Times @ Maddy Kripa-II

Year 97-98

In my first standard I had change of class teachers quite often.. Like they changed every now and then.. Initially we had Sharada teacher and then there was a change twice before Revathi teacher came in finally. Coming into the higher primary our classes were in a different building. It was like we came into the outer section of the school.. The most wonderful thing about Madhav Kripa are the corridors. They run about the stretch of the building and i can never forget those times when we used to run along them and skid having so much of fun.. 

We once had a dictation test and just before the test my bench mate asked me whether I knew all the words which were supposed to be knowing and I said I did. He then said that he didn't know and hence had written them on a paper and he would copy from it whenever he wasn't sure. The test started and the fun was the teacher went on telling words and he dint know which was which!! He was totally confused and finally gave up seeing the sheet and just went about writing what he knew. Its funny to see the simplicity of his behaviour. He thought it was easy to copy down but didn't think he would have the difficulty of recognising what he had to write..

Our class had four rows and hence there were four leaders appointed and I was one among them. There was a chubby girl in our row and every now and then she used to pull my cheeks!! It used to irritate me so much.. I could control the entire class but for her. Couldn't stop her from pulling my cheeks.. I remember that when I would be the most irritated, I would complain to the teacher that she was disturbing me and the teacher would ask what was she doing. The first time when I said that she was pulling my cheeks, my teacher pulled my cheeks and asked like this??

Later on she just used to smile every time I complained about her. 

Year 98-99

 We had Nagaratna teacher as our class teacher.. Thank god my cheek puller had left the school!! The reason how I knew most of my classmates was that I was the class leader.. Among other things like minding the class, I was also assigned to see if others had completed their notes and I remember one particular incident where in of a few who hadn't completed their maths notes I was assigned two students to see that they completed everything and they had to sit outside the class while completing.. They were so dumb and lazy that most of the things were incomplete... Every second problem or so would be incomplete... Finally I guess I got them finish it..

Our environmental studies teacher, Uma, used to make us read out the lesson every once in a while. She used to ask a few to read a para each or so and would give us marks out of five based on our reading. It was a proud feeling to be the highest scorer.. The other thing about her was that she had a unique way of calling out one's name.. That was something I liked the most about her. Even today when I meet her she first calls in the same way as she used to do when I was her student...

We used to have a class test every month. For English we had to by heart poems and once during English test I wasn't able to recall one of the lines.. I was a little confused about it and so I was just thinking about it when the girl sitting next to me, seeing me concerned, asked what happened and I told her that I dint know a particular line of the poem and she promptly asked me if it was..... and told the line. I couldn't resist a smile when I realised that she had already seen my paper to notice the missing line.

Times @ Maddy Kripa-I

Every child has a special affection towards his school not only because he studied there but more due to the special memories attached with the school. It is due to those special moments that you will never be able to forget it. Here is an effort to bring out a few of my memories down the lane in "Times @ Maddy kripa" a collection of moments at Madhav Kripa.

Year 95-96: My first year at school, the first step in the journey. I don't remember much of the admission and other things but I very well remember my classroom, those cute little chairs and not to forget my favourite place. We had four sections in L.K.G and I was in the C section and our class had an adjoining room where we had the provision to keep our bags. I still remember those days when many of my classmates would go in there every now and then to check if their tiffin box was safe.. 

Coming into the second year I was into the A section and most of my friends were in my class. So it was better than Lkg wherein we were all in different sections. Our building was such that in the centre there was a hall and from it you could go to any of the classes. Lkg was in the same area as the hall but to go to the Ukg you had to get down the stairs which led to a lower area than the hall. We used to gather in the hall every morning for prayer before the classes began. I still remember the day when during the prayer time one of the teachers came to me, pulled my cheeks and gave me two coffee bites:) We had our headmistress, Mrs.Kusumavathi, as our class teacher and she was such a lovely and sweet person that anybody who studied as her student would never forget her...

