Monday, June 13, 2022

Memories- My Home in 2008

Living through different homes, I never attached myself to a particular home as the homes always changed. I learnt to live in the home and cherish the memories I carry with them. The current home holds a special place in my heart as it's my Dad's own home. I lived in this house for a year in 2008. Back then, I  was 14 years old and the house seemed big. Now, I'm 27 and the house looks cramped for me. The space hasn't changed but the way I perceive has changed. 

This house reminds me of the days I spent, friends I had, food I ate, dresses I wore, teachers I had, school I went, streets I roamed and feelings I had. I do not have a single picture of those times but, every memory is a vivid sight to remember. I do remember the hard cover notebook covers I wrote on and the messages I sent to my crush through SMS language. 

In 2008, I studied in St.Joseph's English Medium High School. The choice of the school was based on the proximal distance to the home. It was right behind the home. A few steps away, I'd be in the school. I didn't think much about the studies as I got habituated by the change then. I didn't make any friendships in previous school which I thought I'd miss. I do had good friends but, never learnt the concept of growing up with friends for long time. 

In this school, Sister Anitha was my class teacher. Before the month of August, I became familiar with all the classmates. I'm friends with everyone. Ibrahim, Srikanth, Aadil, Yunus, Ajay, Gopal, Rony, Kareem, Sudeshna, Yamini, Amulya, Madhuri, Vennila, Susmitha Priya, Ayesha, Shirin, Zoya, Ramana are few names of my classmates. I've a good rapport with everyone. 

In boys, I used to closely hang out with Srikanth, Rony, Gopal, Kareem and few more friends. In girls, Amulya, Yamini & Sudeshna were good friends. Ayesha was my close competitor. In class 7, she was the topper. When I came in class 8, I became the topper. I was never bothered to be the topper but eventually, I used to score good marks in every subject. Ayesha was calm and she never expressed her disappointment when she scored less than me. More than for us, it was a topic for all our friends to discuss. Who got more marks and who's feeling what. 

Besides the academics, I was the class monitor for obvious reasons. I was energetic, big mouthed, vocal boy in the class. I was confident in everything. In retrospect, I wonder where that confidence came from. My sister was studying in the same school but, I never bothered to worry much about my siblings, if they're studying in the same school. I used to talk to my seniors without an inch of fear. I never understood, why one need to be afraid to talk to elders. At home, I was never afraid of my parents to talk to. My Grandparents didn't like that I'm talkative and give back answers. Well, I was always like that during my childhood. 

Besides my straight forward personality, I was adolescent and had feelings for a friend of mine. Being honest about what I felt, without giving labels to what I felt, I acted without judging much. I wanted to spend more time with her and talk. Clueless of what I was feeling but, I was sure of few things. I'd not do a thing which I'd hide infront of my parents. Everyday, I used to walk to my her place to spend time with her and talk to her. What did we talk? I do not remember what we talked but, I remember the walks I took to her home completing my home work in time. I remember telling my mom 'I'm going out,' without telling where I'm going. On being asked, where I'm going, I'd tell my mom my friend's name. We used to sit in a drawing room and talk, sometimes listen to music. 

Also, this was the time when adults had tough time to have a dialogue with me on my adolescent behaviour. In the school, at my friend's place, I always behaved well. Talking a lot was a big complaint my parents and teachers had. What's wrong in talking was my point. None could confront me or punish me for my behaviour. I was disappointed by the distrust adults had on me during those times. 

Sister Anitha

After spending first 6 months in school, I had a special group of friends in school. I was very close with them. I was very affectionate with all of them. I was affectionate with my class teacher, Anitha Sister as well. 

Every Saturday, we could wear civil dress to school. I remember getting dresses stitched rather than buying ready made dresses. I was only getting shirts stitched. I had three favourite stitched shirts. One was a white shirt with blue pattern, other a white shirt with pink patterns,  the third one was a black shirt with gold patterns in it. I was wearing all these shirts with black and white jeans on every Saturday. Whenever I used to match my dress with my crushes, a lot of sly smiles beamed in the class. 

Ajay's mom and Pio Massimo Fabberi's father were teachers in our school. I always wondered how it is to have parents in the same school we're studying. There's always a constant fear to be supervised. In this school, I directed my first play ever in my entire schooling. As I was very active, I never bothered to venture into things I'm good at. I always wanted to do everything irrespective of how good I'm at it. As I used to dance, recite poetry, participate in elocution and monologues, I was interested to take part in something during Independence Day celebrations. Before our gang, everyone gave names to every activity. Our group was left with either drama or dance. I began to lead the group and we ended up creating a drama. I was directing the whole drama from the beginning and I became the director. A lot of my friends acted in the drama. I never came onto the stage but, I was proud when the drama went well. No one knows about my efforts except my class teacher Anitha Sister and all my friends who played in it. 

Back then, creating a mix tape was a big deal. I, along with two friends of mine went to a music shop carrying an empty cassette. Selected the songs we want in this cassette. Mentioned what bits we needed and recorded them with the help of the music shop guy. I remember the walks and cycle rides we took to accomplish the music recording task. I also remember using Nero Smart frequently to burn the CDs and copy my favourite music. Rajinikanth's Shivaji Album, Suriya's Aaru were few albums I was constantly listening to. A few gospel albums also became my favourite then. 

I was regular to morning mass at times, thanks to couple of my friends.  I enjoyed waking up early to the church bells and getting ready to go to the church along with the friends. 

During this year, I also had a lot of health issues. I was regular to hospital for checkups. Nothing serious but, visiting hospital regularly itself was scary times. Dad used to live in TamilNadu. I used to live with mom and Akhila. All my relatives were in town but, I do not remember visiting them frequently. 

There's a lot I remember of my past homes. I do not know if I could ever revisit the homes I lived but, to this home I'd always come to. Grateful to have a home to revisit. 



2 comments:

  1. Lovely reading this blast from the past. Stories that come alive.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes sir, will begin to look back and jot down more

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for reading.

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