When I think of school, I think of the big shady compound filled with its old trees, the songs we used to sing, the games we used to play, the books we used to read, the long walk from home to school and the rainy days in June, Sr. Audrey and Sr. Violet who shaped our thinking in the final years, Tessy Chechi who taught me how to learn. The memories envelop me like a mother’s hug and give me a warm, fuzzy, comfortable feeling, so let me share those with you.
School was a ‘safe’ place that nurtured me till I was ready to come out of my cocoon, just like my home did. School was where I grew up from a 5 year old timid girl-child peeping from behind my mother’s sarithumbu, to become a 15 year old girl-woman, watching the world with wide eyed wonder.
Did the school have any impact on my character? I am not sure, because when I left school in 1977, I was still timid and still scared of the world and its people. At school, we were only shown what was out there, but not how we could reach out to get there, it seems. However, the teachers who really cared about us did create clear turning points and leave lasting impacts.
My first two school years were spent at St. Teresa’s school in Ernakulam, where I was the best student in class. We lived on Willingdon Island and I went to school on ‘Jalarani’. One rainy morning, I slipped into the deep Vembanad lake through the gap between the jetty and the boat. Luckily, the lady who was taking me to school was still holding my hand. She pulled me out and saved my life. I think I remember the scary experience, but maybe I am just recreating it as in ‘Drishyam’!
We moved to Trivandrum after 2 years and I went to Holy Angels’ Convent School in Vanchiyoor, the best girls’ school in those days. There were boys in primary school, annoying little brats who opened our aluminium school boxes in the crowd and ran away when the books tumbled out.
We were a confused lot because we learnt in English and were only allowed to talk in English. If we even said Aiyyo, we were calling out to the devil’s wife! We lived with chemparuthipoovu, but read about ‘Daffodils’. But I realize that it just opened our minds to a different culture. Our culture is deeply rooted in our psyche, coming down the generations. Every new experience just adds to it. The centre of action was the ‘up playground’ with its grotto, where we ran around like crazy, playing, falling, letting off steam. This was also where we sang our school songs, out of tune and racing to finish, the scene of our performances, public punishments and drill classes. I still remember the frilled mahogany seeds and soap nuts that we used to collect there, the flower petals that we used to stick on our nails as nail polish. How happy we were, with such small pleasures!
I used to walk to school with Ambika, accompanied by Rathnamma to keep us safe. On some days we fought over the lovebirds’ feathers that we collected on the way and refused to talk to each other, but on other days I was a storyteller. My stories were fantastic and got into quite complicated plots, with heavy prompting from Ambika. When it rained heavily, we got wet all over, splashed mud over ourselves with our hawaai chappals and had to stand all morning in class to dry off, but we did not care!
Our religious leanings were quite funny too, but maybe our behavior showed a firm faith in a formless higher power! Ambika and I went to the same temple early in the morning, fighting again for the manjadi kurus spread out like jewels on the white sand. We prayed fervently to the many gods there and then we prayed with the same vigour at the chapel in school, all just to get good marks!
Our teachers were nuns and other young women, most of them temporary and untrained. Some of them seemed to be always in some kind of angst that they took out on us. I remember water bottles flung down from the first floor on to the top of the trees and map drawing books flung down the corridor. We gossiped that all they wanted to do was to get married and get away!
Then I moved house and my neighbor Tessy Chechi taught me how to really learn. I started getting into the flow and began to enjoy many of the subjects. I never liked Chemistry and Hindi, but I got through Hindi by learning essays like ‘Onam ka Thyohar’ by heart! Even now, at 57 years, I get nightmares about Chemistry and Hindi exams.
When we came home, we had tiffin and played outside till 6 PM, unwinding from the day at school. We could not buy expensive toys, so we played cricket with Veenjappalaka bats and rubber balls, 7 tiles with stones. 6-9 PM was study time, it was surprising that we spent such a small time on homework.
Sr. Mary Audrey was our flamboyant class teacher in Std. 9B. She brought the class alive with her knowledge, engaged us with her personality and kept us on the edge of the bench with her temper. She was also very pretty and used to get all flushed, excited and in a tizzy when the ‘brothers’ visited, which was enough to start one of our giggling fits!
We had a gem of a teacher in Std. 10B, Sr. Mary Violet, who was devoted to teaching, heart and soul. When she taught history, she laid out the events leading up to World War II and made it happen in front of our eyes. She conducted quizzes that we all wanted to ace, because she seemed to be teaching each one of us individually. We connected with each other, it seems.
These outstanding teachers made a great difference in our lives. They opened our minds to new knowledge and drew us through it with the force of their personality and experience, literally reaching into our minds and pulling us out. I wish there were more teachers like them. So powerful!
I look back on my school life fondly because I was carefree, had no great expectations and was able to grow at my own pace. However, I regret that I was always a city girl and remained in one school, where the students mostly came from similar family backgrounds. I think this made my experience too narrow and I ended up unwilling to step outside my comfort zone, even to make friends. Is there a golden method where children, especially girls, can be nudged outside their comfort zone while still in their safe time at school?
Nostalgia EE 84 