Today, I just feel like writing, so I'm going to flow with my thoughts. Something like being inspired by Sylvia Plath. Some of the priceless moments of my life I like to relive again.
It begins in the 3rd standard, when we had auditions for 'Cinderella'. Obviously, everybody wanted to be Cinderella and so did I. How childish and innocent we were. I remember trying my best to somehow increase my height, just so I could get the role. While another girl and I were trying to outheight (if I may say so) each other, I got fed up. I thought, okay, you know what, any role will be fine with me. I slumped back to my normal height. And unbelievably, I was chosen to be Cinderella. The other girl was to be my fairy. It was so fascinating, wearing a blue and silver dress apart from having my first dance with a 5th standard boy, who was a little short in his class.
The next incident was in the 4th standard, when I met my best friend. I still remember she walked up to me and said, "Will you be my friend?" And I said, Yes. We continued to be best friends for over 10 years then. There were some girls who tried to plot against us. They tried to separate us by using gossip and various other techniques. They failed miserably. Our bond only got stronger.
In the 5th standard, I remember walking up to the wastebin to sharpen my pencil. Just then, my English teacher, Miss June Beale walked into the room and grabbed my hand. I was so frightened, wondering what I had done wrong. She tells the class that I had got 100% in the subject, but as she was not allowed to give me 100/100, she went through my paper, trying to find faults. She just could not find any mistakes. So she spoke to the principal about this and decided that I should be marked 99/100. I was on top of the world then.
The next incident I remember vividly was when I was in the 7th standard. My homework included drawing the picture of a fish from the science textbook. I decided to give this task my complete attention. I took 2 full hours to draw the picture, very carefully outlining each and every scale of the fish. The result was an unmistakable duplicate of the original picture in the textbook. I was so proud of my fish and just couldnt wait to show my teacher, Miss. Christina Chatterjee. The next day, to my utter horror, the teacher instead of lavishing praises, was accusing me of letting my sister draw the fish for me. I argued with her that I drew the picture. She did not believe me, still doesn't. In my child's eyes, I was very hurt. Just because my sister was six years older to me and the SPL, does not mean I would take advantage of that. So much for spending 2 hours over that drawing. I remember weeping over this. It took me a while to realise that it was a compliment.
My Hindi teacher, Miss. Bhuvaneshwari was after my life. Why? Her only complaint against me was that I should eat well. I was wafer thin then. I really wish she saw me now. She would be oh so proud of me.
In the eight standard, I got a new partner, Nancy Andrews. Together we used to memorise the poems in English, "Two paths diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less travelled by." I had to be prepared for every English class. The teacher used to love picking my number, in a supposedly random selection to recite the chosen poem for the day. It would be my turn almost daily. This was an indicator of what was to come. We ended up taking English Literature in Stella Maris.
The same year I came second in Flat Race. One of the highlights of Sports Day and reserved for the best runners, Flat Race is like the premium event. I ran like the wind and unbelievably, came in second.
In the ninth standard, I fell in love for the first time, with my Maths teacher, Miss. Shashi Rekha (Of all subjects, you may think) She was beautiful, intelligent, caring and charming. It was a huge crush. She was my Maths teacher for 5 years continously and class teacher too. So obviously, I had to impress her. My marks in Maths shot up to new heights. Anything just to get her smile and a 'Very good' in my notebook. I used to finish my sums in class and walk up to her to get it corrected and get another good comment in my notebook. Independence Day was the best. She wore matching colours of the flag, looked so pretty and sashayed on the ramp, as it were. She saw that we were all watching her.
In the 12th standard, I took part in the balloon bursting game, reserved only for the super seniors. It involved riding a cycle and bursting balloons using a stick in one hand in a team event. This incident is special to me, because my P.T. teacher walked up to me and said, "We could not believe, you went so fast." Needless to say, we won the game.
When I was in the 9th to 11th standard, I used to duck from all Jyothi House captains. They wanted me to take part in the trials for baton relay. For some weird reason, I had lost interest.
In the 12th standard, the school magazine was introduced. I remember writing many articles and amazingly all of them were published, including a Hindi poem.
My life was ever entertaining. I had to fight to get admission in Stella, along with Nancy Andrews. My application was not accepted, as they thought my marks were better and I would opt for another course. My class teacher, Ms. Christina Rajkumar took an instant dislike to me and branded me a 'trouble-maker.' She used to have an eye on me and my activities.
3 months into the course, we had to submit an analysis of a passage from a novel. I became lazy and decided to submit it later in the day, before 3 PM. I bunked some classes to complete this assignment, sat in the library and finished it. My teacher had already left for the day and sat in her car. Then came Nancy to the rescue. She grabbed my papers, pinned them and literally ran behind her car, just to submit my assignment.
The next day, she was all praises for Nancy and me. She spoke of our friendship and how Nancy ran to submit my assignment. She took a complete U-turn and I became her pet. She enjoyed my comments for every novel we had to read and submit. It was amusing to see her blush and grin at me every time we met. This continued till my graduation day. I really miss her cos I liked her very much.
We got an untitled poem to analyse and understand what the poet was trying to say. After reading the poem nearly 10- 15 times, I wrote my observations. B.J Miss was impressed. I had very nearly nailed it. The poem was "The Thought Fox" by Ted Hughes. 
I shall continue .. when I'm free.
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