Unlike the first year, we had full day school in the second year but we were supposed to sleep in the noon. We had a caretaker to ensure that everybody was asleep. Usually for our class Shakuntala aunty would come and she used to sit at the back of the class with a wooden scale in her hand. I never had the habit of sleeping in the noon and I would pretend to be asleep and wait for her to fall asleep. Within a little time she would fall asleep and the scale in her hand would fall down. That was a signal for us that we were free. There would be a few who wouldn't sleep and so we used to play while everybody else slept. On the days when everybody was asleep I used to go up to her and pick up the scale and play with it. Sometimes we even played throwing it here and there.. It was usually the evening bell that used to wake her up. Everyday she used to try her best to make me sleep but never to succeed...

Once it so happened that due to some reason we were asked to sleep in another class and the caretaker there was strict. As usual I dint sleep and was playing with a rubber band which I had attached end to end thus making it a flexible rope like. She noticed it and got it confiscated... I was very sad about it as it used to be my proud possession. A few days later I was summoned to the Hm's cabin and when I went there I found that my favourite possession was lying on the table and my favourite teacher was smiling at me seeing the happiness in my face. She then gave it back to me but after that day I dint take back to the school again..

Another memorable day was when we had been taken for a movie at video Cinerama which is situated near TC. I dono how the whole lot of students fit in the school bus. But we went there in a bus. The place is not very far from our school, walkable distance actually. The movie was 101 Dalmatians:) We had a wonderful afternoon watching the movie, enjoying and savouring each moment...

We went on excursions every year, the place usually being T.A.Pai farm for nursery students. It was a day of fun and I soon learnt that I would wait for it and think about it even days after it was over...

Thus the two years at nursery were filled with special moments, a little recalled, a little lying under the sands of time... 

Boards

The first thing that comes to one's mind on hearing to the word 'Board exam' is uncertainty. Now whats so special about it that makes you speak so much about it is something to wonder. It is a simple difference between a normal exam and the boards that gives it all the fuss and attention. Normally you write an exam and the day you finish your examzzz you will know how you have performed. But not so with the boards!! It has got the unique ability to give you surprises, very huge ones, which comes right out of the dark, hitting you square and hard knocking you off the ground. And if you aren't prepared for it, which is most likely the case, you will find it tough to regain your composure and balance. It also has the ability of giving you pleasant surprises. But for that you got to be lucky, very lucky. There are instances of people getting way beyond their expectations even after performing poorly and vice versa. A silent tear goes unnoticed in the crowd of happiness. That's boards.

Here is a small little story that might be of some interest. There was a student who was hardly serious about studies. He wasted time instead of studying by watching TV when he should have been studying, etc, etc.. Days passed and his exams came by. On the day of his language exam minutes before the exam was to start, he was arguing with his mother that he would not attend the exam as he hadn't prepared for it and didn't know anything. In the end after a lot of persuasion he agreed to go, and wrote the exam. When the results were out there was a surprise!! He scored 100 in the subject which he dint want to write!! Now whats more ridiculous.. Is it that fact that he scored 100 in a subject he hardly knew to read or write or is it that there are even such valuers who don't even bother to think that the future of a student is in their hands.

Its as a result of such careless valuers, that many students have to suffer. Now the student might rejoice at scoring such good marks, but another student who really worked hard but falls a prey to such people will feel really bad about it. In some cases the genuine student tends to falls back. This becomes a serious breakdown for him/her. Everybody will console them telling that its not the end of everything, but the true emotions and feelings that they go through is known only to them...

“I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much.”

  No matter how hard you work or whatever efforts you have put in, it becomes secondary to what your fate has for you. All said and done in the end what you get is what is in store for you. Time passes on, incidents are forgotten, but the feelings of the unfulfilled desires stays on forever reminding you that you couldn't achieve something you wanted to. No matter how much ever you achieve, you truly think of yourself only in rare moments and those are the times when you need somebody to judge your thoughts and give you the feeling that you are not as bad as you thought you were.

Kabhie khud pe hasa mein, kabhie khud pe roya.....

Mint your way

"A person earns 1.5 lakhs a month".

