Oranges

[I had originally posted this some time during Feb 2007 in my class website (glassroom) under the tag introspection. The server crash there had wiped out this along with so many other articles. But today I stumbled upon an off-line copy of this in my hard disk. So I'm reposting it here.]

Christ Nagar School, my second home during upper primary and high school education, was celebrating her annual day on Feb 9, 2007. It was hard to resist when the present vice-principal, Thomas Mani Sir invited me that afternoon to come to the function in the evening. When I came to know that Vimal was also going to be there, I had no second thoughts in going there.

After the PTA executive meeting at college, in which I somehow managed to stay awake, there was still about an hour left before the function. So I went to Museum compound, made two rounds of brisk walking and then retired to one of the garden chairs. I had timed the second round in my stopwatch and noticed that I could complete one round (which by the way is said to be 700 meters) in 6 minutes 28 seconds, and made a quick mental calculation to satisfy myself that I'm keeping over the 6 kmph mark (100 meters per minute).

While on the chair I was wondering looking at the pigeons there - "I know the mechanics behind how these birds fly, but do I know how they manage to get that forward thrust along with the lift?" Hm, may be it is the shaping of the wings, but I was wondering more on why I did not wonder about this anytime till now.

When I knew Vimal was going to be late, I washed my face at the museum canteen and proceeded to drive to Christ Nagar. After parking my zen on the road, I walked down the lane past the imposing and unforgettable crescent shaped school building and to the ground where the function was happening. The function had already begun and most of the plastic chairs were already claimed. I was infact happy to find the gallery seats vacant, and promptly claimed one.

Watching the kids from there was thought provoking. The small ones, the big ones, the volunteers, the trouble makers, the crisis managers ... How do they all grow up so differently in the same school?

Then I met Rajani and her friends, then Biju Sir and family, then Vimal, then Thomas Mani Sir and also Ouseph Bhai. We discussed lot many things and enjoyed the mega cultural events. The major programs were a big concert by the students and a visualization of Kerala history from Vasco-da-Gama to present. Some factual errors like substituting the "urumi" of Unniyarcha with a "vadi vaal" could be ignored considering the effort that has gone in.

We left at around 8.45 pm, I and Vimal promising to return the next day morning to help Mani sir configure the moodle installation.

Next day morning at 9.15 when I reached the ground, I found the plastic chairs waiting for the truck. I was thinking aloud to Vimal about my days at school. When the volunteers used to assemble at school on the morning after every big function to fold all the steel chairs and stack them back in the go-down. When I told this to Mani Sir, he said :

"Those days are gone. Now parents don't allow their children to volunteer for physical labor"

I was thinking of the orange in the food pack that we volunteers used to get after stacking all the chairs.

PS:
Moodle is up and ready in Christ Nagar.