Memories of morning assembly

The piercing sunlight made its way through the Kaleidoscope of foliage and fell on the spacious playground of the school as I entered its portal after decades. The school brought back a plethora of memories, the morning assembly, the PT Class, lunch break and dispersal. I caressed the brick walls. Have they grown old like grey streaks in my hair?

Soon, I could visualize myself standing in prayer line reciting school choir. We had to maintain 'one-arm' distance between each other, in ascending order according to our height. I was average in height so I always stood in the middle of the assembly line, having the advantage to murmur and lip-sync. Bending forward, I used to pick up dry grass and sprinkle it on the white uniform of a girl standing in front of me.

Once a dog graced our morning Assembly with its presence. The PT teacher was instructing the guards to get rid of it but our PT commander shouted at the top of his voice, “Ready for morning inspection”. It at once led to giggles and guffaws galore.

Lost in magical memories of those days now I think Assembly lines were not only emblems of spiritual spaces but also of fraternity and flamboyance. Marching on the ground left and right we often talked about pranks and fights. Our playful gang did it with dexterity and deft. Once during prayer, my friend said, “Did you sleep restfully at night?” We had a test on Math on that day nervously I blurted out, “No, I made a few mistakes.” Stupefied she nudged me as all laughed.

I remember in childhood, us cousins were made to stand in a line and recite our school prayer one by one. One of my youngest cousin was a student of Nursery. She sang her prayer excitedly ending on the note “Nursery B go”. In her school immediately after prayer, nursery B was instructed to leave, so she felt “Nursery B go” to be part of the prayer.

Prayer in the morning acknowledged the universal presence of the divine spirit that binds and equalizes all of us. It taught us punctuality, piety and perseverance. To inculcate values of diligence and discipline. The principal also applauded the achievements of students. This gave students an opportunity to be in the spotlight.

Now I stood in lush green school ground with time transfixed and crystallized. My salute to my school which gave me memories heartful!