First day at new school

03.09.08
Today was the first day for Manikutty at new school. I went back many years and tried to recollect what happened on my first day at school. I remember clearly the Nursery which Anju and I went as 3-4 year olds. It had huge walls all around like a fort, so that 3 year olds wouldn't jump over it! Royal-blue coloured big gates, had an open space in the centre, classrooms all around, a kitchen, dining hall and office room at one end. It was like a 'nallukettu' so that all teachers and students can see whats happening in the central field. I remember that for many years we had a group nursery-photo taken at that time in our house, but don't know where is it now.

I also remember clearly when my parents took me to HolyAngels Nursery school (Marion Villa Convent) at Kumarapuram for admission to Grade 1. I some how did not like the school, probably terrified by the traditional habit worn by the Nun sisters:-(; It seemed that I was very upset and tried to run away ( in fact ran...) from the school office when I saw the 'officials'..... My parents were puzzled by my behaviour which seemed to be quite uncharacteristic of me. Anyway they got the message that I didn't like the school and so took me another school. That's when I saw Arya Kumara Ashram or Arya Central School for the first time.

I felt in love with the school when I saw it the first time. It had lots of play grounds, few nice buildings and classrooms. There were lot of paintings from Hindu Mythology all around the office walls. I especially remember Saraswati devi, Lakshmi devi, Lord Shiva and also Swami Vivekananda. I met Mr Shankaran Nair, the strict principal at school. He was a bit bald, but what ever hair was left on his temporal side of the head was nicely combed backwards. He always wore light colored clothes (well pressed) and walked around with a long cane in his hand. Usually children from Upper Kindergarten at that school progress on to Grade 1. So I had to write an entrance test that included learning an altogetherly new subject for me - HINDI. I had a couple of days to prepare for the test, including learning and writing all the Hindi alphabets. It seems that I came first in the test( that's what my mother told me) and was offered a place in Grade1 ( though I had a few more months left for my 5th birthday).

Now back to Manikutty. After her 2 years at Montessori Preparatory school and Grammar school, we were looking for good schools around Leicester for year1. We shortlisted a few schools and she was offered a place in all the 4 schools after assessment. Though fairfield prep was the furthest of all schools, we (Manikutty too) chose it, due to many reasons. The moment I saw the school, I felt like studying here! It was a sense of belonging. The school was big with many buildings and lot of open space and playgrounds. It had a proven track history...More than 500 years is not so bad ahh!( http://www.leshigh.org/) .The approach and attitude of all the officials were fantastic, especially the Head Teacher.

Woke up early today and prepared breakfast and packed lunch for Manikutty. Woke her up and got her ready for school. While driving and waiting in the traffic congestion with Manikutty sitting at rear seat, thought about how our parents went through all this; 10 years each for all of us.......felt good and relaxed.....We were listening to 'Shivakeerthanam' in car stereo. Manikutty was also relaxed (as usual) and at the same time excited to reach schools as fast as possible. But the traffic was slow moving, especially when we were nearing Loughborough schools. Somehow got a parking space and carried Mani and her school bag n lunch to reach the classroom before start. It was nice to see the parents, students, teachers etc walking in an orderly fashion through the walkway that led to school. Mrs Collington ( Class teacher) was waiting outside Year I classroom...She welcomed us and took Mani inside. Manikutty was fine and I gave her a kiss before heading back to the car. It all appeared like a movie...so surreal....

Tail piece: Just read that 30 years ago on this day, a group of young men started shooting a Malayalam movie in front of Attukal temple in Trivandrum. Any guesses?.........
The movie's name was 'Thiranottam' and the actor who took the first shot was none other than Mohanlal.