Writing about school has always been on mind ever since I left St. Thomas (only physically, a part of my heart still lives there). Never tried writing though because I could never comprehend that I will be able to sum everything up in a piece of writing. But since these are Kalyani Ma’am’s orders, only a fool will attempt to disobey.
My journey with St. Thomas began with U.K.G in the year 1993. Fr. Pareira was the school principal then. Fr. Pareira was actually the reason my mother got me admitted here. She still shares this incident about how she got impressed when on a rainy day on her way back home, she saw Fr. Pareira making way for the students by arranging bricks himself outside the school gate. That’s when she decided that it was just the right place for her daughter. Thank God (mom) for this!
My first teachers were the likes of Ms. Asha Wilson and Mrs. Rosy John. I am sure Asha Miss will laugh when she reads this, but I used to be really scared of her. She taught us everything from English, Hindi to even PT. Talking of Mrs. John, I recently got in touch with her again through facebook and it gave me immense pleasure to know that she remembered me. She has been my favourite teacher ever.
Later we kept being promoted class by class and more good people kept creeping into our lives. I still remember those sticks of Mathew Sir when we mistakes while marching past. Also the inter school athletic meets and debates, where we made sure that we go for participation only in our lucky jeep. From being nervous during the English message reading in the morning assembly to winning debates, from getting less marks to getting more marks, from fearing our teachers in the childhood to developing a bond with them by the time we grew up, from Fr. Pareira to Fr. Alex to Fr. Charles and finally to Fr. Richard, from EVS to PCB, from thinking of excuses of not going to school to not wanting to miss even a single day with teachers and friends, it has been such a memorable journey.
Most of the things my school has given me is going to be a part of me till I live. I have been extremely lucky and owe whatever little English and Hindi speaking skills I have, my confidence, my ability to respect and value people, a large part of my personality, and a lot more things to my school. Not only this, it has given me the best of my people, my friends for life. We are lucky that most of us live in the same city and no meeting of ours ends without mentioning something that has to do with St. Thomas. The highlights are Kalyani Miss’ thrashing on forgetting ‘hindi me bindi’ and Mrs. Shukla’s on grammatical mistake of 'his husband, her wife' (not grammatically incorrect anymore though:-)), or Mrs. Goel’s observer’s eye, or Fr. Richard’s ‘Have I told you this story before..’, or Gauri Shankar Sir’s ‘Bete..aap mere favourite student ho’. I can go on and on about it.
If given a chance I would want to relive the moments when I used to get late for school assembly and had to stand outside during the prayer. I want to shout again when the bell strikes for games period. I want to wait to go to school on my birthday morning in a casual dress and choose one best friend to distribute candies with. I want to win a competition for my house for those 15 points or my school just to earn a pat on the back from my teachers. I want to captain my St. Xavier House again and lead the so called 'boat shaped' bunch with that yellow flag. I want to be happy seeing hydrogen burning with a pop sound in the chemistry lab. I want to skip a heart beat when my roll number is called out for computer viva. I want to go to the office and share a joke or two with Meenakshi Miss just before reciting the after-lunch prayer on the mike. Remember "my lord and my god, I praise and worship you because.."?
I can actually go on and on about it, but I am sure there must be a space constraint in the magazine. Before signing off I must say that more often than not, humble beginnings lead to extraordinary journeys. I am extremely grateful to my school and my teachers for giving me just the right beginning. I hope I can carry the values imparted by you through my journey and become enough a human being to be worthy of all good times I have seen with all of you.
Sincere Thanks.
Devanshi
11/11/11
My journey with St. Thomas began with U.K.G in the year 1993. Fr. Pareira was the school principal then. Fr. Pareira was actually the reason my mother got me admitted here. She still shares this incident about how she got impressed when on a rainy day on her way back home, she saw Fr. Pareira making way for the students by arranging bricks himself outside the school gate. That’s when she decided that it was just the right place for her daughter. Thank God (mom) for this!
My first teachers were the likes of Ms. Asha Wilson and Mrs. Rosy John. I am sure Asha Miss will laugh when she reads this, but I used to be really scared of her. She taught us everything from English, Hindi to even PT. Talking of Mrs. John, I recently got in touch with her again through facebook and it gave me immense pleasure to know that she remembered me. She has been my favourite teacher ever.
Later we kept being promoted class by class and more good people kept creeping into our lives. I still remember those sticks of Mathew Sir when we mistakes while marching past. Also the inter school athletic meets and debates, where we made sure that we go for participation only in our lucky jeep. From being nervous during the English message reading in the morning assembly to winning debates, from getting less marks to getting more marks, from fearing our teachers in the childhood to developing a bond with them by the time we grew up, from Fr. Pareira to Fr. Alex to Fr. Charles and finally to Fr. Richard, from EVS to PCB, from thinking of excuses of not going to school to not wanting to miss even a single day with teachers and friends, it has been such a memorable journey.
Most of the things my school has given me is going to be a part of me till I live. I have been extremely lucky and owe whatever little English and Hindi speaking skills I have, my confidence, my ability to respect and value people, a large part of my personality, and a lot more things to my school. Not only this, it has given me the best of my people, my friends for life. We are lucky that most of us live in the same city and no meeting of ours ends without mentioning something that has to do with St. Thomas. The highlights are Kalyani Miss’ thrashing on forgetting ‘hindi me bindi’ and Mrs. Shukla’s on grammatical mistake of 'his husband, her wife' (not grammatically incorrect anymore though:-)), or Mrs. Goel’s observer’s eye, or Fr. Richard’s ‘Have I told you this story before..’, or Gauri Shankar Sir’s ‘Bete..aap mere favourite student ho’. I can go on and on about it.
If given a chance I would want to relive the moments when I used to get late for school assembly and had to stand outside during the prayer. I want to shout again when the bell strikes for games period. I want to wait to go to school on my birthday morning in a casual dress and choose one best friend to distribute candies with. I want to win a competition for my house for those 15 points or my school just to earn a pat on the back from my teachers. I want to captain my St. Xavier House again and lead the so called 'boat shaped' bunch with that yellow flag. I want to be happy seeing hydrogen burning with a pop sound in the chemistry lab. I want to skip a heart beat when my roll number is called out for computer viva. I want to go to the office and share a joke or two with Meenakshi Miss just before reciting the after-lunch prayer on the mike. Remember "my lord and my god, I praise and worship you because.."?
I can actually go on and on about it, but I am sure there must be a space constraint in the magazine. Before signing off I must say that more often than not, humble beginnings lead to extraordinary journeys. I am extremely grateful to my school and my teachers for giving me just the right beginning. I hope I can carry the values imparted by you through my journey and become enough a human being to be worthy of all good times I have seen with all of you.
Sincere Thanks.
Devanshi
11/11/11
