K, Kh, G, Gh - Kakehra

I wish I could write this post in Hindi. But there are readers who may not clearly understand the post, therefore, I am penning it in English. 

Every weekend, my son prepares the national song of India - "Saare Jahan se achha, Hindustan hamara..". A group of kids are practicing for the upcoming Indian Festival in Stockholm, here in Sweden. This is V's first stint at Hindi. Knock on the wood, he is doing pretty well, especially with his pronunciations. Comes from his mom. Ahem ahem!! 

My school, St Thomas', had a very good faculty. Staff is extremely learned. The most important point is that they all love teaching. If you love your job, you are best at it, isn't it? 

But here I want to bring out the Hindi classes, and the hindi teachers. Some awesome memories, knowledge which I am proud and thankful of. Lest Hindi gets lost in the deep dark ocean. One on my uncle is running a Non Government Organization to popularize Hindi in India. He holds conferences and workshops. What a pity. 

My stint with the hindi varnamala (alphabets) started with Mrs. Saxena, in grade 1. She was a very sensitive teacher , knew how to inculcate children's interest in the language. It was not a easy task, but she did it with such ease. Then was Mrs Das. Who doesn't love her. Her distinctive Bindi, her stern ways of teaching, yes soft heart, full of love for her children. Miss her a lot. 

A recent picture of Mrs Das, with some of my super seniors, STS alumni

When I moved to senior school, I was excited. I had some of the best teachers, and I am sure all STSers will agree to this. Mrs Vinod was my hindi teacher. Years 8, 9 and 10, have a lot of focus on Hindi syllabus. Those were the days I enjoyed the subject. I have a natural instinct towards peotry, and Mrs Vinod used to explain the deeper meaning of the verses with deep intellect. 

I remember doing Prasang sahit vyakhya of so many poems. My favorites include SumitraNanda Pant, Harivanshya Rai Bachhan and Mahadevi Verma. But the poem which is engraved in my heart, and now more so with my mommy status goes as below: 

यह कदंब का पेड़ (Yeh Kadamb Ka Ped) - 

सुभद्रा कुमारी चौहान (Subhadra Kumari Chauhan)

यह कदंब का पेड़ अगर माँ होता यमुना तीरे

मैं भी उस पर बैठ कन्हैया बनता धीरे-धीरे

ले देतीं यदि मुझे बांसुरी तुम दो पैसे वाली

किसी तरह नीची हो जाती यह कदंब की डाली

तुम्हें नहीं कुछ कहता पर मैं चुपके-चुपके आता

उस नीची डाली से अम्मा ऊँचे पर चढ़ जाता

वहीं बैठ फिर बड़े मजे से मैं बांसुरी बजाता

अम्मा-अम्मा कह वंशी के स्वर में तुम्हे बुलाता

बहुत बुलाने पर भी माँ जब नहीं उतर कर आता

माँ, तब माँ का हृदय तुम्हारा बहुत विकल हो जाता

तुम आँचल फैला कर अम्मां वहीं पेड़ के नीचे

ईश्वर से कुछ विनती करतीं बैठी आँखें मीचे

तुम्हें ध्यान में लगी देख मैं धीरे-धीरे आता

और तुम्हारे फैले आँचल के नीचे छिप जाता

तुम घबरा कर आँख खोलतीं, पर माँ खुश हो जाती

जब अपने मुन्ना राजा को गोदी में ही पातीं

इसी तरह कुछ खेला करते हम-तुम धीरे-धीरे

यह कदंब का पेड़ अगर माँ होता यमुना तीरे

Source: 

www.ramprasadbismil.blogspot.com 

(I follow this blog and read some of the best and famous Hindi Poetry, recommended)

I am indebted to my school, for the knowledge of my mother tongue, for the love I have for the language, for the feeling of belonging when I speak it, for the feeling of proud when I rad literature, for the ability to teach my son, who is almost a swede now, bits of the language and inculcate his interest in Hindi.

For the K, Kh, G, Gh, I am proud of Hindi, I am proud of Kakaehra, I am proud of STS. 

This post is dedicated to the A-to-Z blogging challenge - the largest Blog Challenge in the history of Blogkind. My selected theme is "memories of St. Thomas' "- my Alma mater. This is the tenth post of the challenge, and is linked to the letter K - K, Kh, G, Gh: Kakehra: hindi alphabets, The Lord has come.. 

Linking this post to UBC too. 

Helen Jerwood’s School – Houses within

For empowering woman, educate them

Save the female foetus, treat them a human

Feed them, clothe them, clean them, love them

School them, educate them, let them be a woman

Mrs Helen Jerwood, missionary from United Kingdom, worked for the purpose of education for girls in the days of British India.  She founded a couple of school in Delhi, St Thomas’ being one of them. With ideals and undying mission she went from house to house to kindle the light of education for the girl child.

