I was a strange kid.
No. Not kidding. I was really weird.
*
4th Grade.
Hindi class.
We all just finished a Hindi class test. Our teacher Mrs. Vandana Joshi had a surprise for us.
"I won't be checking your copies today, you all are big kids. You can swap notebooks and check your partner's copies. And, you can use pens to check. The correct answers are on the board."
The whole class erupted with joy. We could use pens! In class 4, that was a BIG deal. I swapped my notebook with Nisha, my partner. I remember neither of us being great in hindi, (at that time at least).
So, seeing that Nisha was far from scoring top marks (Sorry Nish!), after every mistake I circled, I'd write a note of encouragement or drew a smiley face. Nisha was doing the same thing in mine; as I too was nowhere nearing average scores. We both peeked in our respective copies and saw what we were doing. In order to out-do the other ... our remarks and cartoons started from cute, to encouraging, to downright pathetic...
"Don't worry..be happy".
"This is not the last test, you'll score next time!"
"Live and let live"
"Every dog has its day..."
We scribbled and scribbled. In the end there were more remarks than test-material. We, really proud of what we had done, went to Vandana ma'am to get the 'test' signed. Waiting for praises to shower on us, we saw her jaw drop.
Result: We were sent to the Sr. Kg class next door. Vandana ma'am sent us to observe and learn how to behave and stay there till we'd learnt something.
What I learnt: Never enroll yourself in the same school your sibling goes to. That was Rati's Sr. Kg class. The minute she saw me walking in, the little dweeb had to go, "Minnnnnnieeeeeee!!! That's my sister!! What are you doing here? Are you punished? Look my sister and her friend got punished!!"
I never heard enough of it.
*
Now that I think about the things I did and they way I used to act, I feel stupid. I was strangely inquisitive and I had to touch everything! It was like an obsessive compulsion for me to know stuff. My repertoire boasts of breaking cameras, stopping escalators, messing with show pieces, casually wandering off somewhere and 'forgetting' to come back home... But the reason behind all these antics was just one- I was inquisitive and I loved to observe stuff. Very "Ooh, what does this button do?!". Everything I did was always with some good intention but they never always turned out that way.I feel sorry for the people who put up with me- My parents and my teachers. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank them for putting up with my weirdness. Well, there was little that my parents could do... after all I was their child, so they had to live with my eccentricity. But I'm amazed how my teachers put up with me.
I was the kid who chatted with people in the middle of class, who skipped and did not walk to class, who put her hand up to answer and then forget what the question was, who would completely zone out and would stare into space. Yup, that was me... till 9th grade. There was so much going around me I found it hard to concentrate on one thing happening inside class. Ugh.
I was always in trouble especially with Aruna ma'am (my Science teacher till class 5. I think she taught us biology in class 6 too), Vandana Ma'am (Hindi), Noopur Ma'am (English, History/Civics/Eco), Ashu Ma'am (Hindi- higher classes), Uma ma'am (Maths), Anup Sir (Chem), Alka Ma'am (Physics),... Parthiv Sir (Games)... Okay lets just say I was trouble for everyone.
*
Dipali ma'am, our librarian took us for our first field trip to Mt.Abu. It was a 10 day trip. 10 days with 3rd graders. We drove her crazy and she would scream her lungs out at us! But she'd also tend to our injuries (Yeah, that would be me again... i fell off trees, scraped myself a dozen times and had volcanic nosebleeds) and would sing "Itnee shakti hame de na dataa..." for us at night. Even now when I hear that song, I think of Dipali ma'am. Yeah, Mt. Abu was a memorable trip.
(Now I also understand why she would sing that song... she needed all the "shakti" she could get!)
*
But all the mistakes that were pointed out to me and corrected; and all the encouragement I got from my teachers made a huge difference in my life. I may have been a messed up kid, but i was really sorted as a teenager- which is actually when most people go crazy. No one was harsh on me... but they weren't too easy on me either and frankly, I prefer that because I'm happy the way I've turned out. My teachers have really helped me (knowingly/ unknowingly) to become what I am.
Even during college. I have a great relationship with my teachers (even now). I was never disrespectful to any of my teachers. It would be all fun and games. From swapping food with Anil Sir to pointless arguments with Hegde sir, from gossiping with Meghna Ma'am to cracking jokes with Goldin ''saar''.
After a spell of non-attendance, I turned up to college one day and my post-grad teacher Jai Ma'am said, "Thank God you turned up today, this place was getting really dull without you around!" And that made my day... !!
So this is for all my teachers...
Sorry for being an absolute annoying-pain-in-the-neck and thank you for everything :)
Happy teachers day!!
*
Third year BSc.
Mithibai College
Papiya Ma'am was collecting her notes from the table in the lab.
Sowmya, Palak and I were standing outside the lab. Peeking from the door.
Sowmya: Should we ask her? This feels weird.
Palak: I don't think people do this, usually.
Me: Oh, Come on! It'll be rude, if we don't. And it won't be right.
Ma'am came outside the lab and gave us a searching look.
Sowmya: Ma'am its your lecture.
Ma'am: Yes, yes. I'm coming to class. Go on. I'll be there.
None of us move.
Palak: (Looks at me..) Ma'am we..um...
Me: (Blurting out) We want to watch a movie. We were wondering if we could bunk your class.
*Silence*
Ma'am: (Coming out of her initial shock, since when have students started taking permission to bunk class?) Absolutely not. You're sitting for my lecture.
And she practically steered us back to class,while Sowmya muttered "Devyani and her great ideas..."
With 15 minutes for the lecture to end and 20 minutes for the movie to start, Ma'am asks us, "Which movie?"
"The Dark Knight" we say in unision.
"Ok. Mark your attendance and go."
Marking our attendance and giving the others smug looks we fly off to the movie hall.
*
