As school goes back into session, many of us reminisce about their own school days. Everyone has heard an older relative talk about how things were when they were kids. "Back in my day, we had a fifty-mile walk to get to school. There was only one desk for all 53 of us. And we were lucky to have it!" Okay, maybe that's a stretch, but you get the idea. I never gave those stories much thought; I figured school was basically the same for every generation. At least until I found myself stepped inside JNVV campus.
School days are probably the golden era for everybody's life. I am not an exception. Except, I had to spend most of my boyhood in this residential campus. But that is ofcourse a new experience and it has helped me to grow within all kinds experiences. I had come across lot of people. Some of them came and went as strangers, but some have become my most beloved. Looking over my own days at JNVV, there are so many things that I would rather not tell or should not tell, that it will take very little time and space for me to use in telling what I am willing that the carping public should know about my early history and how it helped me in the roads ahead.
Let me first note down all those memories that comes to my mind of my school days and later comprehend on what all those days have offered and how it got gelled into me.
My remembrance starts from the MP hall where I stayed, slept with my homesickness, played various games and fought with my friends.
My first introduction to Girija teacher who was in charge of our then Tagore house, a lovely kind and welcoming lady who would have considered herself to be failing in her duty if we were not able to read a portion of the text, even minimally.
My elementary classes, where I listened to the teacher's words, and read text books, heard friends speak, did volley, cricket, stage performances, theatre and my life became various and I acquired various knowledges and became the one component of the society.
Well can the school life be thought independently from examinations?
The life of high school where I had a reluctance to exam, and wanted to talk with people and the so far suppressed things by study such as society learning, friends and personal relations. My intimate friends, girl friend and other friends!
The day I stood in front of my friends and teachers with the laurels of being the school captain in spite of the conspiracies it had in its way.
Sornalatha teacher, the person who showed me the way in darkness! She was so much more than a teacher, who watched me over her charges and their tribulations both inside and outside the school environment. I well remember causing her much embarrassment on different occasions.
After losing way in one term, I returned to study and started real life of a student mainly with same class friends and some true friends. And all those loving faces which helped me in always holding my head high….Sreelatha teacher, Preetha teacher, Saseendran Sir, Palanisamy Sir, Daisy teacher, my good old Principal Krishna Pillai sir etc.etc.
Towards the end, Joby KV, our batch’s days of distress and that greatly feared big-man figure of the crew who rode his way through us in all weathers and woe betide anyone missing his track or committing any sort of misdemeanor in his concern.
And to end with, my walk down the tarred road with filled eyes and packed baggage when I was saying goodbye to my JNVV days.
I never gave a serious thought of what my school days offered me until now. It was not in my mind on my descent from Mannadisala on that farewell day or in any of those two visits back to my campus ever since. What did I think on saying goodbye to my most remembered campus? Obviously my mind was not blank. Like all my friends who were walking next to me, I also had the only determination of returning to the campus after establishing myself as an individual. Right now, miles away from that hill-top which offered me the colours of my boy-hood, I am trying to find out how I was moulded out by the life and people there. Let me wittingly try to be sincere here in this analysis from all retentions cited above.
My re-plantation to MP hall, right from all maternal comforts of home that I had been largely obsessed with, proved to be the rock-solid foundation in making me a social being after all those initial tears. That mighty all-in-one building which stood overlooking our own play area and housed all junior and senior sections in our initial years was quite distinctive for me from the first instant I saw it because of its big brown metallic doors and two stages on alternate sides .I was seeing such doors for the first time and I loved this building where I occasionally practiced my speeches and stage performances in private or in front of my friends. There I learned to be myself, to divvy up, to be one among the lot, to be concerned, to console, to command..and the list goes on. Above all, it was in this building, some night, that I took a conscious decision not to cry at the odds on my road, as I had been until then, which had helped me greatly ever since.
The next page of my remembrance speaks about Girija teacher. I could understand Carl Jung saying “ One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child ” just because I happened to know this fine lady. On many occasions, I could find my mother’s shadows in her and I really got courage from her in those childhood days. I very clearly remember that fine morning of my 6th section when she handed over a sheet of paper to me to read out the day’s news in the school assembly as I was walking out of the Mess hall after my breakfast. From that small stage of the assembly ground in front of the Mess hall I started my walks on to multitude of stages to express myself, to prove my point and to absorb the audience in front of me. There I started learning the art of presentation and public speaking.