Ms Helen Jerwood

Mrs Helen Jerwood’s vision and her untiring devotion have given St. Thomas' a glorious foundation. Since then, the principals – Ms Ayesha Jacob, Mrs Joy Michael, Mrs Cynthia Manoharan and Mrs Anuradha Amos have striven hard to follow her ideals.

As I take myself, and the readers through this journey, I realize that full justice is not being given to each post. Therefore I decided to carry on with the series after the challenge as well (not as frequent as AtoZ Challenge).

Anyways, apart from the founder’s introduction, H post will be incomplete without talking about the school houses. No prizes for guessing the house names.

Madam Curie (Red house) 


Marie Skłodowska-Curie (7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win in two fields, and the only person to win in multiple sciences. (Source Wikipedia)

Chand Bibi (Yellow house)

Chand Bibi (1550–1599 CE), also known as Chand Khatun or Chand Sultana, was an Indian Muslim woman warrior. She acted as the Regent of Bijapur (1580–90) and Regent of Ahmednagar (1596–99). Chand Bibi is best known for defending Ahmednagar against the Mughal forces of Emperor Akbar. (Source Wikipedia)

Sarojini Naidu (Blue house)

Sarojini Naidu, born as Sarojini Chattopadhyay was a child prodigy, Indian independence activist and poet. Naidu served as the first governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh from 1947 to 1949; the first woman to become the governor of an Indian state. She was the second woman to become the president of the Indian National Congress in 1925 and the first Indian woman to do so. (Source Wikipedia)

Nightingale (Green house)

Florence Nightingale, (12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was a celebrated English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing. She came to prominence while serving as a nurse during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was known as "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night. . (Source Wikipedia)

Each house has its own election, through a democratic process, where the students elect their house representatives – the house head and the two deputies. The houses compete with each other in several activities – academic, co curricular and sports.

In my early years, I was in Chand Bibi. But I was young, and did not understand the meaning of houses. Later on I was moved to Sarojini Naidu. And that was my house – the blue house. We had small badges which we had to pin up on our shirts every day. Scarves were introduced later, in 1990s.  Every Friday, we had to wear the house scarf, which was an additional matter of pride.

Proud STSers

Short note: Now I realize from where the feminism comes in me. 

This post is dedicated to the A-to-Z blogging challenge - the largest Blog Challenge in the history of Blogkind. My selected theme is "memories of St. Thomas' "- my Alma mater. This is the seventh post of the challenge, and is linked to the letter H - H for Helen Jerwood (founder) and school houses. 

Linking this post to UBC too. 

Gandhi, father of nation: Connection with my Alma Mater

I am proud of my alma mater. 

Who isn’t? She made us what we are. 

All schools have something special which is the reason of pride. STS has been special in many ways. Or that is what we Thomasites perceive and strongly believe. Mahatma Gandhi’s connection to our  school is one such underliner. 

Gandhiji (Mohandas Karanchand Gandhi), the father of Indian nation, was a prominent leader and freedom fighter opposing the British rule in India. Following his non violent ways, India regained her lost identity, and attained freedom. 

I learnt a few of life's lessons, where Mahatma walked

One of the many movements of Gandhi, was the campaign against untouchability. He renamed Dalits (untouchables) as Harijans (children of god), and worked towards their rights in the country. 

Residents of the Harijan Basti attending programs at St Thomas' Platinum jubilee celebrations

A small harijan basti exists in the bylanes of Gole Market, next to the St Thomas’ senior school building. A school gate opens to the basti as well. Gandhiji frequently visited the basti, and used to stroll in the school compound. The old red brick stage, in the school used to be his meditation ground. He used to love the school, where girls were educated. This dates back to 1930s/ 1940s. 

I do not have a further information about this. But our school chairperson, Mrs Manoharan, who was the principal in my times, may shed some light as well. She is a school alumni too.  I will try to update this post, if I get to meet her, in my next India visit, soon. 

In the picture: the school stage

This post is dedicated to the A-to-Z blogging challenge - the largest Blog Challenge in the history of Blogkind. My selected theme is "memories of St. Thomas' "- my Alma mater. This is the seventh post of the challenge, and is linked to the letter G - G for Gandhi, father of the nation. 

Linking this post to UBC too. 

Friends and Food - Thomasite Style

While thinking about writing on letter F, the first thing which came to my mind, or what would come in any of our minds would be “friends”. School friends. I am sure we can have a triology release about friendship tales in school. A small blog post cannot justify “friendship” memories. Therefore, I tried to extract a part of my memory. A summary of tales about “Friends and Food”.

