Published article

My School.
Pradeep Gawande

Possibly every one of you must have attempted this eassy more than once in your school days. For me it was a most favourable option. If I had this option I always neglected the national heroes, the debt ridden Indian farmer and also found the great relief from the taxing intellectual exercise of,- science bane or boon, about which I am not sure even today. I am rather more confused that I was while a student. Hence I always found it much safer to opt for, my school. You may term it as a myopia of a typical Maharashtrian. To put it in better and appropriate idiom, “Marathi Manus.” Isnt the expressin colurful enough ? expression should have its own colour, shouldn’t it ?
To have my school as an option for attempting an essay was nothing less of a heaven upon earth. In those days, it was custom to find out as to what are the essays to be attempted before starting to solve the papers and expressing the reaction favourable or unfavorable till you were warned to keep quite by the peace and law keeping personnel called invigilator. Of course, invigilators are creatures that deserve to be justified by literature. In short, pretty neglected species by the men of letters.
And I was lucky enough to get my school possibly every alternate year. And my joy knew no bounds. To put it in electronic media terms, I mean commercial message terms, I felt like having my ‘own school time’ and I flung into action. It was in third standard that our class teacher first chalkwrote the essay on blackboard and I copied it down. In-built in the essay I found many things. Namely, to read between the lines and within the lines that taught me the way of the world. The teacher’s essay said our school has a garden. As a matter of fact the whole content of the essay was far different, more than twice removed from reality. Our school was not at all like that but our teacher should have felt that it should be like that. Thus we too had readily accepted that contradiction. Students were termed as neat and clean, disciplined, hard working, studious, fond of this and that. We understood the contradiction and digested it. The teacher’s essay in a way imparted us a very rare thing about which the western world in much skeptic. They do not qualify Indians for it, that is the sense of humor. I acquired the skill and day by day and year by year went on making my school a dream school where head is held high and mind is without the fear of homework. My lord let my country school awake into that heaven of freedom.
Those were the days when the unwritten constitution of school ethics did not sanction the use of guides in school or aid for homework. Keeping a guide on your person or taking it to school was a highly punishable offence. Those we were the days of spare the rod and spoil the child ethics and code of conduct. And private tuition was prostitution and lot of other things. In short , teachers, class apart as the most respectabvle sections of the society. A teacher was a character for glorification and what not, for poets and authors. Today, it is upside down. Now a student has become a tuition class goer, teacher tuition taker and school has become the institute for community gathering.
Now I remerber my school in my essays far removed from reality to an unrealistic figment of imagination. And the school, the institute to pass time or time killer institute sandwiched between evening and early morning coaching classes, brilliant tutorials and the students spare much more time and energy for running from pillar to post to match their coaching classes schedule than acquiring knowledge.
My school in my essays haunts me. The entire school code has undergone a sea change.( published The Hitavada, dated April 4, 2001.)