Diving deep into the annals of time... I am that skinny dark brat again !... feeling strangely loved by all... even the teachers ! who despaired to see the giggling unrepentant joker who should really try harder...
I even remember being 4 years old! ...in KG A where the chairs were blue! ( and we envied the chairs in KG B where the chairs were pink!!) In classrooms with colourful pictures, sometimes we were given beads to thread some craft or some crayons to colour...
Still remember our I std teachers...Everyday, last period we would loudly chant the alphabets and numbers and suddenly we were literate !
In diamond netted classrooms ... with radiant readers and tables we learnt to read and add in Std II. Std III I remember at last moving to the last row reserved for the rank holders.Std IV with Ms Evelyn ! We simply adored her and didn't want to leave IV th Std! She taught us lots of fun songs...
Std V in Ms Yolanda's class at last! Neatness cleanliness were instilled in us. We loved her singing class and english class and learnt to speak in english too! Every month we would have a different class leader- a prestigious post elected by the secret ballot! Burdened with the post I had to be punctual not smile or make a face when scolded make sure the benches were dustedmake sure the class was quiet when the teacher was away....I do wonder whatever we talked to make such a big din! Carrying the classwork notebooks and walking behind the teacher to the staffroom and cleaning the blackboard were the other prestigious jobs !
Std VI seemed to be a big deal . Ms. Sulochana who would screw our ears for the slightest indiscipline was our class teacher. Fear for the ear kept us attentive and quiet! Std VII at last! Ms Sitalakshmi tried so hard to discipline us and teach us some maths too. Remember Ms Leela so tiny and kind... Remember the room behind the criss cross bamboo wall classroom... the secret room where I once hid when I was late for assembly. The dusty wounded benches were a safe haven from the wrath of our pt teachers who were in charge of assembly!
Graduating to Std VIII was indeed an achievement. Ms. Josephine Mary taught us to debate . Sister Fatima frightened us with algebra! The balcony around the first floor classroom was such great fun. In sheer joy we would run around climbing through the windows and dashing through the doors. Begging my friends to help me with needlework, passing lunch boxes during lunch time,finishing forgotten maths homework 5 minutes before class.. Whew! weren't we busy!
School choir , assembly exercises,flag hoisting, teachers'day,sports day , walking a mile just to reach the games ground, drinking water from the trickling taps ,the school depot where we bought our books, the grotto with Mother Mary - which we climbed before the exams to light candles!-St Joseph's statue and the quiet Chapel we visited often ...so many images ...so many smiles...With moral science we learnt right from wrong , to be kind and helpful as much as we can!
Ms. Myrtle relentlessly tried to improve our english. If we didn't bring our dictionaries we were sent out of class! She would even check if it was our own copy and not a hurriedly borrowed one! Our notebooks had to be so neat (no dog ears) Our essays had to be better! The lessons we learnt in her class were indeed invaluable but her stern demeanor would make us stutter and stammer in fear and confusion! Her class control , impeccable english and personality made us wonder if indeed Mark Twain or even Wordsworth could be greater than her!
Bidding adieu to childlike ways we stepped into Std IX. We had to be extra quiet- which was tough. Our teachers seemed more friendly. We loved listening to our Tamil teacher Sharadambal Ji . As she narrated the great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata in our joint classes we were transported to the ancient times. She was such a dear who was very liberal in giving us marks. So we tirelessly wrote pages and pages of all sorts of stories trying to impress with sheer paper bulk! She was such a dear and we were such monsters. We would sit at her feet interchanging her slippers wondering if she would wear them right when she left the class! Calling us donkeys and all sorts of things she struggled hard to tame and teach.
Ms Celine patiently taught us the intricacies of trigonometry and binomials. Ms. Meenakshi had us spellbound in the biology classes.Ms. Meenambal with the greatest dedication brought history alive and geography so interesting. Ms . Christina Ms. Shakila Ms Vijaya helped us get our studies right. Shankar Ji our Hindi Ji always seemed cheerful and bright.