My elementary-school days were the one that actually made JVVV an ingredient of my life. Those days which started off with the shivering mornings where I reluctantly went for those PT sessions, followed by Science and Mathematics classes where I determined to go diligently along tie load of study and get a good result, English and Malayalam classes which I loved to be in to listen and be impressed upon the poems and prose than to memorize them, evenings which marked vying with my friends for house points in CCA events, sweating out in the field with the willow or to leap for the volleyball till dusk, to wait for the study time to get over so that I can curl under my blanket, all were rich with much exposures to refine me for the years to come. Those were the days where I approached reading seriously and finding that all great men had done that way, I began to try my hands at classics where I could begin in a small way to soak my system full of hard words and information. They were followed by those incidents when I rushed to Sreelatha teacher and Saseendran sir with what I have scribbled and what I believed to be some real literary work. Thanks to them who patiently listened to me, appreciated me and corrected me, to make me realize later that I stood way behind of something which can be called as solid creativity. Not to deviate far from the thread of my discussion, those were the years, which trained me to think more scientifically, rationally and physically and which planted the habits of ad-libbing and reading, which can only be lost later by serious ignorance, within me. Again, those CCA days and all navodayan policies deep-rooted the pride of being a part of this great country within me and gave me the idea that patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it.
My high school days were the days where I never bothered to remember when industrial revolution or crusades or World War I happened and so I stood at the head of the class for those long hours. Those were the years that gave me true friends and which taught me to gauge the faces around me. I did realize that friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival. I still believe that one of the greatest treasure that JNVV offered me is my personnel relations…ie, a bunch of sincere friends and loving teachers. Those were the days where I met Sornalatha teacher in my life. She started from the point were I was about to digress and I found a sincere teacher, a good guide and an elder sister in her. In a nutshell, those years taught me the intensity of relations above everything else.
In the mean time we had our exam preparations for 10th grade, I did compete with my friends and disappointed many of my well-wishers when the score was not as good as they expected and moved on after promising them that I would do good in next chance. As a matter of fact, I should accept, I was not surprised on the marksheets. In those 3 final years our school offered me many chances to visit other similar navodayas to get more exposures and to stand along with external competitions. Days were colourful, we overcame the obstacles in our path one after the other and saw glimpses of the bright light at the end of the tunnel.
On that day when I said adios to my dear school, and as I walked the empty way down my favourite MP hall, what did I tell you? Did I tell you that you had offered me both the bright and dark shades of the colour-board? Did I turn back to check whether I could see Joby standing there and waving hands? Did I hold hands of my best friends to console or to be consoled? Did I ever tell you that we are carrying away many of those un-answered questions with us even though we had its answers? Did I ever share my question with you of why he did it to us? Did I tell you that I will come back to stand on that stage again? I can’t remember more or rather I don’t know.
Above all, I discover that the courage to speak out what you feel right in front of anyone and everyone is the most valuable lesson that JNVV taught me. Again, it offered me handful of true friends who sincerely manages to keep in touch all these years and who will definitely stand shoulder to shoulder with me in years to come. To add with, are all those good at heart teachers who showed me the way and still love me. I fully agree with Abraham Lincoln in “Everything I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my family” but at the same time I remember and thank JNVV for making me understand and realize all those values. It definitely taught me to comprehend:
“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”
School days are probably the golden era for everybody's life. I am not an exception. Except, I had to spend most of my boyhood in this residential campus. But that is ofcourse a new experience and it has helped me to grow within all kinds experiences. I had come across lot of people. Some of them came and went as strangers, but some have become my most beloved. Looking over my own days at JNVV, there are so many things that I would rather not tell or should not tell, that it will take very little time and space for me to use in telling what I am willing that the carping public should know about my early history and how it helped me in the roads ahead.
Let me first note down all those memories that comes to my mind of my school days and later comprehend on what all those days have offered and how it got gelled into me.
My remembrance starts from the MP hall where I stayed, slept with my homesickness, played various games and fought with my friends.
My first introduction to Girija teacher who was in charge of our then Tagore house, a lovely kind and welcoming lady who would have considered herself to be failing in her duty if we were not able to read a portion of the text, even minimally.
My elementary classes, where I listened to the teacher's words, and read text books, heard friends speak, did volley, cricket, stage performances, theatre and my life became various and I acquired various knowledges and became the one component of the society.
Well can the school life be thought independently from examinations?
The life of high school where I had a reluctance to exam, and wanted to talk with people and the so far suppressed things by study such as society learning, friends and personal relations. My intimate friends, girl friend and other friends!
The day I stood in front of my friends and teachers with the laurels of being the school captain in spite of the conspiracies it had in its way.
Sornalatha teacher, the person who showed me the way in darkness! She was so much more than a teacher, who watched me over her charges and their tribulations both inside and outside the school environment. I well remember causing her much embarrassment on different occasions.
After losing way in one term, I returned to study and started real life of a student mainly with same class friends and some true friends. And all those loving faces which helped me in always holding my head high….Sreelatha teacher, Preetha teacher, Saseendran Sir, Palanisamy Sir, Daisy teacher, my good old Principal Krishna Pillai sir etc.etc.
Towards the end, Joby KV, our batch’s days of distress and that greatly feared big-man figure of the crew who rode his way through us in all weathers and woe betide anyone missing his track or committing any sort of misdemeanor in his concern.
And to end with, my walk down the tarred road with filled eyes and packed baggage when I was saying goodbye to my JNVV days.
