The School-boy (1)

... the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school...

Wake up groggily from bed, taking my own sweet time, and to find that breakfast is served... just a myth! School has begun! Rush through brushing my teeth to taking a shower to getting dressed, and finally foooddd...! All great moments are short-lived, because a minute late and I miss the school bus (please GOD, let me just enjoy my cereal and watch my cartoon!). So it all comes down to timing. It feels like I am on a production line, where the 'Product Assembly' has to begin at 7 a.m. and the 'Final Product' should be ready by 8 a.m.. After which there is a 'Cool Down' period for ten minutes, only to be followed by the 'Inspection' (done so proudly by my mother!). Assembled, inspected and approved; I am handed over to my father who thinks of me as a coolie, unloading my heavy-duty school bag onto my not-so developed, frail shoulders! He takes me to the bus stop, where I am excited to catch up with my 'kinda people' (under-developed, frail shouldered kind)! The 'oldies' form their group and complain about us. While us 'newbies' form ours and discuss important matters ranging from games to cartoons to more games and more cartoons!

All aboard the (not so) s-cool bus! AC/DC knew exactly wat they were singing when they played, 'On A Highway To Hell'! If only I had my ipod back then, and was well versed in translating 'heavy metal' could I have known that the bus driver was the devil's minion!

Finally we arrive at the 'Gates of Hell'! Along with my comrades, we take small, calculated steps through those huge black gates (it was actually a soothing sea blue...!), and enter, left foot first (purposefully) into 'No Man's Land'! Us 'hobbits' were ushered into the primary section of the fortress, to gather for the assembly; where 'El Diablo' (the headmaster), ironically, asks us to close our eyes and bow down our heads and to repeat after him, the morning prayer!  It is surprising how by just closing one's eyes and taking HIS name can have a soothing effect. With the prayer done, 'El Diablo' seemed more human and the surroundings looked a lot more beautiful and pleasing to the eyes!

The bell goes off, signalling its time to learn our 'ABCs' and '123s'. Try to understand why 'humpty-dumpty, had a great fall...' or why 'Jhonny' was lying to his 'papa', and so on! Slogging, hard and long, through numbers and alphabets, and the occasional chit-chats and pulling pranks on each other, only to be told by Ms know-it-all (our sweet teacher!), to either get out of the class or to stand on the table. I used to go for the option of standing on the table, as I could tower over my fellow comrades (they seemed like ants!). More than the teachings going on inside the four walls of our classroom; the highly talented and very bright back-benchers (and the guy standing on the table) always looked forward for physical education classes! Experience must have taught our teacher well and surrender to the whims of untamed children; because it was our class teacher, who let us barking 'mad' dogs out, for this particualr class! And at last that icy-cold, monotonous wailing of the school bell, seemed so musical... "freak out... pa papero... pa papero re ro... school's out... !" The teachers also heave a sign of relief, knowing that us rugrats will be bak tomorrow more stronger and better equipped!

On the ride back home I was glad to see the 'halo' on our bus driver! AC/DC was soo... wrong!

Back to my 'home sweet home':

"Mom! I'm home!"

"Good. Change your clothes and finish your homework."

This is when I exactly learn how to calculate numbers and my physical education comes handy, so that I could catch the bus back to school; which seemed like a safe haven at that moment!

All said and done, those were the times when mischievnousness and innocence got us past the cold stares of our parents and teachers. The best moments in everyones life to be cherished, begins at school. If only Dr. Emmett Brown and his plutonium-powered 'time machine' were real, I would have loved to go 'Back To The Future'!