Saturday, July 7, 2007

Autobiography: Entry 1

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Papa started searching for an auto. We were already late. It was an evening of February, 1989 and dark. We were standing at Digha More. Finally we got an auto and reached the gates of St. Michael's High School. I clearly remember how nervous Papa and Ma were. Papa kept telling us that it does not matter what the results would be. Somehow I knew that it did matter a lot to him.

We walked the distance to the head office in a hurry. There was not a single soul around. Papa went inside the building to see if my name was in the list. St. Michael's had a reputation in Patna and admissions in Grade 1 was very tough. It was equivalent to any enterance exam nowadays since only 150 fortunate children got through each year.

Papa came out smiling. I was there in the list. He told Ma I am there in the list. Ma was happy. I was also happy because both of them decided to go to Hanuman Mandir. I loved those Besan ke Laddu that we used to buy as prasad.

I realized very late in life that it is a luxury to study in the same school for such a long duration. I was in St. Michael's till Tenth and I still boast of those remarkable school days. I hardly remember the time spent at home but I have distinct memories of school days right from class one. My initial years were very lonely. Kunal Verma was my only friend apart from Tushar who was a family friend. Slowly I became a part of different groups. I found two great friends in Kishore and Ankur. Adi joined us later. When I left St. Michael's in 1998, I had a treasure-full of friends and memories of happy days spent in peace.

2 comments:

Surbhi said...

LOL... That comment about Hanuman Mandir was so cute. I feel happy when Ma visits the temple on Tuesday. I get to eat that orange boondi as prasad. Alas, its available just once a week!

Ankur Sharan said...

My papa brought a full "Hadiya" of Gulab Jamun ;) when I cleared my entrance exam for class I. Never again in my life got such treatment :)