A walk down the school memory lane - Part 2

Picking up fun, happiness,laughter, joy ....after all that is the purpose of a school picnic !

         As I continue to walk along the memory lane of my school, the next stop that meets and greets me is 'Picnic'. A day filled with fun, adventure, freedom and joy, this day meant total enjoyment for each student alike. From studious book worms to notorious pranksters, from shy kids to the outgoing ones, each and everyone waited for this day all year long.

        As soon as the notice for picnic entered our school calenders, the next cycle of events were totally predictable. Seeking permission from parents, requesting them for picnic money, promising to be well behaved and disciplined, agreeing to their prerequisite commands of studies and finally trying to win either mother or father depending on the past records of success rate! At times, even after all these attempts, if things refused to fall in place, playing the final card of  "All the other parents have agreed" or "Teachers have instructed it is compulsory"  was certainly the safest bet.

           With successful outcome of permission and payment of money,began the real fun! Planning, discussing, thinking and waiting, days were spent in picnic mode right since then. The day appeared to be far away as levels of excitement, happiness, eagerness rose to the peak. Though the location of picnic was same for at least a few years in row, complaining or making a sad face was mere formality as it never stopped us from revisiting, all over again. After all it was a day with real friends while being away from the educational ones ! 

               Bus rides till the location were filled with absolute fun in their own way. Singing, talking, shouting, dancing, the hour long ride seemed as short as few minutes,with an eager rush to run and start the day. Frequent instructions to walk together in groups and stay with teachers reached our ears as taste of freedom could spoil our taste buds !

              Rides and games kept us totally engaged as there was so much to do with less time in hand. Exploring all the options to extract maximum fun appeared to be each one’s motto, as everyone hunted for ways to stay entertained. Though teachers had more work than enjoyment while handling a batch of so many kids, their participation and enthusiasm magnified our fun to a great extent. Watching teachers in a different mood was totally exciting as we secretly hoped for its continuity in our classroom as well !

          Definition of picnic and mode of enjoyment transformed with passing years. As little primary kids, it meant swings, slides, running games and tiffin boxes (with picnic menu of potato and bread !),  under the guidance and instructions of teachers. While, as secondary students, it meant roller coasters, adventurous rides and outside food ! Hunting for unique games and searching for fun-filled ideas kept us occupied for days and days before the picnic as novelties brought excitement.

        With a day totally for ourselves, picnic did a lot more besides enjoyment alone.It taught us management of our belongings, time, safety and responsibility while being away from watchful eyes of parents. A day to be with friends, it filled our bags with valuable memories and precious moments. Staying in group, working as a team were some of the other essential things it conveyed us,as enjoyment expects numbers and fun demands crowd ! Looking beyond individualistic needs, it forced us to think as a troop.

      While a typical school day of five hours seemed to stretch forever, a picnic day of around 10 hours appeared to be so short ! Tired legs and sleepy eyes greeted parents as they hopefully waited for their parcel in one single piece ! Stories of picnic and tales of enjoyment colored the conversations for many more days in future, enjoying the fame of being a hot topic at both school and home.

       As I look back at my numerous memories of picnic year after year, I feel amazed at the excellent management by school staff and teachers. Handling so many kids would have been definitely more difficult than the dangerous roller coaster or the tallest adventure ride !

       While it is impossible to relive these past experiences of school picnics all over again, the happiness of picking, collecting and protecting numerous memories offer lots and lots of fun. Though we continue to enjoy picnics even today, they can never match the innocence and energy of school times.

So, do you possess similar memories like me?

Have you picked lots of fun during your school picnics?

How was the experience of permission process with your parents and what was your success rate?

What promises did your kids make, when they wanted to attend a school picnic?

A walk down the school memory lane - Part 1

NOSTALGIC SPOTLIGHT OF SCHOOL ANNUAL FUNCTIONS !                   

   

       Students running around backstage,waiting for their performances; teachers rushing with usual, last-minute preparations; parents sitting in the audience with enthusiasm and joy; Principal and supervisors hoping for a peaceful, flawless show and days of practice looking forward to meet their final outcome  – the sight of a typical school annual function! Be it a school in any town, any city, any state or any country, this yearly dose of annual gathering is certainly one of the most awaited events of the academic life.

        As a platform to showcase talents, feature skills, display novelty and demonstrate team spirit, these annual functions are an excellent opportunity for every student. Solo and group dances or songs, plays, speeches, debates and novel acts find an eager audience,as the stage welcomes performers year after year.

       With shops displaying ‘Back to school’ products for sale and schools reopening after summer vacation in this end of the globe, I was tempted to walk down this memory lane and remember interesting facets of my school life. Annual shows undoubtedly played an important role in this colorful phase of school journey. Waiting for annual function notices right from the start of the academic calendar and hoping for interesting roles to participate became part of our schedule as increasing level of classes offered exciting, unique opportunities.

        As our annual show was conducted at a location far away from school, the to and fro bus rides were totally memorable. Confusion, noise, fun, laughter, talks dominated this experience as teachers worked really hard to keep us under control ! Energetic happy faces in the morning while totally tired ones in the evening marked the entire day as there was so much to do during this much awaited event.