Std X at last! The classroom above the staffroom with the fluttering pigeons and a big window was the most prestigious place!We were the seniors at last! By virtue of being the most entertaining person I was the spl ! School pupil leader! Whew was it tough. Miss Victoria gave me such a hard lecture when I hoisted the flag green side up that I thought of quietly escaping to China! When all I wanted was to laugh and chat with all my friends I had to be good ,punctual , lead the exercise drill in the assembly and when I forgot the order- and the whole school giggled- face the heat of the teacher's fury ! We had to stand in militarily precise lines - in the perfect height order- not a hair out of place- no smiling while the leaders checked if our shoes were shined and our shirts ironed . We stood under the hot sun and I still remember the exercise tune , the school choir singing the prayer song and then we marched back to class for the first hour all hot and sweating! I remember hiding under the wooden stairs even the brooms cupboard once to escape this .It was in places like this I made the most number of friends! And in case some teacher decided to look out for us we had it!! Nirmala my goody goody assistant and I would be waiting outside the staffroom asking for excuses, saying we are sorry, promising to be better week after week!
Locked inside dark classrooms for movie shows where we aahed and oohed in delight Class excursions to exotic places like Tuticorin and Kanyakumari Walking in a line to theatres outside school to watch movies like sound of music were the happiest distractions from our studies! Outdoor classes under the neem trees were such pleasant diversions too.
We enacted plays for Christmas and Teachers day One such play a modern Cinderella brought us all together. And of course I remember everyone now. Sudha and Alamelu mangai from kg times! Prathi the perfect one who loved a good joke! Kanchi Leela Shobha Meenal Durgasri Nilofer Rosaline MaryJesintha Alphonsa Jeyarani Uma J Uma solanki Uma Maheshwari Mali Aisha Asha Ashalatha Usha Usharani MPS Usha Shakthi Shantha Agatha Ruth Philomena Kalaiselvi Jayalakshmi Keech Josephine Mary N .Meenakshi Sigappi Geetha Fazila Loli Puppitha Rajula RadhaMai Jaishree Saroj Ashwini Sujathas Bhuvana Viji Bhavna Arifa Sherufinisha Vasanti Alamelu .... So many friends So many smiles....
Chandu Soma Radha Mani Subashini were all part of high school fun too. We travelled to school together in city buses speaking our secret p language laughing and dancing in sheer fun.
Thanks St. Joseph's for all that we learned and the smiles that we shared.
I even remember being 4 years old! ...in KG A where the chairs were blue! ( and we envied the chairs in KG B where the chairs were pink!!) In classrooms with colourful pictures, sometimes we were given beads to thread some craft or some crayons to colour...
Still remember our I std teachers...Everyday, last period we would loudly chant the alphabets and numbers and suddenly we were literate !
In diamond netted classrooms ... with radiant readers and tables we learnt to read and add in Std II. Std III I remember at last moving to the last row reserved for the rank holders.Std IV with Ms Evelyn ! We simply adored her and didn't want to leave IV th Std! She taught us lots of fun songs...
Std V in Ms Yolanda's class at last! Neatness cleanliness were instilled in us. We loved her singing class and english class and learnt to speak in english too! Every month we would have a different class leader- a prestigious post elected by the secret ballot! Burdened with the post I had to be punctual not smile or make a face when scolded make sure the benches were dustedmake sure the class was quiet when the teacher was away....I do wonder whatever we talked to make such a big din! Carrying the classwork notebooks and walking behind the teacher to the staffroom and cleaning the blackboard were the other prestigious jobs !
Std VI seemed to be a big deal . Ms. Sulochana who would screw our ears for the slightest indiscipline was our class teacher. Fear for the ear kept us attentive and quiet! Std VII at last! Ms Sitalakshmi tried so hard to discipline us and teach us some maths too. Remember Ms Leela so tiny and kind... Remember the room behind the criss cross bamboo wall classroom... the secret room where I once hid when I was late for assembly. The dusty wounded benches were a safe haven from the wrath of our pt teachers who were in charge of assembly!
Graduating to Std VIII was indeed an achievement. Ms. Josephine Mary taught us to debate . Sister Fatima frightened us with algebra! The balcony around the first floor classroom was such great fun. In sheer joy we would run around climbing through the windows and dashing through the doors. Begging my friends to help me with needlework, passing lunch boxes during lunch time,finishing forgotten maths homework 5 minutes before class.. Whew! weren't we busy!
