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February 25, 2009

The Get together

One recent Saturday morning (Feb.7) turned out to be a memorable day for some of my old classmates including me. The “Open Day” was held at Ideal Jawa Rotary School where some of my present school mates from MMHS planned to go. As luck would have it, our school bell rang an hour early and we had an extra free hour! We had even arranged a get together there that morning.

“Open day” actually means fun fair. It is held for every 2 years. It was held last when we were in the 6th grade. A particular topic was chosen for every class of the middle school for which models and charts based on the topic were to be prepared by us. Artworks and craft works by us were also displayed. Food stalls, to munch on mouth watering food; many fun games and best of them all was the fruit salad stall. But this was 3 years back. This time it was rather boring without any stalls or any games. An ice cream stall, a chat corner and a milkshake stall were there. But we never expected that our excitement would reach the topmost. We met the teachers who were happy to see us all grown up. Then we waited for our other friends to come. We had never seen each other for a year and all were surprised and shocked to see the changed faces. Hungry, we headed for the chat stall and shared Pani Puris. It was rather hot and there was scarcity of water; so we relished the cool ice cream. No wonder my throat was already sore and my nose started watering! It was worth it! We chatted for 3 long hours but it just seemed like a minute. We did nothing but recalled what all we used to do and how we were before, the various games we used to play, how the teachers used to behave – sometimes funny etc, and about our present situations. We could not possibly stop chatting! We exchanged our phone numbers and E-mail id’s. It was time to bid farewell. We just could not bid goodbye. We never felt like leaving that place. After another 10 minutes saying “bye” we left. Accompanied by my friend Sheetal, I headed home.

In those previous years, we only enjoyed the games and tasted the yummy food. But this time it was all different, the stalls and games made no difference. Only with an aim to meet old pals, we went there. This will remain evergreen in my memory and the great time I spent with my old buddies after a gap of almost two years.

February 23, 2009

Partying spirits

Ideal Jawa Rotary School




My schooling was in Ideal Jawa Rotary School kindergarten to 7th. I am proud to say that I remained a good student in my tenure there. My best part of life there was spent with all my fun-loving friends. All the students in the class were best buddies, we never fought and fussed.

Our class stood first in unity! We enjoyed every part of schooling, but we never knew it. When picnics were arranged, preparations and discussions were done before a week. The days would be like hell until the day finally arrived. Some teachers fussed on our home works but some were a jolly lot. During the lunch hour we would gobble the food as quick as possible and run to play “kalla police” (thief-police) or “Chain cut” to mention a few of my favorite games. All the boys would be the thieves and the girls would be the police. We grew up like this. Time flew. One fine day, came when all these things ended.

Yes. It was the last day at school in 7th grade. That was a prosperous year for everybody with a few exceptions. The last day was the most memorable one in school. We never had any idea how it was going to be. We arranged a send-off party and we were permitted to do! What a grand party it was!

The eve of the party was Christmas celebrations at school, in the middle of the celebrations; we met the head mistress to ask permission for the party. Permission was granted and decoration of the class room began in full swing. Some of the students including me were chosen for decoration. After a few hours the decoration was finished with a big welcome sign on the door. The day finally arrived in our exited moods. A big pineapple cake, lots of cool drinks, a heap of chips, chocolates and other mouth watering goodies were arranged for 56 students who would soon scatter to other schools in the coming year. The benches were arranged in a circular shape in the middle of the class room. The teacher came unto the door without knowing that a surprise party was arranged. Though we were permitted to party, shouting was prohibited and the discipline was hard to maintain for that occasion.

After the cake cutting ceremony by our class teacher we all munched on the yummy goodies. Some boys started shouting and got a sound trashing from the teacher. Though she was a strict one, she enjoyed a lot with us. We played music and sang and danced too, but in a low volume! Finally the party was over so was our excitement. It was time to clean up! It was really tiring. We rearranged the benches in the same order and cleaned up the mess. Some students ran away in order to avoid cleaning.

It was a very happy ending for us. Such memories are not common in middle school but I think our school ‘was’ the best.

Leisure was always granted, and no holiday home work .The children were allowed to bring toys and games after the examination at the end of the academic year. The teachers knew very well what the children needed – more play time! My schooldays there will be cherished forever, for all the good things it has taught me.

