A room of memories

From the albums

I was a student of Sri Aurobindo Memorial School, Banashankari, and ever since I got in touch with my old friends on Facebook, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about school and the entire batch of 1987. In fact, a few years back I was invited to judge a debate competition in school. As soon as I entered the gates of the school, all the memories of those fun-filled days flashed in front me. It was truly a nostalgic experience for me.

Although the school has changed and has grown in size, a certain degree of old-charm continues to linger in the form of some of the teachers who taught us years ago and continue to teach there. Mrs Lakshmi, who taught Maths, retired recently and Mrs Sita Vallabhi, the Sanskrit teacher remains there still. I remember how Mrs Sita’s strict glare would send jitters down my spine. It’s because of that strictness and firmness I still remember much of the Sanskrit she taught; I meet her often in Jayanagar 9th block. 

Initially, Mrs Savitri taught Chemistry but later on Mrs Vandana took over the reins from her. Then there was Mrs Padmini, who taught Biology — I meet her when I visit school. And how can anyone forget Mrs Bhagya, who taught us Physics? She was our class teacher in class nine. I can never forget the way she used to sign in our notebooks — ‘G Bha H Singh’. I remember a lesson in Physics that was titled ‘Watching the night sky’; Mrs Bhagya had arranged for a telescope for all of us to see the night sky. What a wonderful experience it was!

For Geography class, we had Mrs Shymala teaching us. She would use the word ‘dhing’ a lot and we would diligently count the number of times she would say it per class. Once the toll reached 140 or so, we gave her a standing ovation! Later on, we got a sermon from her because she was offended by what we did.

Ms Satyavathi was my favourite (in fact, she was everyone’s). The news of her death came in as a rude shock and I took some time to get over it. Then there was dear old STR sir. He later became the class teacher of 10B. I met him about seven years back in the Jayanagar 9th block, and a few days later we came to know that he is no more. He was a fine Maths teacher. I remember his way of admonishing a student who would ask silly questions. He would say, “Say yes, you are a D cubed’ (Double Distilled Duffer)!”

I have fond memories also of Pappaji (Santosh Anand) and his memory classes! We had his class on Wednesday, if I’m not mistaken, immediately after lunch. He would tell us about his experiences in Muzzafarnagar. And that reminds me of Ji Ji and her love for the Hindi language. Both Pappa and Jiji are no more.

Now getting to our classroom antics and the chaos and ruckus we created — Manjunath, a classmate, fractured his right hand by falling in the classroom. And who can forget Rishi? I remember he would always sing ‘John Johnny Janardan’ and also ‘O! Mukkadar ka Sikandar’. Even to this day, whenever I come across those songs on TV, I remember Rishi singing them.

The class 10 farewell had a fancy dress party. I remember Ajay had come as a Red Indian. He came screaming inside. For a second, all of us were shocked and later realised that it was none other than Ajay, our classmate! The best part was the annual excursion. Every year we would be taken to different places. In 10th, we went to Pearl Valley, and it was such a memorable trip.

  Now, while some have settled abroad, others are working here.
Last but not the least, I remember the helpers, Vijayamma and Venktamma, who would scare us with her broom. School years are one of the best days of our life. Enjoy those years because later on, only hazy memories of them remain.