Back to School 🏫 -Part 1

Feb 2017


A Good Sit



It was only the third time in 31 years that I had walked the halls of my school...a place I remember as my own since I joined in grade 4 - where I realized the joy of having friends and the value of learning; from whose tall walls, on which hung portraits of pioneers of the time, the power of legacy and the strength that comes only from doing hard and honorable work; through whose dedicated teachers, the art of walking that almost invisible line that lay between instruction and inspiration, and within whose flexible confines, the facility to articulate the meaning and power of small freedoms.


Surely, the grand corridors needed upkeep and those tall walls a fresh coat of paint and some putty, but those were easy to ignore. The warmth with which I was received by the office staff, and the stars they carried in their eyes as they made conversation with an Old student who came back to visit just like that, was simply overwhelming. It had the same unrelenting quality of kind comfort that my purple tunic-clad self felt through her seven years at Keyes. Jayasree madam walked me through the mechanics of how the administration is doing its best to keep up with changing times, and Archana Salvi madam brought me up to speed on the use of technology. What was more, I got to meet the stars, the kids of today, whose talents and energies continue to make Keyes High School proud! I had the honor of meeting the quiet, gifted, Safa Manal who had just won first place in the twin cities math competition, and Suchitra, the school Head Girl with a ready smile, who seemed like the leader the rest of the gang loved. From what I could tell, everyone seemed super happy to meet me too and that just made my day!


As I walked out of the library/office in my red saree which made for quite a contrast to purple, I found myself quietly answering questions that seemed to be coming from so many intent young eyes...no sooner did I pass the assembly hall on my right, did one girl ask if I was a new teacher. 'I wish' , I heaved a mumbling sigh as a fleeting rumination on the career of my dreams caught me off-guard. 10 seconds later I was glad my thoughts crossed paths with my destination, 10 D. I left my disappointment outside the door of course, and walked into a sea of smiles. There was that irresistible quality of kind comfort again....I chatted with my next gen counterparts for quite some time about this and that. Only a few seconds in and I realized they shared the same sentiments about exam time as me! I always wondered if anything about exams was ever fun and suddenly I felt right at home. I had company! We never knew what the outcome of our ignorant minds paying homage to education would be or if there would any at all, but the thought of straying seemed far more scary. So, it was just something we attempted in all sincerity and got over with.. Thank God for opportunities and experience, and motherhood, I now know better than to shortchange the value of measurement.
That picture of me in the classroom that I have had for sometime on my timeline made many smile because it stirred up their memories and brought random incidents and unmeditated feelings to surface - stuff that made them hungry for a throwback to a time where they could enjoy a Good Sit in those worn out desks, peer over to sneak a joke or two during class, and just make a few more memories, wishing school days had dragged on a little bit longer and we never grew out of our school uniforms ...


"HAPPY is when you have a good sit in the chair against the cupboard in the last bench in class 10 D at Keyes High School chatting with a bunch of 15-year olds.....Life is Good when a walk down memory lane does not seem like it was 31 years ago! "


To be contd. in Part 2...

On Driving safely....

From Sravanthi Vallampati's desk:

I can't say that I did not wake up with a heavy heart this morning but what's making me write this note is more than just that. As I pondered over the loss of a dear friend whose impact on me and the community is most uncommon, my thoughts went out to her family and those whose lives she has touched and the terrible unexpectedness of the tragedy that took her life. Racing images of icy highways, treacherous driving conditions and screeching tires inevitably ended in a heavy intolerable sigh and a slight frown carved itself onto my brow as I scrambled through early hours of today.
Finishing the last of my coffee, I looked out of the window. It was a bright beautiful morning that seemed to hold nothing but promise of a great start to the weekend. I laced up my boots and ventured out. Standing at the foot of the garage, I took a few deep breaths until I was able to trace the path of the crisp, cold air as it somewhat loosened the pangs of sadness in my guts. Sunlight danced on the icy twigs on my flowering Crabapple tree and I mused for a few moments over whether my hardy Mums and rambler Roses had it in them to withstand the cruelty of this prolonged winter to bounce back and bloom for me, before jumping into my car to make it into work. Pulling out of my garage, I heard the snow crack under me as I put the gear in reverse. The temperature gauge read 28*F. In exactly 3 minutes a steady drop took it to -5*F. It was the coldest day (yet) of the season. My gloved grip involuntarily tightened on the steering wheel as tidings of 'driving gone wrong' from the early morning news still lingered in my mind. School buses were nowhere to be seen on the local roads but familiar frequency of the usual workforce driving past helped me settle down after the initial nervousness. I approached the merge to I-271N at Broadway. The traffic was slow. Nothing out of the ordinary, I said to myself. I turned the radio on to 107.3 FM and stayed in the center lane at 5 mph. It was not until I hit Rockside road that I saw unfolding in front of my eyes, the reason for the delay. It was not a sudden commitment to cautious driving or the slow moving liquid deicer trucks nor was it road construction. The scene I witnessed could pass for a movie set but there were no cameras. Ambulance and police car lights penetrated the morning glare as onlookers gazed and some impacted drivers still in their seats, looked like they were wondering if they could ever extricate themselves out of this mess. My heart skipped a few beats as I thought about some drivers that were not at the scene at all. Within a miles' span were 4 accidents. In whichever way I tried, I could not arrive at any pattern to explain why or how these automobiles could be stationed across mounds of snow, perched on top of steel barricades and on one another, and rammed nose-down into highway dividers. Were they going North or South when this happened?

I wasn't sure if I was shocked, sad or angry as I passed but I guess this reflection is a manifestation of a combination of those emotions and more. I could go on a few pages about the importance of safety and the code of responsibility, individual and institutional, and rattle off a million statistics exposed by road crash data systems but that is not my intent. While we all know that it is in our best interest to be safe drivers we let the consciousness slip once in a while and are too quick to dismiss our part in making the world a safer place for ourselves, those that wait for us to come home as well as for those that have others waiting for them.
How accidents happen is subject to endless interpretation. Speed, bad roads, ice, lack of sleep, stress, race against time, deer, alcohol, sun glare, reckless driving etc. etc. Whatever the reason, it is a loss of some sort, loss that is sometimes irreparable. Of property, money, time and most important of all, Life! It is on days like this that I am reminded of how unpredictable our lives are and how very fundamental it is for all of us to be thankful for the goodness that surrounds us and to realize and value such a blessing. Until such time as every car on the highway is an 'uncrashable car', I hope that you will think twice before you step on gas just that bit more, reach out to take that phone call or get distracted by that teasing poster. Sure there parameters that are totally out of our realm of control, but there is no question that by taking responsibility for our conduct on the road we can mitigate our position of vulnerability just that much more. To conclude, I pray that we think of the value of our life as well as that of others when we are out on those highways, and that my mornings bring me back the sweet simplicity where I can just stand at the foot of my garage once more, breathe-in the cold air and muse over the hardiness of my flowers with nothing else on my mind.