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Like I promised, let's continue our journey back to those innocent days. Since we had stopped with the school bus yesterday, I thought I'll start with the early morning assembly, today. Have fun!
THE ASSEMBLY:
My mind's camera pictures multiple rows of us students, standing
at one-arm distance on the concrete ground, facing our Principal, the teachers and
two randomly-picked senior students - one, bestowed with the huge responsibility of
leading the Morning Prayer (to guard our school, country of residence and
country of origin) and School Pledge (a reminder of where we were and why we
were there) and another to read out news highlights.
To think of it now, I am not sure why we had to
repeat the Morning Prayer and the Pledge after anybody; everybody, including the dignitaries, knew them by heart. A rhythm-inducing technique, perhaps. I considered 8 a.m news reading a complete waste of time and energy. As far as I can remember,
everything other than, ‘Honorary principal,
Respected teachers and my dear friends. Today’s news!’ evaporated into thin
air.
All these are great memories; but the part that I enjoyed
most during assembly-time was the part where we sang the National Anthems - the Jana Gana Mana (India's National Anthem) and
the Aishibiladi (U.A.E's National Anthem) followed by the class disperse clap!
These were done with so much
synchronization with no rehearsals or anybody in the lead – it was then, still is and will always be music to my ears.
THE CLASSROOMS:
The blackboard, the chalks, the duster, the notice board, the
wooden chairs and tables with steel legs, the teachers, the lessons and all
that mindless chatter – I loved my classroom.
P:
A:
T: 36
Everyday after she takes attendance, that’s the first thing each class teacher writes out on the blackboard - precisely speaking, on the top right corner of the board. P stood for no. of students present; A, for the no. of students absent and T was for total number of students. As a matter of practice, that was considered the non-erasable section of the blackboard. Every teacher entering the classroom instantly knew the strength of the class for the day.
A:
T: 36
Everyday after she takes attendance, that’s the first thing each class teacher writes out on the blackboard - precisely speaking, on the top right corner of the board. P stood for no. of students present; A, for the no. of students absent and T was for total number of students. As a matter of practice, that was considered the non-erasable section of the blackboard. Every teacher entering the classroom instantly knew the strength of the class for the day.
There were two things that were great surprises – an absent
teacher or a lot of absent students. An absent teacher was a boon that was
granted once in a blue moon. It was an invited break, if there was no one
available to do a proxy.
Lots of absent students was bumper lottery! And our gang
would never miss any of them. Back then, the Dubai drains were not one bit ready for
the rains. And weren't we glad about that! The roads and the school grounds got flooded. School buses would ply but parents would worry about children falling ill.
The P on the blackboard would definitely score only a 10 or
less. Now that I know the funda behind taking leaves and salaries, I understand why
teachers ended up coming to work on those days. Words cannot describe the triumph we felt when each of our teachers opened the door, got startled at the
number of students, looked at the blackboard to cross-check and apologetically left the classroom.
Thanks to those worried parents and the helpless ones such
as ours’, these seasonal joys lasted for a couple of days sometimes even a
week. I do not know why but we preferred sitting up on the tables and chatting,
rather than on the chairs, on such occasions…
THE CABINS:
It would be right to say that our school grew along with us.
Each time a new building was set to get constructed, we would believe it was
for us to be seated in. There were constructions happening all around the
place. Owing to space constraints, once, there were temporary cabins-on-stilts set up in lieu of classrooms for some of us privileged souls. Those classrooms, which
we believed, were the cutest, was so much fun. We could hear each of our
footsteps when we walked over those floors. It felt as if we were one of those superwomen whose very footstep
could get the earth trembling underneath. The creak of the door and the tiny flight of steps, the temporary
walls that resembled Styrofoam, everything seemed to amaze us.
THE AFTERNOON SHIFT:
Back in school, a notice, announcing important events were
titled as The Circular. One of the strangest Circulars that took the rounds
announced that we, girls of class III, would have afternoon shift for a year, due to lack of classrooms.
For the benefit of those of you who may not know how it is out there in the gulf, schools worked in shifts. Girls attended classes in the morning and boys in the afternoon. So this particular Circular was received with different kinds of emotions.
“But why?”, asked an anxious bunch. “Gosh! Will we reach home in time for the cartoons?”, wondered the confused bunch. “Psst… we’ll have to come with the boys now, IN THE SAME BUS.”, whispered a scandalous bunch in horror. Thankfully, the bunch I used to hang out took this news at perfect ease. We were extremely pleased because we figured that we won’t have to wake up early.
For the benefit of those of you who may not know how it is out there in the gulf, schools worked in shifts. Girls attended classes in the morning and boys in the afternoon. So this particular Circular was received with different kinds of emotions.
“But why?”, asked an anxious bunch. “Gosh! Will we reach home in time for the cartoons?”, wondered the confused bunch. “Psst… we’ll have to come with the boys now, IN THE SAME BUS.”, whispered a scandalous bunch in horror. Thankfully, the bunch I used to hang out took this news at perfect ease. We were extremely pleased because we figured that we won’t have to wake up early.
I distinctly remember an incident at our bus stop, during
this phase. We were playing hide and seek, while waiting for our bus. I came
out triumphantly – the denner had not found me. I came out and felt strange.
Something was amiss. Nobody seemed to be around. Did I come out too soon? Was everybody still in their hiding? That's when I saw my next-door neighbor friend, B. He also looked lost. We then noticed that nobody else’s bags were there
except for ours.
“Uh oh!” we realized it with a sigh - we MISSED THE BUS. Seeing a petrified me, B took my hand and got all protective.
B: “Don’t worry Bis...”
“Uh oh!” we realized it with a sigh - we MISSED THE BUS. Seeing a petrified me, B took my hand and got all protective.
B: “Don’t worry Bis...”
Me: “Oh no! What do we do? Why didn't anybody call us? How
can everybody be so selfish, B?”
B (confused): “It’s ok Bis, I’m there.”
Me (tensed and worried): “You can’t drive, B.”
B: “Let’s go up to your house and tell your dad. He’ll drop us, won't he?”
Me: “No, he’ll scold me.”
B: “I’ll tell him.”
Me: “Still. He’ll scold me.”
B: “Let’s go up and tell my dad.”
I thought about that option for a while and shook my head…
Me: “Your dad will tell my dad and then, he’ll scold me.”
B gave up and left my hand.
And then, in the horizon, there came, what I believed was an angel - another Indian High
School Bus. Oh my! Decades later, even today, when I write about this incident, I can
feel it – as if God just rushed down taking the form of a school bus.
Me (confused again): “But, will it stop for us. This is not
a stop allotted for them right?”
B (waving out his hand at the bus): “Let’s find out.”
The bus stopped and so did my racing heart.
B (to the assistant on the bus, whom we all generally called
‘chacha’): “Missed our bus, chacha... can we come in?”
Thank God for uniforms, we got permitted in. All
the children on that bus stared at us like we landed from another planet. We quietly walked and sat on a seat, thankful to God for saving us from all that yelling in the luxury of a car.
That's all for today! I'll get back with more school memories tomorrow...
Also Read:
Back to School – the Kindergartener, the Careless Child, the Morning Jogs and the Dear ol’ Bus
Rewinding to April 18, 1984
My Magic Beans
Back to School – the Kindergartener, the Careless Child, the Morning Jogs and the Dear ol’ Bus
Rewinding to April 18, 1984
My Magic Beans
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The Wonder Years! (Y)
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