February 17, 2009

High School entry - some memories

When I was promoted to 8th std I never knew it would be different from that of middle school.
I joined Marimallappa's high school a year ago. It was the first day of school and I did not know anybody in that school except for my old classmate Sheetal. I did not even know where my class is and where is the assembly hall. Fortunately I saw many of my old classmates in school I ran to them but unfortunately they were of the other class.
After the assembly I later joined my new classmates in search of my class. It was hard to find but we managed to find it. Later on my class teacher came in. As he took the attendance there was a lot of noise around and I could not hear anything till he came up to my name. He shouted my name but i could not hear him and my friend alerted me. I had taken Sanskrit as first language and the teacher came in. She said that she would not start the lessons on the first day. Then she asked us to introduce ourselves and tell why we had chose Sanskrit as first language. After that she asked us to write a paragraph on the above topic. But the bell rang and we were asked to do it in our homes.

I made new friends. It was time for the lunch break and we did not know where to sit for lunch. Finally we went down to the playground and had our lunch. I was afraid that the maths teacher who taught maths would be like the same one like in my old school [Whatever she taught she only knew that !!] So luckily he was not the same. As it was first day he just cracked jokes but the next day he revised the portions of 7th std. Later it was time to go home and I called my sister to come and pick me up. Unfortunately she did not bring any vehicle but she had came by walk with her friend!! With a heavy bag on my shoulders and a lunch bag in hand I went home groaning. Then I came home and told my parents about the school and the teachers,friends.
Everyone will have a memorable experience and especially in school days.. like which i have shared.

February 07, 2009

Trip to North East India

On November 1st, on my birthday, I and my family left for an 8 day trip to Darjeeling.

We needed to first go to Bangalore by train and then catch our flight to Kolkata at Bangalore. We reached Bangalore by noon and the flight was at 7:30 PM.

We lunched at a hotel near the railway station and then left for the Bangalore International Airport. It was about evening when we reached there. As there was a lot of time for the departure of our flight, we roamed around the airport and then made way for the security checking. A heave of sigh after the checking, we waited for the flight to arrive. In a few minutes the flight arrived and we boarded our flight.

I was wondering that this birthday wasn’t exiting, but it was an unforgettable Birthday experience I’ve ever had! We dined the wonderful cuisine that were served in the flight

And thus I celebrated my Birthday in the flight! It was almost 11:00 PM when we all reached Subash Chandra Bose airport in Kolkata.

I found that there was a change in the atmospheric air at Kolkata when compared to Mysore. It was because of the amount of greenhouse gases released in Kolkata was more.

I never imagined that Kolkata would be the filthiest place I had ever seen till now.

Though the streets were deserted at night there was a terrible stench around.

Finally we reached Hotel Ashoka, one of the cleaner hotels in Kolkata.

Well maybe it was. We were given an underground room, without any ventilation.

Inside the room there was a stench of cigarettes and smoke. We just managed a sleepless night whit the fan and the light on. Then it was time to rise and shine. The guide took us to Kali Temple. The floor was covered with sticky water and wilted hibiscus flowers, and a big mob of people covered in front of the door of the deity. The mob were pushing and falling on each other to get a ‘darshan’ of the goddess. Some men at the temple pulled some people and told them that they would give a chance for the ‘darshan’ of the goddess. They would then give them the ‘prasadam’ and ask for the fare.
We had our breakfast of idlies at a South Indian hotel and made way for the hotel.

We left for the airport. We finished all the security checking and then boarded the flight which for ready for departure for Bagdogra airport. We lunched in the plane among the clouds and finally reached our destination in 40 minutes.




We boarded the tata sumo that were arranged and started for Gangtok. The road was terribly bumpy with a lot of potholes! Then we reached the foot of the hills and the only way to reach Gangtok. There were a lot of curves and hairpin bends. A tough time among the huge hills and it almost took 5 hours to reach Gangtok. The road was terrible and in spite of nausea I and my family stopped the driver. The driver showed us the sweetest water. We were all thirsty and we all just quenched our thirsts with the killing sweet water!! It was absolutely pure and sweet water I had ever tasted in my life. The source was not known to us but it was flowing among the trees and bushes atop the hills.

We were also accompanied by a couple who were our family friends. We came across the river Tista. On of the longest river, and we were accompanied by the river through out our journey to Gangtok. The sight of the river fascinated us and we managed to find a way to get down to it. My father found a small path and he was followed by me and my sister and my mother. I and my father got down first to take snaps. My sister and my mother watched me get down and could not resist the opportunity and then followed me.