School choir , assembly exercises,flag hoisting, teachers'day,sports day , walking a mile just to reach the games ground, drinking water from the trickling taps ,the school depot where we bought our books, the grotto with Mother Mary - which we climbed before the exams to light candles!-St Joseph's statue and the quiet Chapel we visited often ...so many images ...so many smiles...With moral science we learnt right from wrong , to be kind and helpful as much as we can!
Ms. Myrtle relentlessly tried to improve our english. If we didn't bring our dictionaries we were sent out of class! She would even check if it was our own copy and not a hurriedly borrowed one! Our notebooks had to be so neat (no dog ears) Our essays had to be better! The lessons we learnt in her class were indeed invaluable but her stern demeanor would make us stutter and stammer in fear and confusion! Her class control , impeccable english and personality made us wonder if indeed Mark Twain or even Wordsworth could be greater than her!
Bidding adieu to childlike ways we stepped into Std IX. We had to be extra quiet- which was tough. Our teachers seemed more friendly. We loved listening to our Tamil teacher Sharadambal Ji . As she narrated the great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata in our joint classes we were transported to the ancient times. She was such a dear who was very liberal in giving us marks. So we tirelessly wrote pages and pages of all sorts of stories trying to impress with sheer paper bulk! She was such a dear and we were such monsters. We would sit at her feet interchanging her slippers wondering if she would wear them right when she left the class! Calling us donkeys and all sorts of things she struggled hard to tame and teach.
Ms Celine patiently taught us the intricacies of trigonometry and binomials. Ms. Meenakshi had us spellbound in the biology classes.Ms. Meenambal with the greatest dedication brought history alive and geography so interesting. Ms . Christina Ms. Shakila Ms Vijaya helped us get our studies right. Shankar Ji our Hindi Ji always seemed cheerful and bright.
Std X at last! The classroom above the staffroom with the fluttering pigeons and a big window was the most prestigious place!We were the seniors at last! By virtue of being the most entertaining person I was the spl ! School pupil leader! Whew was it tough. Miss Victoria gave me such a hard lecture when I hoisted the flag green side up that I thought of quietly escaping to China! When all I wanted was to laugh and chat with all my friends I had to be good ,punctual , lead the exercise drill in the assembly and when I forgot the order- and the whole school giggled- face the heat of the teacher's fury ! We had to stand in militarily precise lines - in the perfect height order- not a hair out of place- no smiling while the leaders checked if our shoes were shined and our shirts ironed . We stood under the hot sun and I still remember the exercise tune , the school choir singing the prayer song and then we marched back to class for the first hour all hot and sweating! I remember hiding under the wooden stairs even the brooms cupboard once to escape this .It was in places like this I made the most number of friends! And in case some teacher decided to look out for us we had it!! Nirmala my goody goody assistant and I would be waiting outside the staffroom asking for excuses, saying we are sorry, promising to be better week after week!
Locked inside dark classrooms for movie shows where we aahed and oohed in delight Class excursions to exotic places like Tuticorin and Kanyakumari Walking in a line to theatres outside school to watch movies like sound of music were the happiest distractions from our studies! Outdoor classes under the neem trees were such pleasant diversions too.
We enacted plays for Christmas and Teachers day One such play a modern Cinderella brought us all together. And of course I remember everyone now. Sudha and Alamelu mangai from kg times! Prathi the perfect one who loved a good joke! Kanchi Leela Shobha Meenal Durgasri Nilofer Rosaline MaryJesintha Alphonsa Jeyarani Uma J Uma solanki Uma Maheshwari Mali Aisha Asha Ashalatha Usha Usharani MPS Usha Shakthi Shantha Agatha Ruth Philomena Kalaiselvi Jayalakshmi Keech Josephine Mary N .Meenakshi Sigappi Geetha Fazila Loli Puppitha Rajula RadhaMai Jaishree Saroj Ashwini Sujathas Bhuvana Viji Bhavna Arifa Sherufinisha Vasanti Alamelu .... So many friends So many smiles....
Chandu Soma Radha Mani Subashini were all part of high school fun too. We travelled to school together in city buses speaking our secret p language laughing and dancing in sheer fun.
Thanks St. Joseph's for all that we learned and the smiles that we shared.
