Holding on to the best days of my life ...

I have only foggy memories of school. Mixed reminisces, most of which I cannot even call my own. However, I often muse over the fact that I never wanted to bunk school, not even on sick days when my dad threatened to call the headmaster, if I did not relent.  

For some reason, it always felt like one big family. N Mishra Sir would often remark, “Mayurbhanj ra Adivasi pila guda bhala padhuchanti ta!” Often times, I reveled in past glory, for my brothers were the real “good” students. One time Kameswar Rao Sir caught me red-handed – and my mom’s laborious pleas to my brother to do my homework was wasted! “This is your brother’s writing. Don’t repeat this act!” Little did anyone know that my brother often had to write down debate points for my so-called ‘extempores’.

Our class boys were so funny, every day was a unique experience with newer pranks and newer adventures in DMS and RCE combined campus. Biswajita and I were a bonded pair, though every girl from A/B/C felt like a BFF those days. Biswajita’s charm and style was something I forever tried hard to emulate. I remember feeling very proud knowing her sister in law from US personally when she visited our school. With Rajesh Srivastava, I had a special bond even though I so wished that for once Hanan Sir would give the boys low marks in HPER, so that I could spring ahead in the total tally. Rajesh never ever had the shyness that is so common at that age.

Over the years, as I disconnected from Bhubaneswar, I had some flashing memories of ~

• Shailaja’s great memorizing skills and Sipra’s perfect English and Geography
• Sid Sahu’s flowing proses and Jayant’s melodious voice
• Rajesh Chintak’s cool demeanor and Tridib’s command over his now-famous ‘gang’
• Sandeep’s red shirt and Tariq’s style
• Geeta's crisp uniforms and Sankalpa's quintessential Bengali ways

While my nights were often somber and interjected with spurts of pain my mom felt, my days at school were so bright and cheerful that they more than made up for everything. The school bus trips were in particular, very pleasant, and almost erased the weariness stemming from lack of proper sleep.