        Though this function lasted for a single day, its preparation, practice, arrangements and discussions demanded months and months of time. As an excellent opportunity to be away from classroom and skip loads of homework, memories of running away for practice, brighten up my face even today!  Hoping that the teachers select me and my friends for interesting songs to dance on, wishing to bag exciting role in plays and praying to be away from speeches were the flow of events almost every year. Memorizing long speeches and playing around with words formed a compulsory activity for me as every function caught me with talks and more talks!

            Another colorful memory of the annual function consisted of final dress rehearsals. With different styles of costumes, accessories and proms; commenting, complimenting and teasing each other brought in great fun and joy. Besides an opportunity to develop ourselves in extra-curricular domain, these functions helped us interact with students from different divisions and grades. 

             

            Making new friends ,learning from their experiences and marching towards perfection taught us a lot during such activities as books and courses alone cannot fulfill every single requirement. Facing an audience, performing on stage, practicing with determination, dedication and focusing with confidence were some of the lessons that we learnt as we enjoyed the spotlight.

  

           Though the outcome of these functions meant an excellent show on stage, it could never proceed without the hard work and motivation of teachers. Besides handling the curriculum, when they spent time teaching, polishing and rehearsing us with different acts, it meant innumerable efforts. Contribution of parents can never be expressed in words, encouraging, inspiring and being with their kids, they would eagerly wait to be active spectators. Taking time off from office, when dad attended my functions or apart from handling her schedule, when mom visited the school with numerous extra tiffins for rehearsals ,their participation was undoubtedly more than mine.

  

        Prize distribution session during an annual show was the other most awaited activity. Though prize winners of different competitions were known beforehand, the entire experience of walking proudly while receiving a certificate and posing for a photograph spelled out great fun.

      Annual shows truly resembled family functions as they involved each and every member of the school. From students to teachers to administrative staff to house keeping team, it made sure to keep everyone occupied. Though roles and responsibilities varied, the end product offered same portions of happiness.

        From eagerness of participation to tiredness due to endless rehearsals, from fun at the final day to sadness at the final end, this schedule repeated in the same manner year after year. Though the flow of activities or stage to perform remained same throughout our school life, what changed were the increasing levels of seniority. While as primary school students, we followed every act taught by teachers, senior classes offered us the chance to plan, organize and set up events by ourselves.

           Truly a learning experience by all means, these functions completed our all-round development. As I look at our annual show photographs, the memories fall as refreshing rains. An important event in every academic life, this yearly spotlight does make one famous, confident and happy.

    So, what are your memories of school annual functions? Were you a dancer, singer, orator, actor or part of the audience to clap, smile and enjoy? 

Is it half century, already?

       What started off as an idea to pen down thoughts, soon turned into a form of enjoyment as writing posts, hunting topics, designing titles and exploring options brought me into the world of blogging.Churning out novel ideas, while polishing them with a personal touch,started to shape these blogs as regular doses of happiness, excitement, enthusiasm and fun offered their services! While coordination between mind, fingers and laptop worked to accomplish this job, each of the writing experiences have been truly wonderful by all means.

       Though, the thought of writing a blog had been running down in my mind for a long time, motivation and inspiration from a dear friend turned into a much-needed final push! Memory of the first blog dates back to a chilly winter evening, when snow chose to be our only companion, grounding us within the walls of our house. From then, started an endless journey as relocation, trips, daily experiences, past memories added text and images to the matter!

          Feedback from readers is the only fuel that can power any blog. As I started to share this blog and connect with people - comments, experiences, observations and discussions from the readers added a wonderful, unique shade to this activity. Be it prompt feedback from grandparents or motivational words of parents, be it appreciation from relatives or encouraging comments from friends, be it inspiration from teachers or fun-filled words from students, be it suggestions from readers or acknowledgement from blog visitors, each and every connection formed a precious treasure.

            Eagerly waiting for a comment from my husband or pushing him till he finally gives one and receiving feedback from my elder sister though her little one keeps her totally occupied in the new, tough job are some of the interesting participants of my blog. Though the post on this newest addition to our family was filled with fun and joy, I cannot wait for the day when he reads it himself !

            Library, coffee shops, clubhouse, table by the swimming pool (housing this particular post!) besides home sweet home, have been some of the interesting locations that offered an excellent ambiance for the flow of words. Wandering around for ideas and thinking about its outcome, before finally narrowing down to the topics that receive a green signal from the editor in head are some of the events preceding every single post.

Cheesecakes to celebrate !

           While playing with words and exploring its scope, an opportunity to contribute articles for a website as one of the authors was indeed a fantastic stage for this literary adventure. Getting an advantage of being a part of a huge,bloggers community, besides being picked as one of the best for a post, have been the certifying factors to bring this blog on a long way so far.

