Penning the Pedagogues - 3

Finally! I escaped the claws of that raving lunatic, Mrs. Ingrid and arrived in Middle school. I was a big girl now. From now on, our subjects were to be divided and we had different teachers so that we don’t get bored looking at the same face all day long. Yup……..all grown up

MIDDLE SCHOOL
Mrs. Nivedita (English and History) : I believed that my life here would be so much better and she was a sure sign. She was so cute and chubby and so possibly comical! What an absent-minded darling! She told us little anecdotes about how she left her purse in the freezer for a week by mistake and by the time she rescued it, it was all frozen and unusable. Now that’s cold hard cash!!! She adored me and once even said that she doesn’t feel like teaching unless she sees my face in class and of course, the feeling was mutual. The only English teacher I’ve known till date who likes Harry Potter. She had the honour of being the senior most member of my clandestine Harry Potter Fan Club, laminated membership card et al

Mrs. Jamuna (Science) : I remember her has a calm and placid lady with frizzy black hair and a round face. She rarely got angry but she was firm all the same and could hold the class’ attention without raising her voice. But she was good natured and kind. I liked her.

Mrs. Mukherjee (Hindi) : Bengali to the boot and spoke with the same weird Hindi accent as my father (sorry Dad!) She was nice but I really wouldn’t choose her as a Hindi teacher. The only connection between us was that of our language otherwise it wasn’t like I vibed with her or something. Yeah but she would totally be sweet to me at all the Bengali social gatherings and that’s it…..

Ms. Kavita (Hindi and Geography) : As Mrs. Mukherjee’s replacement, her Hindi was upto the mark but you know she kinda scared me. Not the same way as Auntie Bridget or Mrs. Ingrid I mean, she was short, fair with a dimple on her face, had a whiny voice and reminded me of Amisha Patel but you know she thought too much of herself which was kinda comical actually. I wouldn’t want anything to do with her, you know just the kind of person whose path I wouldn’t want to cross. What I did want to do was slap her…she annoyed me so much

Mrs. Patty Hayden (English, Math, Geography, Moral Science…[whew!]) : Scourge of the 5th grade, it fell upon her to teach me Math that year. She made my timbers shiver!! Oh no..was she going to pull a Mrs Ingrid on me? They even looked somewhat alike!!! But as my Geography teacher in 6th, she wasn’t so bad! I even grew to be her favourite. I must say that she was an excellent teacher for that subject. See that’s what happens when you have too many subjects to teach. Last I heard she was managing the Sick Room as well. I remember all the roles she essayed on Children’s Day plays…the dashing young electrician who stole our Principal’s heart (hee hee and to think that Princi was a real life nun), God Almighty and lead dancer of “Ande mein Funda” Oh and did I mention she was ex Ms India, Diana Hayden’s aunt? (I thought she was aunt to Matthew Hayden as well!)

Mrs. Irene Francis (History) : I was scared of her too all right! in 5th but the following year I came to regard her sans feelings. I’ve heard people complain about how boring History was but she made it downright soporific. She might as well sing lullabies than teach. Ashoka took like for ever to complete what with her digressions about people who think attached bathrooms in bedrooms are a social faux pas and a little brother-sister duo fighting on the streets and the like. I might have learned more history from the Shah Rukh Khan starrer. Oh and what was the point of asking us to draw caveman tools in the exam? Who the hell cares???????????

Mrs. Rajni (Science) : It’s really sad about what happened to her husband but she never let it show because that’s the person she was – strong and balanced and of course an excellent Science teacher. She offered her counsel to anybody who needed it and though she was firm, she drew respect and adoration. She had pretty, grey eyes.

Mrs. Sunita (S.U.P.W) : A woman who knew her “craft” well. She was always brimming with these really creative and fun ideas which made S.U.P.W a period to look forward to and she truly had an artist’s eye. I remember her helping me peel a potato for one project (potato- potaato)

Mrs. Vasundhara (Telugu and Singing) : Immensely popular among students so naturally I disliked her. Her “wit” and “sense of humour” endeared her to everybody with the same IQ level as Polyphemus. Always hogged the limelight due to her age and her arthritis. No cultural event without her seal of approval or her enchanting singing performance. I think she would have a great career as a playback singer in Tollywood (not a compliment). A brilliant actress too. She calls me and tells me what a great job I was doing as captain so I truly thanked her from my heart and she remarked dryly “I was being sarcastic”. You know what? I don’t even care what you think about anymore

