Memories Vivid and Wonderful

Have you ever wondered how, memories, like a beautiful garden path, holds you enthralled, its fragrance pervading your being, enticing you to linger a little longer in its cherished embrace! Oh yes, all of us have and hold on to a myriad of memories as we journey through life- some good, others bad or ugly ones that, nevertheless, paint our life with hues that make us choose how we want to be. We can choose to live a life of remorse springing from our own failings or those thrust on us by others, or we can simply use past regrets as an asset to characterize us with epithets that point to a positivity that no negativity can suppress! 

 

Looking back on my life is something I love to indulge in – helps me perceive and understand   myself better – brings back a fertile flood of fun and frolic, fights and flights, especially during my school days! Those days, our day started with mummy getting us children ready for daily Mass; most houses then were only about ten minutes away from Church, with ours even less than that so we holy Jo’s had no excuse. Once back from Church, and breakfast done, we’d be all set for school, the Railway Mixed High School, Bitragunta – uniformed, our satchel on our backs, trudging off to school, picking up friends or joining friends along the way. With walking the sole means of school transport, it took us a good fifteen minutes or so to reach our destination for the day! Surprisingly, none of us felt tired or exhausted either way. Some of us, the born jabber-walkers, talked the walk, while others played marbles using stones (if the marbles were confiscated).

 

I remember a very annoying game called “Last Touch” (mostly a girl’s game), which was played when on our way back in the evening.  That game, invariably, made foes of friends for a few days at least. Last Touch in action simply meant touching someone and shouting Last Touch before scurrying off lest you were touched by that friend or others. Something like having the last word, but, as you have fathomed, of a different kind. This so-called game, almost always, changed gears and we ended up thumping one another hard, resulting in a friendly feud of turning a cold shoulder for a time, when we saw each other at school. Never liked that galling game, but had to play it or be at the receiving end of a, sometimes, resounding whack, all in the name of the game! Sometimes, dropping our school bags to the ground unceremoniously, we’d be in hot pursuit of the one who ‘last touched’ us, our speed and velocity, prompting the force of our action into a thumping push that sent your friend sprawling on the ground. Then depending on your nature, you either help her up apologizing profusely, or leave her there, licking her wounds. That was ‘some fun on the run’, if you may!   

 

Fighting over the only bigger and better-looking chair in the First standard was another one of my engaging episodes. That chair always belonged to the one who got to sit on it first!  You can well imagine the scramble each morning to hold on to that chair. I specifically recall clashing with a classmate, both of us little midgets, hell bent on making a mountain over a mole hill, till, our favourite teacher, Mrs.D’Gama, intervened by giving the chair to someone else. Dispute dissolved, and so did our spat, with Mallu Wheton and I sitting beside each other like two fast friends.

 

The Railway Mixed High School in Bitragunta was the boast of a long and large legacy of legendary folk who passed through its portals – parents and grandparents. With its one-hour lunch break, our extensive playground was privy to the footfall of many generations. Holly-Colly, Monkey Up the Tree. Stick, sone, leaf, paper, mouth-of-water, Chain Game, Seven Tiles, Mummy-Dummy, Gilli-Dandoo, Marbles and Tops, Catching Game and the like were some of the outdoor fun-times after a quick lunch. Some of these games passed on to succeeding generations while the others quietly passed away into oblivion. But I am certain that each of these ‘in the open’ games that involved running, jumping, climbing the expansive fig/banyan trees that adorned our school campus, still holds unforgettable moments of joy in the minds of those who were a part of the school.

 

Mine was a great class of jolly good fellows all – boys and girls – a composite conglomeration of the brainy and the brawny, the naughty and nice! Leon and Derek, the flawless funsters of our class enriched our school life with their instantly creative pranks and adorable antics. One day, during drawing period, another teacher, Mrs. Magee, was assigned to us since that Master was on leave. The minute Leon and Derek heard of this they devised a quick getaway plan to escape the boredom of having their nose stuck in the books for that period (as was the usual). First let me give you the layout of our VIII Std. classroom. It was fairly big with three large windows, two facing the west side of our campus and the other, opening to a corridor which also led to the Head Master’s office. The two doors opened inward. Got a rough idea, right? Well, this dynamic duo, Leon and Derek, positioned themselves behind each of the doors awaiting Mrs. Magee’s grand entrance. This sweet natured, portly lady came in, her hands laden with a high stack of books for correction. The second she stepped in, Leon and Derek slipped out of the class from their hiding place. That was enough to send into splits, and much to dear Mrs. Magee’s annoyance. As for me, well, I don’t really need a plea to laugh, so, you, kind of, can, visualize my poor plight! “Betty, stand up on the bench” rang out Mrs. Magee’s sweet, stern, voice. Gosh, how embarrassing, right? Wrong! I stood up on my bench, ‘Lord of all I survey’ and got a few more to join me, up on theirs! After what seemed like ages, the two escapees came barging in breathless, feigning ignorance of being late to class, their innocent, wide-eyed countenance corroborating their sob story of having not heard the bell. One look at the two of them playacting their part to perfection, transformed us ‘Lord of all I survey’ into “Out Standing” students! Please spare me having to explain what this phrase means. Suffice to know that we remained ‘Out Standing’ for the rest of the period!

 

Another interesting, incredible and indelible incident that occurred, was when Darryl, my sister Christine’s classmate, breathed fresh life into that well-loved rhyme, “Mary had a little Lamb”, with his personal twist. Instead of a lamb following at his heels, Dadoo (his pet-name) came into school riding on his pet buffalo! And, oh, what an uproar it caused! Teachers and students stood transfixed, mouths agape, taking in a sight so comical and quirky.  Quickly recovering from the spectacle, our HM packed Darryl off to leave his pet beast of burden at home and return to class. Dadoo’s daring and royal ride atop a buffalo became the talk of the town then, and stayed etched in our minds forever!

 

We, the children of the 60s never gave much thought to embarrassment, or so I think. Despite the wide variety of punitive measures adopted by our dear teachers such as ‘chalk-knocks’ that were intended to bring the wool-gathering mind back to the board, or the ‘knuckle-knocks’, ‘pinches’, caning, and the whacking many of us received at home, I firmly believe that it was this fairly strict upbringing that has helped shape us. For, deep down we children knew that our parents and teachers LOVED us, and that no punishment meted out ever told us otherwise. Our Railway Mixed High School, Bitragunta, no longer exists, but the generations that studied therein are blessed with millions of memorable memories, bringing smiles that light up even the twilight phase of life!