          This blogging experience has certainly taught me a lot more than just writing. While motivating me to expand my vocabulary and read different genres of material, it has made me understand the significance of ‘point of view’. While each of us take a different stand about various aspects in life, blogging strengthened my belief that the sight of world totally depends on the type of lenses we put on! Though some aspects can be firmly classified as either right or wrong , many factors are influenced by our version of understanding, faith and belief. It also gave me an opportunity to explore various social networking platforms as the means to connect and share.

          Since far away from home, blogging has proved to be a wonderful means to share my experiences and adventures in a foreign land. As a closet to hold all my memories, these blogposts will definitely drive me down the memory land when I read them after years and years in the future.  While writing about past memories of childhood, it gives me free rides to the port of nostalgia!

       Though each of these posts have been close to my heart, writing them took me to different levels of happiness. Blogging about trips, picnics and adventures brought back all the fun, blogs about daily, routine experiences and objects threw light on their role in life, while blogs about people and relations gave an emotional touch to it.

        Thinking, writing, rethinking and rewriting, this blog has reached its 50^th post in the series. While many ideas are waiting in the pipeline, hope to continue this experience and adventure for many more days to come. A heartfelt gratitude to each of you readers, this blog could never have reached the half-century mark without your love, patience, support, guidance, feedback and wishes.

          Hope to be showered with your comments and suggestions in the future while looking forward to this journey ahead.

          As a feedback exercise, will love to hear from all of you,

1.       Which blog post did you enjoy the most?

2.       Which blog post could have been better than it was?

3.       Suggestions of new ideas and modifications to the posts.

Happy reading!

 

A long way ahead ! 

       

Expressing gratitude to teachers; celebrating presence of friends - two special occasions over the weekend!

          

        

          Though ‘start to a weekend’ or ‘the weekend itself’ is nothing less than a celebration,having special reasons on these days amplify the happiness and joy to a great extent. Last weekend brought in two such occasions – an occasion to thank our teachers for their lessons, guidance and values on ‘Guru pournima’ and a day to thank our friends for their love, support and fun as ‘Friendship’s day’. A day dedicated to all our friends, it welcomes this month with lots of joy,as the first Sunday of August is marked exclusively for these fantastic folks.

            While discussions regarding the need of such dedicated days take rounds quite often, the fun of getting united and remembering our people do offer a lot of wonderful moments. An opportunity to express gratitude, relive memories and celebrate their presence is simply amazing and totally worth it.

         Though ‘Guru pournima’ inspires us to remember our teachers, it is an occasion to thank all the ‘gurus’ in our life. From our parents, grandparents, siblings, school teachers, college professors, friends, office colleagues and neighbors, every person entering our life gifts us a valuable lesson. Small children also teach us many aspects in life;the videos of my 3-month old nephew motivate me to never give up, as his innocence and hard work keep him glued to every single task at hand!

        Our parents are undoubtedly the first ‘gurus’ as they sow the seeds of morals, principles and good deeds in us. With patience, dedication and great care, school teachers take us through the path of education. Besides curriculum, they impart lessons of honesty, trust, care and share as they prepare us for a bright future. Teachers in college train us for the professional phase of our education as we step ahead to face the world. Each of them touch our life in a wonderful way, as nothing can replace their determination and focus. With a single aim of bringing out the best in their students, the success and growth of an entire class says it all.

          As we progress ahead in life, we may move further away from our teachers, but being the first step of our ladder, they form the foundation of life. Ascent towards growth is impossible without the initial base that starts it all. Grateful towards each of my school and college teachers, their role in the journey has been phenomenal.

        Though my stint as a teacher lasted for a short while, being remembered by students on this day felt special in every way!

        While leading their disciples towards knowledge, success and prosperity, our ‘gurus’ truly enlighten, inspire and motivate us to live. Though one day of ‘Guru pournima’ or ‘Teacher’s day’ in September cannot accommodate their year-long greatness, it gives us an opportunity to think, talk and tell!

             Soon after, a day full of happiness, fun,enjoyment knocked into our lives as friends asked for all the attention, love and care! Greatest support ever, having friends to laugh, smile, fight, argue, play, plan and rejoice makes life colorful and attractive.

        As a family that we choose by ourselves, friends influence every single factor of life. From play group friends who share our tears of being far away from home to school friends who make school life interesting, from building friends who play with us to college friends who dream with us, every single friend is a valuable asset.

         The beauty of friendship is that it keeps growing! As we make new friends at every phase while being away from the old ones, the count only increases ,never replaces! With passing time, meeting our friends may escape from our schedule quite often, but the trust and bond that hold us never demand a thing. Friendship flourishes with honesty, care, love and selflessness that keeps it alive forever. The ability to reconnect with our friends even after years and years of being away does the job of a powerful cement!

      Though the fun of friendship bands and markers that we all enjoyed in school and college has now been replaced with messages and calls, the love and support of friends shall always remain the same. Totally blessed to have such wonderful friends in my life, their appreciation and criticism keeps me well balanced and well behaved!

          This celebration dedicated to our ‘Gurus’ and friends truly bring us close to the colors

of our life.With a hope that they continue to inspire and support us in our journey, we totally need them as our fellow passengers!

          What do these two special days mean to you? How do you express gratitude to your teachers and celebrate presence of your friends!