses of parents....

first thing come to my mind in high school is 'All about a Dog' , guess this was the first lesson in the English book. this story is about an old lady with her puppy dog..in an helpless situation of snowy night..asked to get down from the bus as the rules say..'pets are not allowed in bus..'the story revolves around the conductor and the old lady..still there are some humans as the conductor...with less humane..character..




The secured corridor..of vana vani..the princi room and the high school teachers staff room...





The high school got many changes , a change in timings, classes start @ 7.50 and prayer from 8.30 to 8.45 and jus 7 more periods to go before we go home @ 2 pm....so early..to home..nay.....we go to foot ball ground..and shopping centre(the place where we get pepsi cola for 50 ps...) and go home @ 5 pm..
A very good way of bunking the first period is to come late to school by 5 mins, as a punishment u are not allowed to attend the first period ..thats cool and bonus u get an entry in the diary .This is the time I practiced my dads sign my bro used to escape with my mom's signature ,I felt that was not a challenge coz my dads sign took me around..10 to 15 days to practice ...

bombing of the bathrooms...(its real story..not a fiction..)

a fine morning...two guys..go into bath room(boys) with very powerful...explosives...
donno what their intentions are ..but a thought of great achievement..

plan A : light the tortoise coil ...and place the bomb's shell's knot on the tortoise coil ...once the tortoise...lights and it takes some time to reach for the knot ..so that the bombers have time to flee....a state of art time bomb...

plan B: sanal kayiru(thread)..it can also hold the fire burning for long time..(5 to 10 mins)..this thread tied to the bomb shell thread...

these bombs are tested for perfection in their testing grounds, before they are planted in the spto.

minutes later there is huge sound is heardfor the whole school....worried faces are ..those of the princi and glad faces of bombers .Next day in prayer the bombers escape and some innocent 12 th std guys are caught for this act...the three main bombers...GK(currently an entreprenuer in healthcare in coimbatore....) , Prabha(bokai..as a consultant ) and I.Praveen (currenlty working in US)..confirmed this after 10 years.....
this happens every diwali...

This flag post is the gathering area before the exams...our main aim is to confuse..with out of syllabus questions....jus creating sensation..before the exams..

Some slangs that were in use.....

அட்டை கத்தி, ஸப்பை காக்கா,இத்திலிமா பில்பி இன்னும் பல...


the most memorable event was the farewell party for the 12 th std guys..given by us...the stage is set at the middle school...for the dance ..(thillana thillana ..thithukinra thena...)..a wonderful experience of preparing for this..(ஆடுநத விட practicce பன்ன கும்பல் தான் அதிகம்...)...nobody might have tried this on stage..getting the same steps...and that song was getting little slow in the middle..with mrithangam music...we even got that on the stage..a wondeful response was there for this song..and other song which was performed in annual day function was the album from cotton eye joe..

Thangam memorial...

a festival bonanza of basket ball tournament conducted by Vana Vani...it all starts with the chase for sponsors..a good chance for bunking the classes... would get an extra half a day leave on the opening ceremony....but the real thangam memorial started when we were in 9 th or 10 std...
at that time we started the cheer gang.. with tiffin boxes n water bottles as instruments...
but i still doubt this ever cheered the basket ball players...but for the cute girls form Shishya school,Adyar...and also our school girls :( ...

still remember one of the song ..prepared by our cheer gang...(ithu vanthu oru Bakthi padal...namma pasanga praveen,gsaravana and damu puthusa konjam lines add panni mathittanga...)

கல்லானலும் கல்பனா வீட்டில் கல்லாவேன்.. [our school pupil leader]
நான் புல்லானாலும் புனிதா வீட்டில் புல்லாவேன்..
நான் மரமானாலும் மம்தா வீட்டில் மரமாவேன்..[mamtha she came from canada..to study in vana vani]
நான்.....








present gate of Vana Vani...











the nursery section...







chander..gk and prabha..(atleast GK tries to pose..as attending the class...which he never did in school..)




















the way to school....from 13 th cross street....










jus before boarding the bus for khone falls tour..
left to right from top.....
1. sathish(hip hop..style), vsaravanan, suresh kumar,
2. raajkumar(theevetti), ashok(ascii),I praveen,GKarthik(GK),Prasad(Dori)
3. s saravanan(smottai) and prabhakar..(bokkai)
I

it can't be any better place then vana vani... no where in our life we might have experienced such a wonderful place interlaced with nature and the calmness..a perfect location for a school. Wanted to share more..moments..jus got some which are fresh in my mind...

The pics here were shot with Canon EOS rebel , and we took some snaps jus on a hang out in IIT campus...on a sunday and they came good..so thought of sharing those nice pics and some old memories..becoz each pic has a story within..lot of changes in the buildings of the school..but the colors of the trees are always green as our memories are....
நிறம் மாறாத மரங்களை..போல் என்றும்...
பசுமை நிறைந்த நினைவுகள் தொடரும்...


- ashok.r


check out this space for GanapathiPuram... arriving shortly from coimbatore..