As primary grade student, we were naïve. We started learning about relationships. Friendships. Those were the days, when I recall having a picnic lunch, a potluck as we adults prefer to call it. Venue used to be the school playground. A similar potluck was organized for the Christmas party as well.

As I grew up, and started middle school, the bonds of friendships grew stronger. There was no inhibition, no portrayals, no dramatization of the real self. It was pure, open simple, transparent – friendship. It still is. I am lucky.

In the pic: Class X C, 1995. One of the most notorious, yet loved my teachers. Mrs Rowena Gideon was our class teacher. Much about her in my later posts. :)

Class 7/8, year 1993. The lunch hours started witnessing commotion. No one was eating their own food. Atleast 8 hungry girls on each lunch box. Potluck became a daily routine. One chappati, split in 6 bites, fed six different mouths. This was just to exemplify the extent.

Astha’s mom used to make delicious tehri/ pulao. It was a plain dish – white rice, chane ki dal, with zeera and ghee tadka. Amazingly awesome. Astha used to get a big box of this. During lunchtime, a helping of this delicacy was put in the lunch box cover and handed over to me. The rest was gobbled up be the rest of the class.

Bharti Agarwal (love you honey!!) and her yummy bhujia patties – one was booked for me even before the box opened. And that was the only way I used to eat bhujia (Haldiram bhujia). I swear I never eat bhujia, neither then nor now. I don’t recall what used to be the contents of my lunch box, for I have never seen it. It was seen by my besties. I will ask them if they have any memory of what mum used to pack.

This food business slowly relinquished. Instead carrying food was considered oh so old fashioned. Unfortunately, not all could afford eating in the canteen everyday. So what was the way out. So simple, eat nothing, just have fun. After all lunch breaks are not meant to waste time. It is meant to do stuff which makes you famous or sometimes notorious. I stopped eating lunch from class 9 onwards. All I used to do was – teenage fun. Vandana Bhatia was my mentor, my guide – “Calling trouble by being naughty: for dummies”. Bhatia, please spare Sia from the mayhem you put me into so many times.

Bharti used to hand me the patty twice a week, which was sufficient for my tummy ad our friendship. We are still good friends, haven’t met for long, oh really long.

Mental note: Need to plan up with VB and BA soon.

Disclaimer: Astha, Vandy and Bharti are not the only ones who fed me/ unfed me, they are just top of my mind. For the sheer love in my heart for the three of you, your name showcases here. Feel proud girls. 

This post is dedicated to the A-to-Z blogging challenge - the largest Blog Challenge in the history of Blogkind. My selected theme is "memories of St. Thomas' "- my Alma mater. This is the sixth post of the challenge, and is linked to the letter F - F for friends and food. 

Linking this post to UBC too. 

Vote for…. Elections @STS

Trust me, I deleted 50% complete posts draft twice. But as the day ends, I have to do my alphabet E. Therefore, finally I put a tape on the delete button. ;)

The reason for my anxiousness is the topic itself.

E, for Elections

Integral part of my school memories. An event which molded me as a person I am today. STS has annual elections, a replica of the Indian polls, held every 5 years (Recent Indian history has seen a change in this frequency though). STS conducted a fully democratic process of electing the cabinet.

St Thomas’ Cabinet was headed by a Prime Minister. The PM had two Deputies. And then there were a set of 10 or 12 ministers. Each minister had two deputies. The school house captains and vice captains were a part of the cabinet as well. I will talk about the houses in another post. There were 4 representatives from Class X, one from each section. Class XI and XII had 2 reps each.

STS Cabinet, Year 1996

Yesterday, my school friend, Manju Oberoi, whatsapped me. Talking about my blog posts, she went  back to yesteryears. Year 1994. It was my first election campaign. 

Once again, I have the disappointing and helpless feeling – such incidents and events need the pictures to do justice. I will update the posts once I procure pictures from various sources.

Anyways, the election campaign used to bring studies to a total standstill. From pamphlets, to print banners (cloth and paper), handmade posters, class to class campaigning, morning assembly campaigning, election songs. Well, we had it all. It was a mayhem. Total commotion. Friends forming groups, campaigning for their choice of candidate. Juniors timidly followed.

And then there was the D day, the voting day. Secret ballot (what did you thing, eh). No gundagardi, no dabangbaazi, no chance of booth captures. It was secret voting. One by one, you go, cast your vote on specially printed ballot papers, mark the one you want to elect.  Results were declared a day or two later, once the outgoing cabinet counted the votes. 

