THE WONDER YEARS ✍️

I used to enjoy the holidays tremendously when I was a student in school. Used to look forward to the months of April-May every single year. After an endless academic year that just seemed to keep going on and on, I couldn’t wait for the holidays to begin

But then, a few weeks into the holidays, and I remember that I would get very bored. After all, you can only play for that much time. We spent a large part of our holidays playing in the building compound, or in some of our neighbours houses, at that time.

When I was growing up, we survived on 'Fun-Time' on DD Metro, during the holidays. That was all that we had to look forward to, at 12 in the afternoon. Cable TV hadn’t arrived as yet and Computers in India, were still in their infancy stages. 

So, we played and played and played; and very soon we got fed up of it, and actually began to wait for school to begin. Much as the thought of going back to school reminded us of homework and tests and exams, at least it was better than the 'boring holidays', with nothing else to do other than playing.😄

I remember being very excited about the first day of school. Even if my family and I went out of town for the holidays, I would always want to be back, a few days before the re-opening of school, just because I didn’t want to miss that 'first day'. There was something very exciting about Day 1. 

Meeting the friends I hadn’t seen for about 2 months, wondering who our new class teacher and subject teachers would be, covering new books, occasionally a new school bag and water-bottle, going to school with an umbrella and a raincoat, if it was a rainy first day, wondering if there were going to be any new admissions in class; and more importantly, just being back in the place, that was my second home at the time. The place where I really blossomed, from a tiny bud into a sweet smelling flower.😊

Those were the Wonder Years of my life...the days when I was still in school. I enjoyed college a lot more than school (I guess everyone who goes to Xavier’s does); but there was something very memorable and unforgettable about my school days. It was an experience that I treasure in my heart and my memory even today; and I guess I loved it so much, that when the time came to choose, what I would want to do for the rest of my life professionally, I chose to go back to school.

Of course, being a 'Teacher', the experiences I have in school now, are quite different. Besides, while I studied in an all girls school, I now teach in a boys school. 

Despite that fact, there are some things that have remained unchanged. While I anxiously wait for the holidays to come, I’m completely bored by the end of it; and somehow, I just can’t wait to get back. I find myself looking forward to the first day of school with a lot of excitement. 

Now, I wonder about which students will be in my class this year. What activities will I help to organize in school. What methods will I use to make certain lessons and chapters interesting for my students. I still wait to see if there will be some new admissions in my class, etc, etc.😊

Though the world around me has changed a lot, I guess in certain ways, I’ve managed to stay the same. I’ve tried not to let go of the child in me, who laughs aloud when she’s happy and sheds a tear when she’s sad. 

Though I’m the teacher now, it hasn’t managed to stop me from being like a child, on the inside. For me, the best way to stay connected to the children you teach, is to try and hold on to the child in you. 

Yeah, the 'Wonder Years' for me, were a lot of fun; but I’m not so sure, if they’re over as yet!!!🤔✍️