The sand was fully white and the water was all blue, with green trees around, it was a breath-taking sight! The water was cool and refreshing and was absolutely free from pollution. We took pictures and then headed back for the car. We traveled for almost 4 hours and we reached Gangtok in the night at about 8:15. The sun sets at about 5:30 and 8:15 seemed to like midnight! We stayed at hotel Golmaheem .The rooms were awesome and so were the facilities. We watched television for a while and as were very tired we had dinner in the dining room. The night was very chilly and we went to sleep.

Elephant lake



The sun had rose at 5:30 and we too got up to get ready for sight seeing. We had our breakfast and left at 8:15 AM. Children were going to school in the chilly morning. A taxi was arranged and we traveled to Baba Mandir. Baba Mandir is a memorial of a soldier, Harbahjan Singh, who died in a mishap and is believed that he comes in the dreams of some soldiers and is said to have experienced miracles. Soldiers at the borders is said to have confessed in a meeting that an unknown man usually at midnight walks near the border. The Indian soldiers believed it to be Harbhajan Baba. Many miracles like these are attributed to him. We then planned to visit Thukla, a place near to Baba mandir,

This was 12 km far. There was the old Baba mandir. We were 20,000 feet high above the sea level, and breathing became a bit hard. Travelers were provided with a cup of hot tea free of cost. The best tea I had ever tasted! After visiting the old Baba mandir we made way to play in the snow which was available on the way. First experience in the snow and it was terribly cold! We enjoyed for some time digging the ice and snow. We even took pictures and then left for Gangtok. On the way we stopped at Tshongu Lake or the Changu lake. There were yak rides too. Till now Tshongu lake was the coldest place ever experienced. I rode the yak and took snaps and then left for the hotel. It got dark very soon and there were no such street light facilities.

We reached Gangtok at about 7:15 PM. We rested for a while and went to have dinner.

Tea gardens, Darjeeling

Mt.Kanchenjunga



We had leave for Darjeeling the next morning. We got up early and got ready to leave. After breakfast we left for Darjeeling and it were raining slightly. We neared Darjeeling; we stopped at a tea stall for some fresh and hot tea from the yak’s milk. After the refreshment we left for Darjeeling. We had almost reached there but we were caught in a traffic jam. It took nearly 15 minutes to get away from it and we were at hotel Meghma.

We reached there at about noon; we had lunch and then rested for a while. Then we were taken for sight seeing to Gangamaya Park and Rock garden. There were lots of colorful flowers in the park Even the rock garden had many of the beautiful flowers. In the evening we went for shopping. The day was over and we went to sleep. The next day was scheduled for 5:00 AM in the morning to leave for tiger hills for sunrise. We waited in a hall at tiger hills to view the magnificent sunrise. About 15 minutes and we had almost lost hope for the clouds. But after the 15th minute the bright, orange sun rose slowly and the spectators were also busy clicking snaps of it. We came back quite happy. Had our breakfast, took a bath in the biting cold and then left for the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Garden and Mountaineering Institute. There were some rare specimens like the Red panda and the snow leopard. We looked around the zoo led by our guide Laxman and headed for the mountaineering section. There was a museum of the articles used by the famous mountaineers who had conquered the Mt.Everest.

Sunrise, Tiger hill



Next we came across the tea gardens. We had a ‘few’ cups of tea for free and the made way for Tenzing rock. This is a big rock used for basic mountaineering training.

Even I conquered it! An adventurous effort! We came back to the hotel for lunch and rested. Then we went for Mirik and stayed at a hotel there. We went for sight seeing to the Mirik Lake. The day was over there and we came back to the hotel. The next day we made way for Bagdogra airport to catch a flight back to Kolkata. We reached Kolkata in the evening and we were back to the same hotel. We rested in the room we had dinner and went to sleep. Next day we went for Belur mutt, the place of resurrection of Swami Vivekananda, Ramkrishna Paramahamsa, and other saints. After that we went for Victoria Memorial. In the evening we went for the Science City. There were lots to learn with fun things and 2 hours were not at all sufficient. We came back to the hotel and rested as we had to return home the next day.

I woke up early in the morning to find out that I had fever, because of the sudden weather change, from biting cold to killing heat. With a lot of difficulty I made it to the flight and I suffered all along the way to Bangalore. In the flight I was given fresh fruits for breakfast a cookie and a cup of hot black coffee. From Bangalore we boarded a bus for Mysore and perhaps I was the happiest when we all reached Mysore!

Whenever I recall this all I want is Mysore to be like Darjeeling and Gangtok.

It is an awesome place to ‘visit’. A man has to visit such a place in lifetime. The people there were kind, friendly, helpful, obedient.Do visit the wonderful place.