Good Old Times

Every philosophy talks about living in present. That seems to be only way of maximizing potential of achievements. Past is history. Future is unknown.
But i feel, what we treasure most is memories. especially the good ones. I am sure we are all selective about memories. How many of us would like to ponder over say sad memories or the tough times faced by each one of us. Human mind conveniently tries to mask them. that brings me to the topic of some of the very best memories of my life. School days. Reason, a gettogether where i met some classmates after 21 years. Three idiots met after 10 yrs out of college. Here we attempted to rewrite the script by rewinding 20 years. (sure not a remake of "bees saal baad").

School days were the most carefree days of our lives. Only purpose of going to school for me was recess and PT periods. Cricket, football, volleyball, hand ball, appa rappi, hand cricket, list of sports goes on.. They were seasonal. Primary school days were the most formative days. I still remember impact i had for every langauge class, maths funda, composition etc. But in secondary, the scholastics took back seat atleast till 9th. Exams were the only spoilers. Vacations were the high points. Extra curricular really started in secondary where the setup became more democratic. In primary , access to activities was controlled by teachers. Thus backbenchers like me never had chance. With advent of interest in Quizes, Drama, etc, extra curricular activities added a lot of confidence. My head master was another inspiration, such dedicated teachers are very hard to find. At home, no one pressurized me to study. And i compare what i am doing to my daughter. These are different times but still we all parents should have sanity and reflect upon our own school days. Ofcourse, we had many self motivated colleagues who used to be toppers and use to generate an awe. In my daughter's class , i find such characters. They say , your child is an opportunity for you to revisit your childhood. and thats whats happening with me as a parent.
Coming back to school memories, I remember those bus journeys, cycle journies, some crazy events. Fights with girls. (so silly of us as we realized that in later life)
In fact in our gettogether, we had girls (now ladies) outnumbering gents. Welcome change... Those interhouse competitions, social service camps, trips. Many more memories.
Its a tough choice for me to judge between hostel life in kgp and school days to be the 'best days of my life' (summers of 80-89 or summers of 91-96 as i can say)
Kgp life was different. i have an earlier blog titled Rocking memories here if you want to read abt that kgp life.
Professional life also has some great moments. But also were challenges. In both these phases (kgp and school), there were hardly any low points. Thats why if i had a time machine, i would definitely go back then. Buts its hard to chose if i had only one option to revisit....