SCHOOLING

As a pupil of South Point Montessori School, I remember we didn't have to carry much load. The Classwork copy books were kept in the school only. I am not sure if there was any homework either. I used to return home with a friend of mine in a richshaw. One day we betted who could jump of the moving rickshaw. My friend volunteered but when the time came his courage left him. So I dived into a smaill yard. But to my surprise the rickshaw didn't stop. I reached home with brusies all over. When asked I was frink enough to admit. On another occasion the rickshaw didn't care to wait for me. I smartly went up to the rickshaw stand got hold of a rickshaw and moved. On the way I asked him to stop near the lane near our house and ran home without paying as I din't have money. I was afraid to the rickshaw home and ask for money. I was reprimanded for this action. On one occasion when I was in Class II, during a sports programme a classmate of ours went and complained of having been beaten up by the fellow classmates. One of the administrators - my maternal aunt's husband picked cricket stumps and beat us up for no fault of ours. The school belonged to my aunt. I ran to my mom who used to teach there, but my uncle refused to talk to her. As my father met him he misbeaved badly and I was taken out of the school. Then I joined Bengali Girl's High School, which accomodated boys upto class VI. This was a vernacular medium school. I had to really toil hard adjust within six months and pass. In that school there was a big boy in our class who was the class captain. He used to have a wooden rod to discipline the students. He beat me up also once and apologized later for his mistake. he blamed his weak eye for that. My father joined Ramakrishna Mission High School, Cherrapunji as a teacher. I joined that school in Class III. That was the lowest Class. When we reached Cherrapunji we found my dad playing Table-Tennis with his colleagues in one of the rooms.