I never gave a serious thought of what my school days offered me until now. It was not in my mind on my descent from Mannadisala on that farewell day or in any of those two visits back to my campus ever since. What did I think on saying goodbye to my most remembered campus? Obviously my mind was not blank. Like all my friends who were walking next to me, I also had the only determination of returning to the campus after establishing myself as an individual. Right now, miles away from that hill-top which offered me the colours of my boy-hood, I am trying to find out how I was moulded out by the life and people there. Let me wittingly try to be sincere here in this analysis from all retentions cited above.
My re-plantation to MP hall, right from all maternal comforts of home that I had been largely obsessed with, proved to be the rock-solid foundation in making me a social being after all those initial tears. That mighty all-in-one building which stood overlooking our own play area and housed all junior and senior sections in our initial years was quite distinctive for me from the first instant I saw it because of its big brown metallic doors and two stages on alternate sides .I was seeing such doors for the first time and I loved this building where I occasionally practiced my speeches and stage performances in private or in front of my friends. There I learned to be myself, to divvy up, to be one among the lot, to be concerned, to console, to command..and the list goes on. Above all, it was in this building, some night, that I took a conscious decision not to cry at the odds on my road, as I had been until then, which had helped me greatly ever since.
The next page of my remembrance speaks about Girija teacher. I could understand Carl Jung saying “ One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child ” just because I happened to know this fine lady. On many occasions, I could find my mother’s shadows in her and I really got courage from her in those childhood days. I very clearly remember that fine morning of my 6th section when she handed over a sheet of paper to me to read out the day’s news in the school assembly as I was walking out of the Mess hall after my breakfast. From that small stage of the assembly ground in front of the Mess hall I started my walks on to multitude of stages to express myself, to prove my point and to absorb the audience in front of me. There I started learning the art of presentation and public speaking.
My elementary-school days were the one that actually made JVVV an ingredient of my life. Those days which started off with the shivering mornings where I reluctantly went for those PT sessions, followed by Science and Mathematics classes where I determined to go diligently along tie load of study and get a good result, English and Malayalam classes which I loved to be in to listen and be impressed upon the poems and prose than to memorize them, evenings which marked vying with my friends for house points in CCA events, sweating out in the field with the willow or to leap for the volleyball till dusk, to wait for the study time to get over so that I can curl under my blanket, all were rich with much exposures to refine me for the years to come. Those were the days where I approached reading seriously and finding that all great men had done that way, I began to try my hands at classics where I could begin in a small way to soak my system full of hard words and information. They were followed by those incidents when I rushed to Sreelatha teacher and Saseendran sir with what I have scribbled and what I believed to be some real literary work. Thanks to them who patiently listened to me, appreciated me and corrected me, to make me realize later that I stood way behind of something which can be called as solid creativity. Not to deviate far from the thread of my discussion, those were the years, which trained me to think more scientifically, rationally and physically and which planted the habits of ad-libbing and reading, which can only be lost later by serious ignorance, within me. Again, those CCA days and all navodayan policies deep-rooted the pride of being a part of this great country within me and gave me the idea that patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it.
My high school days were the days where I never bothered to remember when industrial revolution or crusades or World War I happened and so I stood at the head of the class for those long hours. Those were the years that gave me true friends and which taught me to gauge the faces around me. I did realize that friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival. I still believe that one of the greatest treasure that JNVV offered me is my personnel relations…ie, a bunch of sincere friends and loving teachers. Those were the days where I met Sornalatha teacher in my life. She started from the point were I was about to digress and I found a sincere teacher, a good guide and an elder sister in her. In a nutshell, those years taught me the intensity of relations above everything else.
In the mean time we had our exam preparations for 10th grade, I did compete with my friends and disappointed many of my well-wishers when the score was not as good as they expected and moved on after promising them that I would do good in next chance. As a matter of fact, I should accept, I was not surprised on the marksheets. In those 3 final years our school offered me many chances to visit other similar navodayas to get more exposures and to stand along with external competitions. Days were colourful, we overcame the obstacles in our path one after the other and saw glimpses of the bright light at the end of the tunnel.
On that day when I said adios to my dear school, and as I walked the empty way down my favourite MP hall, what did I tell you? Did I tell you that you had offered me both the bright and dark shades of the colour-board? Did I turn back to check whether I could see Joby standing there and waving hands? Did I hold hands of my best friends to console or to be consoled? Did I ever tell you that we are carrying away many of those un-answered questions with us even though we had its answers? Did I ever share my question with you of why he did it to us? Did I tell you that I will come back to stand on that stage again? I can’t remember more or rather I don’t know.
Above all, I discover that the courage to speak out what you feel right in front of anyone and everyone is the most valuable lesson that JNVV taught me. Again, it offered me handful of true friends who sincerely manages to keep in touch all these years and who will definitely stand shoulder to shoulder with me in years to come. To add with, are all those good at heart teachers who showed me the way and still love me. I fully agree with Abraham Lincoln in “Everything I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my family” but at the same time I remember and thank JNVV for making me understand and realize all those values. It definitely taught me to comprehend:
“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”
Missing those days...
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