Mrs. Premgiri (Hindi) : Quite a formidable figure and a very good dancer too, she made it clear to us that there would be no hanky-panky, wishy-washy business in her class. A slap from her would send you reeling (believe me, I speak from experience) But she showed us her comic side too

Mrs Clementine (Math) : Oh my darling Clementine ……..darling she was. Tall and pretty, her every movement exuded grace and dignity. She was relatively a better teacher than my former one. She was strict a couple of times too but sweet all the same. My only regret is that she couldn’t marry a man as tall as her

Ms. Suseela (Telugu) : She was way better than Mrs. Vasundhara, if not in teaching but in attitude. No airs, no graces and sadly, no knowledge of any other language except well….Telugu. It was annoying and funny at times too. I remember laughing at her one class and she thundered “Sayonee, what are you doing?” (in English) to which I unconvincingly replied “Um…..Coughing?

Mrs. Taposhi (Science) : Typical Bengali face and a very untypical screechy voice. Its like as if somebody were bringing their nails down on a blackboard. Her periods were so ho-hum and trouble’s on your way if she catches you yawning in her class (yawning is a natural reaction of the body, don’t you know that as a Science teacher?) Well she got the message anyways and as an effort to liven things up, she promised that starting next week she would devote an entire period every week to discuss current scientific breakthroughs and we were to collect articles that interested us. I religiously cut up newspaper clippings and kept my scrapbook ready. But that period never came. Not the following week. Not ever.

Mrs. Anuradha (Geography) : I save the best for the last. Rumored to have been booted out of Johnson Grammar, she decided to try her luck here and I would not say she was very lucky. She was the butt of jokes of not only the students but the teachers and parents as well. My mother came back ranting about what an idiot she was after a PTM. Wasn’t good at her subject either, but teaching was not her first love as she admitted. Oh no. At 5”1 she could take the Air Force by storm and should be reclining in her desk chair at NASA now but of course she had made this huge sacrifice all in the name of her family. She was shown the door here too. Last I heard she was busy failing some 6th graders in Gitanjali

Movie Mania

Whoaaaa mama! 2 movies in day-i'm majorly blown away......i saw om shanti om(finally!) and high school musical 2(FINALLY!!!!) and ya know what OSO ain't as bad as people have been saying...golly i even sort of liked it... and HSM2 was sort of weird, i liked only a couple of songs but the Troy and Gabriella angle was so cute sighhhhh....
By the way, I am a huge movie buff...love 'em, can't live without 'em. My favourite kind of movie would be the romantic sort or a comedy or preferably a romantic comedy:P...I was just thinking about my all-time favourite movies and i came up with some names...





Here are my top 10 favourite movies of all time-






1) Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge- Nothing can replace this Shahrukh-Kajol starrer in the hearts of millions of romantics countrywide. I just looooooooooooooooooooooooveeeeee it, I can almost spout the dialogues along with them-"Hum tum ik dibbe mein bandh ho rum pum pum pum..." :D:P






2) A Cinderella Story- Oh yeah this movie is soooooooo cute...and Chad Michael Murray looks totally hot:D; he and Hilary make a relli cute couple....






3) High School Musical- The songs are just amazing- "This could be the start of something new, it feels so right to be here with you..ohhhhh!"- and so is ZAAAACCCC, of course. I love everything about this movie:)






4)Ishq Vishk- Now don't raise that eyebrow, I like Shahid okay??? And this movie was a totally cute Archie-Betty-Veronica story; and duh Betty gets Archie( I always said she would)






5)The Harry Potter Series- Come on who doesn't like em???






6)The Pirates Of The Caribbean Series- OMG how could i forget!!! Johnny Depp absolutely rocks this movie as the rum-loving and slightly pansy Captain Jack Sparrow and yeah it's a PIRATE movie!!!! Arrrrr mateys where is the rum gone????





7)The Shrek movies- Funniest animated stuff ever! Donkeyyy(the noble steed lol) is my favourite animated character of all time:D





8)The Munnabhaiii Movies- Boletoh they're just awesome mamu! (whoa did I like actually say that??-eeeeek!!!)





9)Chak De! India- Ek hockey doongi rakhke! This movie's got deadly energy, makes one want to stand up and cheer...Yeah Girl Power Babayyy!!!





