Those nostalgic, fragrant days ...
   Date :27-Jun-2019

 
 
By Vijay Phanshikar:
 
A silent ache enters the heart as one sees countless children milling up to their school gates on the first day after the long summer vacation. No matter which class you went, the first day of school reopening was full of excitement, full of energy, full of eagerness. New uniform, new bag, new water bottle, new shoes, and possibly a few new friends. Everything had a tinge of excitement whose parallel one hardly came across subsequently in life. The first day in school after long vacation was always very special, very unique, no matter what one did in the class. Of course, one rarely went to school to study. There was a lot of learning, no doubt, but not much of study despite warnings by teachers and elders at home. Actually, one went to school only to meet old friends and make new ones. That was the actual attraction for going to school day after day, month after month, and year after year. Scoring good marks was everybody’s expectation about us in those days sixty-plus years ago.
 
But if a kid did not do much well in the class, the parents were not much bothered. For, in those days, people understood education as a bridge to life, quite unlike today’s understanding that low scores in examinations are sinful. For, in those days, even low scorers too did well later in life, rising to occupy important positions in society, enjoying a lot of respect from people. For, in those days, everybody understood life in a more mature manner, and expected the schools to make the kids ready for its challenges. In those days when high scores were never bamboozling education, the kids were happier. In the end, everybody ended up doing well for himself or herself. The idea, then, was clear -- not to botch up childhood for an uncertain definition’s fulfillment.
 
Let alone all that, when the schools reopen after summer vacations, I make it a point to spend some minutes in front of a school gate as my annual routine. In those few minutes, I gain back my sense of excitement as my mind darts back in time when I went to school eagerly on the first day after summer vacations. As I look back, I realise that the excitement on the first day played a great role in my overall learning. For, that excitement acted as a great launching pad for my reading of books, for my efforts to write well in all languages and in good handwriting, dressing up properly, making the right moves to make new friends and retain old ones, not feel fazed with bad scores and not to go berserk with high scores and wins on the playground.
 
All these emotional events in my head and heart had their indelible link with the excitement of the first day after reopening of the school. They could have sent to expensive schools as well, but our parents sent us to simple schools whose premises did not have any pompous presence. On the contrary, we went to schools that were patronised by middle-class families. The parents’ purpose was clear: They wanted us to evolve as human beings with strong middle-class values of frugality, discipline, simplicity, accommodation ...! That was the reason why our school days were fragrant in every sense.
 
Now, as I move around in the city for work or just loosefooting, I realise how life has changed for school kids. There is no need to say anything negative as definitions have undergone massive changes today. But as I stand before a school gate and watch little ones crowding the place, my mind re-lives the childhood moments whose fragrance still lingers in my nostrils. And let me assure, that getting steeped in memories does not connote my getting sucked back in time. On the contrary, it only suggests that even now, the school still fascinates me, making me feel young and bursting with energy like a school kid once again ...!