When I was selected for the first time, in Class 10, I can never forget the moment my name was announced. It was unexpected. I was pretty sure I can never win, the opposition was very strong. (I know you are reading darling!! :) ) But the moment is engraved in my memory. I don’t remember the result days of class XI and class XII. They were not unexpected.

The operations of the cabinet, and other details may come in separate posts. The STS school elections are the closest the teenage kids come to democracy.

For 3 years I was a part of the St Thomas’ School Cabinet. This fills me with great pride.

This post is dedicated to the A-to-Z blogging challenge - the largest Blog Challenge in the history of Blogkind. My selected theme is "memories of St. Thomas' "- my Alma mater. This is the fifth post of the challenge, and is linked to the letter E -  E for Elections.

  

Linking this post to UBC too. 

Disclaimer - Memory Loss

So, I am pleased that so many of you are reading my posts, my thoughts about my alma mater. It makes me really very happy, that St Thomas' teachers and all my school mates are reading it regularly as well. :) What else does a blogger want? 

Unfortunately, inspite of my research before writing every post, there are some of my memories, which are not 100% foolproof.  Two the errors in the previous post - Dance Drama and Dumbos have been corrected, thanks to my teachers and friends, who prompted me. 
1. The dance drama - "save the forest save the world" was performed when I was in grade 4. The original post had Grade 3. 
2. The name of the Barry John directed play was "Indorella". The original post had "Superella". Superella was a character in the play. My teacher, Mrs Simmi Bhatia, and two of my friends - Vandana Puri and Dipti Malhotra, have been kind enough to point it out. Thank you. :) 

Well, the crepe bandage around my knee, and the lactose intolerance is taking a toll on my memory. Thanks for bearing me. 

**Clapping the STS clap**

Dance Drama and Dumbos

14 years in a school. Growing up. Toddlers to young teenage beauties. Learning - everything. Reading, writing, cramming, singing, dancing, acting, enjoying. Yes, I have done it all. Just like you.Out of the many exposures in school life, I loved a few of them. Reading, writing, and dramatics. I never got an opportunity to work on any of these. But you know what your heart says, right?

My first memories of dramatics at school date back to 1988. I was in grade 4. STS organized a dance drama – “save the forest, save the world”. Atleast 200 kids participated in the dance drama. I played the role of a poor and hungry farmer. Mr Pendarkar, our dance teacher, and a few of our teachers, directed the whole 2 hour show. It was performed in the night, under colorful flash lights. The big old beautiful stage (around 400 sqm)  was not enough. Two side stages were erected. The school was white-washed, fresh graffiti was painted on the side walls of the school lawns. The dance drama was a super duper success. My mum had the role to play as well – she was the makeup artist for class 4-A.

The next big thing was “Indorella” – a Barry John dance drama. Year 1992. 6 months of preparation – casting, planning, storyboarding, setting. It used to be a total chaos. Total success. Barry John and his professionalism clearly reflected in the show. Indorella was about women of today. What a women is, and what she can be. Those were the times when the young generation was rising for the gender equality. Due to shortage of space, this show was held at the Air Force Auditorium in Subroto Park, New Delhi.

The senior school stage, where Mahatma Gandhi used to meditate

Year 1995/ 1996 – we celebrated our school’s 60^th birth anniversary – the diamond jubilee. Along with the year long celebrations – scholastic, and others, we also had another Barry John show. God forbid my memory, I do not recall the name of the show. It was against the oppression of poor, and oppression of women, with focus on the eastern part of India. I played the role of a zamindar (maybe my built did not fit me in the female roles). It included recitation of Rabindra Nath Tagore’s verses, amongst other poets. This show was held in our new auditorium. We were so proud of it. It was built for the school’s 60^th birthday, a much needed audi.

Every year, we had Christmas plays. Every year. Christ was born in the artificially created manger. One of the beautiful girls’ used to be the guardian angel. We had the three kings travelling from the east, carrying gifts for little lord Jesus. My participation used to be mandatory, less because I used to act well, more because I was sincere in my practice and attending the sessions.

Along with these events, we had morning special assemblies every Tuesday. Every section got its turn. The class had to take a topic and act+sing+dance+recite in order to get the message forward. It could be “being kind to others”, “respecting elders” etc etc. The assemblies could be based on the festivals as well. For example, if holi was approaching, the theme could be holi, and then enact the whole Holika and Prahlad scene, sing songs and play colors.

If all this was less, our teachers used to set up wonderful show at teacher’s day. I remember, once, our school principal, enacted a madari (the man who runs monkey shows) scene. I decipher the hidden meaning now. ;)

I think I can write a full novel on St Thomas’.