10) Jab We Met- It's pretty cute but it's on my list purely because Shahid is absolutely droolworthy in this movie(knocked me down flat, he did)-no kidding he's perfect!!!!!!!:D:D:D:D:D

Allritey its 1200 in the night and i gotta go spitshine my dune buggy:P....cya folks!
I'll be baaaaaaaaaaaaaackkkk..........(muhahahahhaa)

Penning the Pedagogues - 2

I had survived the turmoil of kindergarten and now we move on to the people who took it from there

PRIMARY SCHOOL
Ms. Catherine (1st Class) : One thing we had in common was that both of us were new to this section of the school. A new teacher and a new student…….what problems could we have with each other? Why none at all! She was really sweet, always had nice words for me and very understanding and of course she had the energy to keep up with the sugar induced hyperactivity of a class full of midgets. I really don’t have many memories of her but I do remember her making us learn opposites by enacting them and she did offer to arrange a full-fledged boxing match between me and a girl with whom I was having a minor scuffle (hmpf!!!)

Mrs. Daphne Stevenson (2nd Class) : Like I mentioned earlier that I had always been a favourite with my school teachers but here is a person who truly, truly loved me. Mrs. Stevenson was this jolly, plump, middle –aged lady and had more than the required patience for handling us imps (excluding me please!) She was to me what an angel would be to the wretched in those parables. A special mention here about a hellion named Mrs. Ingrid who made sure I was a nervous wreck throughout my stay at primary school (I was so relieved the day I graduated to middle school!) Let us say it was…….hate at first sight. She was notorious for pulling people down from their posts of authority on pretext of misbehaviour. Many people had suffered at her hands but I alone held a special place in her heart and she made it her business to see me through this eternal damnation I was condemned to for Jesus knows what reason! Yes, pretty soon it was my turn when she accused me of indiscipline during prayer time when I was actually putting up with a very trying charge (that is what’s written in my job description lady!) Thus my fall from grace. This is where Mrs. Stevenson picked me up and sheltered me and told me not to get on her wrong side. I know I made her really upset the day I was caught writing song lyrics in class and as punishment she made me read it out in front of the whole class and that really left a mark on me. So if you ever see me covering my ears and shouting in anguish when the song “Ye Dil Deewana” from Pardes is being played, you’ll know why………….. On the very last day of school, she presented me with a story book and told me to consider it as a prize for the Handwriting Competition I never won (Mrs. Ingrid was on the judge panel. Hmmmmmmmmm……) Tell me can any of one of your teachers match upto mine?

Hindi Teacher (2nd Class) : Why is it that I never remember the name of my first Hindi Teachers? Anyways, she was North Indian tadka wrapped in Kalkatta Meetha . She showered her wrath on everyone in sight but softened towards me when she found out I was somewhat related to the city she grew up in (read Calcutta). I remember her reproaching me for not giving her chocolates on my birthday. What a glutton……..

Mrs. Margaret McLeod (3rd Class) : Now she was a teacher with spunk. Boisterous, loud and a laugh riot, she rocked to the core!!! And we 3rd graders simply loved her for her personality. My memories of 3rd class are mostly having fun with her and laughing a lot. We really missed her the days she was absent because we would get…you’ll never guess who..as our substitute teacher. Drumroll please!!! Mrs. Ingrid!! TA –DA!!! One math period I had finished my sums like a good girl and was waiting for our next assignment. I had absolutely no idea that the girl next to me, Akshaya, had stolen my book and was copying from it. That didn’t go unnoticed in her eyes. So up she marches to me and says “How dare you let her copy!” and WHACK, conveniently ignoring the real culprit. Poor 8 year old me! My conscience didn’t even permit me to use profanity for uppity Mrs. Ingrid. Mrs. Margaret did her sharing of protecting me as well. Oh you should have seen her whizzing around helping us set up our little food stalls on carnival day! Some of us were even made to put up game stalls. (My idea of a game? Make Mrs. Ingrid sit at the stocks and pelt her with rotten tomatoes. Now THAT’S a carnival!) You rocked Mrs. McLeod!

Mrs. Bindu (4th Class) : Meri Pyaari Bindu, Meri Bholi Bindu……..It’s like as if that song was written for her. Tall and graceful, that’s how I remember her. Not many memories of her either but I do remember her being very concerned about my drill uniform because parrot green was a very hard colour to find! Yes 4th class was mostly about Sports Day and Drill practice. One day during practice, when I was completely in sync with the girl in front of me, Mrs. Ingrid (yes, its her again) materializes out of nowhere and has the audacity to tell me “Are you blind? Why can’t you look at the girl in front and do?” and obviously WHACK! (I told you she hated me)

Mrs. Anita (Games) : She was pretty nice. Firm but all the same good natured. She was unbiased, gave equal attention and care to all 4 houses and…………..didn’t speak very good English sadly (eg. “How many money you paid?”)

