Happiness and pleasure in simple things - Chinmayee Sahu

Those golden memories of my school days in D M school, when I try to remember, I muse over countless episodes of the treasured memories.

Everyday, I would saunter, hop onto the broken wired fences, cross the vast stretch of field and enter the Assembly area from the backyard, greet my friends with a wide smile. If you’ll all remember, greeting your friends with a “hi” back then was a new trendsetter and everyone found it fashionable enough to emulate it. Madhulita, Dharitri ...and me would stare at every other girl who came from the corridor, watching intently to find their lips shaping a perfunctory “hi” that would amuse us time after time and the three of would fall into fits of laughter. Our giggles and incessant gossip would come to an end when the khaki clad peon, Bankim would strike the heavy metalled plate hung near the drinking water tank, with a huge hammer. Our revered headmaster dressed in crisp white khadi with a heavy key bunch clattering in his right hand would soon appear in quick rapid steps and suddenly the noisy chatter would die down for the National Anthem to be sung.

I relished those moments when during the break time we girls would rush to the college building on the other side to play ‘help sister’ in the big open area near the auditorium hall. We would scream, laugh out loud and create so many rackets that one day the college authorities sent in a complaint about all the disturbances and eventually we were forbidden from playing there. 

Games periods were full on masti time except for the interludes of the commonly detested drill sessions. The mood would be very passionate and fervent during the Kabaddi matches, refereed by Taru madam with her characteristic whistle set in her lips. I still remember that victorious moment during a match, when I managed to grab Kamakshi’s leg and then our team dragged her to our side, she struggled and wrestled but could not reach the dividing line.... and she was out. She did not talk with me the whole day!

Karamanga trees in the school premises hold such priceless memories for me. Wonderful hours were spent walking with friends in the small Karamanga garden and savouring the khatta-mittha juicy fruit. God only knows how many!

Those were the days when we found happiness and pleasure in simple things. We have had such a wonderful time in the school.

I had been to the school in 2012 as an invigilator for the 10th Board Exam. As I walked through the corridor where the National Anthem is still sung, I reminisced those charming memories of school days and it was a bittersweet moment for those were the days of past and would never return.