On a different note, in grade 9, (year 1994) Mrs Avinash Kaur Sareen, yes, our very on Avinash Kaur, from DoorDarshan, was my physics teacher. She was a science teacher in St Thomas’. Her spectacles, stern looks, red lipstick lips, top knot, and lovely sarees made her one of the strict teachers of STS.  Not even a single student was spared. For Mrs Sareen, all of us were – DUMBOS. 

This post is dedicated to the A-to-Z blogging challenge - the largest Blog Challenge in the history of Blogkind. My selected theme is "memories of St. Thomas' "- my Alma mater. This is the fourth post of the challenge, and is linked to the letter D - D for Dramatics and Dumbos.

  

Linking this post to UBC too. 

The Canteen Saga

My school, St. Thomas’, has three buildings – Nursery (nursery and kindergarten), junior school (std 1 to std 6) and senior school (std 6 to std 12). Nursery and junior school are in the same compound, in Karol Bagh (New Delhi). The senior school is situated on Mandir Marg (Gol Market, New Delhi). I have spent a good 14 years at STS, therefore I remember all details of these three buildings. Classes, halls, receptions, principal’s room, playgrounds (and the swings), lost property shelves, book stores, sickrooms, corridors, courtyards and ofcourse the canteens.

The Canteen!!

Junior school canteen was like a two sides open verandah, with brick and mortar tables and benches, all in pastel red. It was pretty huge, and had a very strong asbestos roof. After school it used to convert into a parents waiting area. I remember my mom waiting there for me.

Raphael, the junior school canteen owner. I never saw him free. He was always busy, running on his feet. I have no memories of Raphael smiling, or enjoying (except on the Christmas party when he used to get the gift from Santa). I just remember him serving food, collecting money, helping his aids in cooking and cleaning. He used to supply lunch for Nursery and KG children as well. I distinctly remember a few of the menu items for the nursery wing –

• One small samosa with plain potato filling. Only salt within.
• One idli – no chutney, no sambhar
• One slice of musk melon, mango or half a banana
• Juice (I don’t recall what kind of juice, but some drink in colorful plastic glasses used to  be served)

The junior school menu was not so bland. Infact, it was delicious. I don’t think I have even eaten tastier samosas.

• 4 samosas for two rupees, served with the world’s best Raphael recipe chutney. Awesome is an understatement.
• There was idli and dosa, with the best sambhar I have ever eaten.
• I think there was chhole bhature as well, but honestly, I don’t recall anything other than his samosas and idlis. To die for.

The senior school had a beautiful octagonal two floored red brick building. The ground floor was our canteen. It was done in red hues as well. Colorful collages hung on its walls. The furniture had a contemporary feel, octagon tables with colorful lamination printed of graffiti art. (I love my memory). There were two doors which were always open, a main door used as exit, huge, with double glass doors and a single door small entrance. Well, the entry and exit doors were identified by the school cabinet (details in later posts)

Peter, the senior school canteen owner (I smile here), was a man with less words. He was the “owner”, of the canteen, and he had set some rules for the canteen queue and ways of eating in the canteen. The cabinet team was “supposed” to monitor the students follow these rules. Alas!! In the peak hours, there could be double queues. No plates and cold drink bottles go out of the canteen premises. No messing up with sambhar and chhole. If you drop food, clean it before leaving. 

And a lot more. (Now, I doubt the love for my memory). 

Rules, are meant to be broken. And broken without noise. The entry and exit doors were used interchangeably, depending on the comfort. Plates are bottles were never carried out through the doors, the windows came to the rescue. The double queue used to be a planned mishap. Peter tried to introduce token system in the canteen, just to keep it organized. It did work, as far as I remember. 

I can go on and on. Memories, I love thee.

The senior school canteen was 10% food, and 90% non food. A lot of additional side activities could be witnessed in the canteen. (PS: Before your mind starts running, we are talking about a convent school). From pranks, to birthday treats, to dance preparations, song practice, election campaigns: the canteen used to double up as everything that comes to our mind except food at studies. Peter never objected to any of this. He enjoyed with us. Good old Peter, he had trouble in walking, used a walking stick. I hope he feels better now.

Just to add, one rule which was never broken by any of the STSer, neither in the junior canteen nor in the senior canteen, was: keeping away the dirty dishes. This is imbibed as a STS culture, in all of us, all Thomasites. 

This post is dedicated to the A-to-Z blogging challenge - the largest Blog Challenge in the history of Blogkind. My selected theme is "memories of St. Thomas' "- my Alma mater. This is the third post of the challenge, and is linked to the letter C - C for Canteen.

  

Linking this post to UBC too.