This is a normal statement and might make one wonder whats this about. This would be the first thought. Now I say that this post is about one such person and your immediate thinking about the person would be as a professional. If not for recession many would have been dead sure I was speaking of a software professional who worked hard to achieve this. But if these were the thoughts that crossed your minds then you were entirely wrong. Speaking of a software professional would also remind the long days of work, busy schedule etc.. waiting in the the store. Now the person I am speaking off happens to be no such professional, but a simple layman.For people who have thought of a professional life to be the way to earn here is a small story, no an example set by someone would sound better I guess, to show that innovation and creativity can bring achieve wonders.

I am speaking of a place at Manglore wherein there is a simple sandwich stall. Its nothing big and dashy, but a normal stall. The stall opens up at four in the evening and by five thirty at the max the stall is closed as the products are all sold out (I believe the timings are right).  The style with which he goes about preparing it is a sight worth watching. He does it with such simplicity which I am sure if we tried, would either lead to some injury or else we will mess up everything. I am sure anybody who watches it will be impressed. The quality is just too good to speak about. At the first glance it looks as simple as the stall but have it and you will realise you were wrong. 

Now eating it if you just give a little thought about his business you will find out what I am speaking about. Lets assume he gets 25 packets of bread daily, which am sure he does. Each packet can produce say 12 sandwiches. So that makes it 300 sandwiches/day. (12*25 = 300) His selling price/sandwich is Rs.20 so the revenue earned per day would be 6000 rupees. Lets cut of his expenses say 1000 rupees/day. So that leaves an amount of 5000 rupees a day as profit. Taking a step ahead, we assume his stall rent for a month would be 10,000 rupees. So the net profit per month would be (5,000*31 - 10,000 = 1,45,000) around 1.5 lakhs a month!! More than any average working person. And all that in just a few hours work!!! 

It wouldn't require a great deal of thought to realise that he would do something in the mornings too. So you can just imagine how good is he doing... It is a clear sign showing that if you are dedicated towards what you are doing, even a simple job can earn you a fortune...

Memories-IV

Power of facing the unknown...

It is often fearful to be reassessing a situation which we have already been through.It keeps us wondering as to how we managed to get through, and at the same time gives the feeling of what if it happened now?? Would I be able to handle it in the same way?? I guess we tend to find it easier to face the unknown rather than the known. The impact of facing the unknown, though more threatening than that of facing the known, is easily foreseeable than otherwise. 

This incident occurred when I was in fifth standard and it was the month of March which meant exam time. My exams were going on and I was down with fever. I was taking medicine but it dint subside. It is a usual routine that whenever I am down with fever I was given some medicine which we had at home and if it didn't subside even after two days, we would go to the doctor. It was my maths exam that day and I was feeling so weak that I couldn't sit properly. Due to my illness I couldn't go in my auto and dad offered to drop me and he had also arranged that as soon as my exam was over I would be dropped back home. My class was in the old building, and I distinctly remember that I was seated in the first row, third bench in the middle. The speciality of the old building classrooms was that it was in a row at the right side and there was a lot of space in front of it where the autos used to be parked when the school left.(The old building is now demolished and you can now longer see the space that was once a play area, once the school left, for us) Our car was parked in front of the classroom and there was quite a lot of time before the exam was to start yet. I was feeling very tired and was sweating very profusely. We had a cooler in the car and even in that hot weather it felt like ac for me and I can still recall the relaxation I felt. However the exam began and I wrote and finished it with great difficulty. I was the first to finish the exam and when I gave the paper fully exhausted the teacher's response was,"Check it once again. There is a lot of time". I just said I was done and came out. Once I came back dint get up from the bed. I had done my blood test and the reports were out the next day. It said I was suffering from high jaundice!! Thankfully it was my last exam. Of course the drawing exam was left and when spoken about that, my class teacher had praised my art and said it would be no problem if I dint attend the exam, only to mark me absent in the end. Anyways I was asked to strictly take rest and follow the medication and soon enough I was fit and healthy. My results were out soon and it so happened that I was the highest scorer in maths scoring 97. A matter of pride in something worse that happened. 

Just the thought if it ruses a sense of fear every time I think of that incident. God knows from how long I was suffering from jaundice, but thankfully I was strong enough, to finish off the exams. I still wonder how I was able to do it... Maybe it was as I said earlier, its easier to face the unknown than the known....