Rainy Memories

Two days ago, while I was walking on the road, it was raining. I had a black raincoat with me which I didn’t use, simply to feel the rain on me. I had my books on my back pack which was completely wet and felt very heavy. The road was flooding and I found my rain-soaked shoes slippery to walk.

This took me fifteen years back when I found myself walking near my father, holding his fingers. The raincoat I had put on was much colorful and the bag on my shoulder was much lighter. I struggled to keep pace with my father because of my short strides. I had put on a pair of sandals which was no less slippery than my shoes at present. It was my first day at school.

When I entered the class, I found everybody crying because their parents had left them alone in the class. I did not know their feelings and I laughed at them simply because I was standing next to my father. I didn’t feel much homesickness even when my father left. I still wonder why I didn’t!!! The noise subsided only when the teachers started distributing the sweets to the new comers. It only proved to be a short-term measure because it all started once again when the snack-session ended. Now I realize the importance of that day as it marked the beginning of a new era in my life.

I should say the school provided me with everything I needed. Good quality education, proper behavioral molding, opportunities for my physical as well as mental development. (I should point out that people in India are lucky as they get free education). People say if a high school student is good at his studies, the credit goes to his teacher who taught him in the lower classes. It is always the foundation that matters. I love my lower primary teachers so much because they were so good at making the foundation.

Imagine a pond where there are a lot of frogs. There are insects flying around, which the frogs try to capture. There is not enough to satisfy everybody’s need. So by Darwin, the frog fittest in capturing an insect will get more food. If a frog simply puts his tongue out and weight for an insect to come and stick on it, he will starve to death. Opportunities in school are like that. The opportunities are very much limited. The more we go for it, the more our growth is. I can proudly say I didn’t allow any opportunity for improvement in my school to pass through without me utilizing it. I thank my teachers as they made plenty of ‘insects’ to fly through in the school!

Home and school are different, but mine was the school were I felt like home. The teachers were so loving, so caring, that they were ready to help me any time, any were. Every grown up man will have a desire to become a child once again. Being a child means lot of energy, fun, entertainment and tension free life. Now, the education system had changed so much. It puts so much pressure on the students and they get stressed even in such early stages of life. I wish, if every student had the childhood I had, then how better it would have been.