What's all this rubbish they taught me?

Rock-a-bye baby
on the tree top,
when the wind blows
the cradle will rock,
when the bough breaks
the cradle will fall,
down will come baby,
cradle and all.

Can you get more negative?

Why didn't they just tell us the baby and the cradle was safe all through. And who leaves a baby on the tree top anyway?

Then we have our dear Humpty, who's only sitting on a wall and chilling. But they tell us,

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the King's horses
And all the king's men.
Cannot put Humpty Dumpty
Together again.

Why? Why all the negativeness?

They don't spare dear Jack and Jill who simply go up the hill to fetch some water... but NO, They throw them down too.

Jack and Jill went up the hill,
To fetch a pail of water,
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.

Then, they even threw us all down...

Ring-a-ring-a-roses,
A pocket full of posies;
Hush! hush! hush! hush!
We're all tumbled down.

Here's what people think of the poem!


I ask why?

Why didn't the baby just sleep on his mother's lap?
Why didn't humpty have a breezy evening and safely get back home?
Why didn't Jack and Jill bring back the water safely?
Why did we all 'tumble down' when playing?

Why?

They should seriously write Positive stuff.


You get the picture.

I can't believe I was taught all this!

Have you smoked?

Yeah well, I meant the candy cigarettes we used to get our hands on so easily in the 80s and 90s. I recently became a fan of Harnik Phantom Sweet Cigarettes on Facebook. These candies are a part of my many childhood memories.

I still remember 'smoking' these cigarettes in the December chills of Delhi. I was a student here. Yes, I am a Fransalian. Every morning we'd have to go in for an open assembly in the school grounds. Winters in Delhi is no ordinary time. You freeze. My mother would literally wrap Herbert and me in wool. Delhi has been the only place I've worn 3 pairs of socks at one time! I remember being a very quite girl in class. But I remember being an animated speaker. I still am.

So, one day, I took these cigarettes to school and shared it with my friends in class. I remember telling them how yummy the candy is and also how cool is to have been shaped like a 'real' cigarette. How silly, but which 'real' cigarette has a red tip! So we decided that if it was shaped like a real cigarette then we'd even smoke in the real style. Each of us took one candy each and hid in our pockets. We got ready for the assembly. Once outside, we took out the candy cigarette and smoked. And puffed. It was amazing how the cold breathe we let out of our mouth resembled a cloud of smoke. Just like smoking for real. But smoking for real sucks. And I'm not a hypocrite to say it without having tried smoking!

Funny, how we kept hiding the candy whenever we thought someone was looking at us. As if we were smoking a real cigarette. Well, its a totally different issue that even if we were caught eating a candy we'd have to run on the grounds.
So we smoked a cigarette, even if it was only a candy. Such cheap thrills.

I'm wondering if these friends from school whom I have lost contact with for long, smoke for real now! May be. May be not.

Do we still get these here? If only I could lay my hands on one packet... I'd preserve the packet for my kids to see. May be freeze one candy too.

Such preciousness. Childhood.

Student days...

I have never studied in a co-ed school/college ever in my life! If you go "WHAAT" at this, then may be I should tell you Post Graduation is on its way! People tell me I have missed so many things in life by not being able to study with 'guys.' Funny but I have never felt so. I have had my share of fun and feel I couldn't have done so many things in my life had I studied with guys! My fond memories date back to class 9. The fun we had interrogating our biology teacher about sex! I can tell you with guys in class none of us would have come out of the inhibition and dared to ask anything on the subject.

But frankly sometimes even I find it funny to realize I have never studied in a co-ed school in my life! I spent 12 years of school life in convents across different states in India and then spent the boring college life in another Convent-ish college! Funny!

If there is one reason why I did not enjoy college then it should be that I always compared it to my dear school. But, I'd like to mention I did have my share of fun in college too, thanks to my dear friend B. If not for her I would have gone mad! I vividly remember bunking classes to buy the very French 'crepes,' jumping the compound wall to watch a dumb movie (yeah I jumped!), getting multiple fraud signatures on gate passes, entering the wrong classroom for the wrong lecture (on purpose), and the list goes on! All this and more but if someone gave me an option to choose between school or college (traveling back in time), I'd choose School, any day!

What makes school so special?

1) Uniform: The only apparel that could accommodate the rich and the poor equally. No one in school was rich or poor, we wore the same dress that cost us all the same!

2) Teachers: You may be in 12th, 9th, 6th or even in 2nd grade, but to your teacher you are always a kid! They come behind you for everything and try to teach you everything and make sure you score well, and are always concerned about you! All of this may have annoyed us, but I yearned for all this in college. In college, it was the 'who-cares' attitude...I know they only meant to make you more responsible or mature or whatever, but school made you feel special and wanted.

3) The canteen: The not-so-appealing yet hunger gratifying food that the school canteen sells! The Re. 5 corn puffs, Re. 8 pop-corn, Re. 10 lemon rice, Re. 15 fried rice, Re. 2,3,5 samosas, Rejoice cold drink!!!, agreed not very tasty, but then where else will you find all this? Sometimes you can be served the best gourmet meal but you'd yearn for the time you spent in your school canteen, may be not for the food, but definitely for the company!

4) The funny faculty: Every school must/should have someone called the funny-guy/lady! Luckily, I met the world's most funniest sir in school! I was healthy in class 12, reason: I studied under this sir! He made me laugh all the time, during class, after class, at home, with friends and even today his memories bring laughter! If you meet your friends 10 years down, you'd say "Hey, remember so-and-so, she used to say this! LOL."

5) P.T Time: Sports period as we all called it, was the most annoying or best (always depends on whether you are the sports field types or not!) period of the day's time-table. We were forced to go to the school grounds and display our athletic or other skills! The best part is the 'P.T misses' (in context to my school) were all not-fit-trim and got tired easily and they would leave us on our own! And...P.T periods became chit-chat sessions while pretending to throw the damned ball somewhere!

6) Sports Day: Yes exactly what should follow after P.T class. Sports day, goes without saying, is the best time of the school year! You are made to march, perform drills, run relays and play silly games while proud parents watch you running around the field and the occasionally yell words of encouragement! I could march decently, but I always got lost in the huge crowd, thanks to my (short) height! I would try my hand at skill games like Pot balance, balloon burst! :D But deep down inside my heart, I always wanted to run...well! Ah and drill! It was the most beautiful part of sports day, we were always given funny costumes and made to hold weird props and DANCE! Yes drill was nothing but 'Dance' to the loud drum beats, LEFT LEFT LEFT-RIGHT-LEFT!

7) Food Fair: Only time guys were allowed on campus. Reason enough to celebrate (for some!) and do we need an explanation when I say 'FOOD?'

8) Children's day celebration: Some fond memories bring tears! Gosh, teachers present a cute assembly, they transform into kids and entertain us, basically our day....No words!

9) Teacher's day: Our turn to show our gratitude to all these blessed beings!

10) Examinations: Oh yes, the finale! School cannot be school without the numerous mid-terms, half-yearly, blah! But, funny, exams are the only things that follow us from school...absolutely nothing else does...It's like we are leaving behind the child in us back in school :(

Did I forget Annual day?? :)

Oh and yes, that's me sleeping in class, surrounded by my friends giving the victorious look, for reasons I do not understand!