Adiós maestras

Namaste everyone!

It feels great seeing all the "akkas" (that's the way teachers are addressed at TVSA) together after almost a month and a half. And friends, though we keep seeing each other and having fun every other day, its always a pleasure to be midst you. Well, today the roles have been reversed. For a change the akkas are listening to me and I am here facing everyone. This doesn't happen very often and so, let me tell you something interesting. (Smiles)

TVS Academy, Hosur
Photo courtesy : Vidya akka

It was June 2010 when I was formally inducted in the 11^th Grade of our school. The 10 years before that, all of our school education had fun and studies in equal proportion but the two years after that, I knew that school life would be more purposeful and focused. For a change, all extra and co-curricular activities had to take a back seat and studies would eat up a major portion of time, both at school and home. Though the change was for our own good, we seldom realize that fact then. We've all heard such phrases, “Crucial Point of life”, “Career-defining point”, “Turning point of life” so many times over the past year and a half that they have become more monotonous than the cliches of our English books. (Smiles)

With all the peer pressure and sweet distractions mounting high on our backs, we somehow did pull ourselves through. The journey wasn't a bed of roses neither was it an epic struggle. Let me just say that there were some tough times which were complemented by some happy ones, which made it al the more special!

During this journey, we almost spent 6-8 hours a day with you. Its another story if we listened to you or not. 'Physically present, but mentally absent' was the usual trend most of the times. Despite all the pranks we were up to and the troubles we got into, we always had you to scold us, support us and finally get us out of the trouble-spot. Well, its just sad to realize that from now on we are on our own. Not entirely though. If need may come, I'm sure you'll lend a helping hand to whoever asks for it. Its really been a pleasure getting tutored, not only about academics but also about the more important lessons of life from all of you. "Thank you" is too small a word to express our gratitude. 

Now to my friends, I would like to dedicate this quote by George Elliot.

"Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love." 

We may have fought over petty things, had our share of misunderstandings and ego issues, but out there in the huge world there's one bond that unites all of us and that is "TVS Academy". On the contrary, we could have made our best friends here, grown fond of one-another and who knows? May have even found the love of our lives too ! These bonds are those which make memories and memories make up a lifetime. I do hope that, we will surely be rewarded for whatever effort we have put in. And almost every one of us will be relieved that the all important exams have ended, or in my words, “The Tornado has subsided!” From now on, we may take up different paths or may end up in the same college & in the same hostel room. Either ways, one thing is more or less sure – Life will be way different from the school life we've been having for the past 14 years.

Farewell !

On a concluding note, to all my friends I say this – “There are means, other than Facebook and Twitter to keep in touch” (which is meeting, personally )  and to all my Akkas here, “I will always remain Yours Obediently ..!” (inspired by the many leave letters written).

WE PART, ONLY TO MEET AGAIN . . . 

Namaste!

Author's note: Now that you've read this you might be wondering this. I had written this down for the farewell party of my 12th Grade ( Pre-University). Well, I wasn't able to make it on that day. Reliving it here ! 

More Pain, Mightier Gain ...

More Pain, Mightier Gain…

Mickey with his Bandages !

To help a person in need is believed to be the noblest deed that a person can perform in his/her life time .The tendency to help a person is inborn for a few while the others inculcate it by way of experience. 

To substantiate, a twelve-year-old boy was traveling in a bus back home. This boy was enlivened by the fact that the bus he boarded was a new of its kind and something novel to him. His fascination and amusement made him forget to enquire if the bus he boarded would stop at his destination, despite the bus running on the same route. His journey was pretty uneventful. He gazed at things outside the bus. He got ready to alight from the bus as his destination approached. 

To his surprise, it did not show any signs of slowing down! Soon the bus over-shot his destination. The boy felt his stomach tingling in fright. In his bewildered state, he didn’t know how to act. With anxiety and confusion clouding his mind, he jumped out of the bus! 

Newton's law of Inertia sure came true.

Flying out, he  landed on the pavement with a thud, in one piece, but badly injured. His knees were profusely bleeding, his elbows bore scratches all over and there were mild bruises on his forehead. As can be imagined, people soon gathered around him in no time. They started to watch like something very entertaining was taking place. The boy was groaning in pain - still in a trance, unsure of what just had happened. That’s when he felt a gentle pat on his back. 

There stood two school going kids who were about the same age as he. Well you know what they say, "Help always comes in its own attire- leaving behind in our thoughts a lesson, a memory, an inspiration, worthy of a lifetime."  The kids, unlike others, washed his bleeding wounds. They then bound his knees with their kerchiefs. The "audience" looked on. Were they touched? Were they moved? What were they thinking and feeling? Did this act of the kids' make the encircled crowd ashamed that they never volunteered to help that kid, but rather whiled their time watching the kid groan in agony? Yes, it did. Realization struck the minds of people; soon they took the boy to the hospital.

The lucky boy was I. Yes, lucky. Though I got physically weak, my heart grew larger and mind- stronger. This incident also embarked an unforgettable scar in my heart. I felt sorry for that innocent crowd who couldn’t understand that their help, however trivial would have been a great deed. Getting hurt and lying there without any first-aid or help, I had felt dejected and isolated though surrounded by many. A very insignificant issue maybe, yet, it taught me a valuable lesson in life. The spark in me was ignited then. That’s when I realized that helping others never went out of fashion, it was just that everyone is so caught up with their own lives that they have forgotten to look around themselves. 

The most beautiful things in life cannot be bought, sensed, seen or touched - they must be felt with the heart. Those kids will stay etched in my heart forever. The dictionary does give the meaning of the word "help", but I owe my gratitude to those kids who made me truly understand it. "Vague is the pain I then experienced, but overwhelming is the inspiration that rose from it." This inspiration is what keeps me going each day. As time passed by I became aware that there were many people who were in desperate need of help, hence I resolved that I would not be ignorant to those who seek my help. 

Kids are the world's best gifts !

I also inferred from my helping experience that --

“Life is not how happy we are with ourselves, but how much happiness we can create among others”. 

It has given me the power to help and regard everyone as an individual for who they are and not for what they do. I feel proud to say, I learnt the lesson of a lifetime, and never forgot it. It has made me stronger and more sensitive. 

Thank you kids, "audience", and yeah - the novel bus I got into!