Mrs. Greta (Singing and Drama) : She went about her job with the enthusiasm of a corpse. She always treated us as if we were dirty laundry she was supposed to wash. Our voices were never good enough for her, we always sang out of tune, we were bad actors, we were terrible dancers, we were indisciplined, we reminded her of a fish market, we were stupid………..you get the idea. She was never endearing to me anyways not after her constant jibes at my physique. Well atleast my teeth were white and perfectly aligned and my skin was wartless and wrinkle-free (Touche!)

What good days are made of

I always feel that if my day starts off well, the rest of it is going to be decent as well...weird i know but it could be true...like when today, my bath water was the perfect temperature, mum did'nt yell at me for staying up late last night and she even said that my 77 in the aits is ok and not to worry about it(gasp!), i was all -hey maybe today won't be so bad after all......well i did get to watch a movie and eat roast chicken sub for lunch(yum yum) so i guess it was decent after all...coincidence? Who knows...



Sayonee's post has just triggered memories about my childhood of which I uh... don't remember much! That's the thing with my memory...I remember stuff in bits and pieces-like how i got a blue tricycle for my birthday, the way my dad used to carry me and walk around the room when i could'nt sleep in the nights, how a dog named Whisky bit my aunt(chuckle).....


Even from my school days i remember only certain stuff like the horrendous show in which i had to dress up like a barbie doll-in a sari!!! ughhh...and the play in which i played goldilocks and wore a blonde wig:D. Nasr school reminds me of fierce fights with my best friend Sravanthi and some mighty strange games we played: Girls school, whaddya expect? But yeah i Had some good times there...HPS(yeah that's it in the pic), my school, i miss u soooooo much-whiling away time in the parking lot woth the gang, bunking sports day practice with Uday, listening to music in titu's class, lunch hall with Yamini and Ananya, Pranit making fun of me, playing dumb charades in SUPW, all my friends o'course!, emanuel on his stupid bike(wait actually i don't miss that).......



Awright enough of nostalgia, it's getting too heavy...that's life i guess...it's never the same.

But Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?????


Wish i were back in tenth,
Rachina



P.S- Ignore Sayonee's wisecracks about HPS- my school rocks and there's no doubt about it!
Oh yeah and if anyone wants to know- Goal is ahhh okay, too much drama.

Penning the Pedagogues - 1

Today I would like to remember all those hard working souls who had dedicated their lives in laying the very first foundation stone of my education

NURSERY
Auntie Bridget : The formidable headmistress of Tiny Tots Preschool (though my father still likes to call it Auntie Bridget’s school) where conditions were worse than a military boot camp. Those humongous spectacles, stern look and funky but freaky grey, curly hairdo were enough to strike terror in the hearts of we 3 year olds (or heck any age group!) I really hated going there. My mother would we walk me up to the gate and swear she would be rightttttttt behind me but never came until school was let out!!!! (seriously, what gives?) I remember my beloved headmistress hitting me once because I didn’t eat my sandwiches- those disgusting pieces of bread with sugar and butter in them. I’d like to see you try and eat them “Auntie”!!! The only one who was gutsy enough to stand up to her was my best friend Babloo (for the life of me I cannot remember what his real name is). Once we all sat down at her feet for a round of singing and he surreptitiously lifted up one end of her saree (what is it with guys and lifting girls clothes? I mean even if she’s like 20 times your age?) which sent me into a fit. HE got away with mild scoldings but no……..I was the one who had to get beaten!!! Normal social norms state that in matters of discipline, guys get hit and girls get scolded……..NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND!! Hey wait……….you know what? It was Babloo who told on me about the sandwiches!!! Grrrrrr…Traitor!!!!

KINDERGARTEN
Now starts my phase of formal education. I mean anyone can survive their long tenure of schooling without attending prep school. I guess it would have been like extra credentials or something. I, of course, had answered all the questions smartly in the interview when it finally came down to the last question………………..
“What is your father’s name?”
Silence.
“Papa? Daddy? What is your Daddy’s name?”
More silence
The truth was that I didn’t know how to pronounce it and till date I still don’t! The normal pronunciation that is…there’s a world of a difference between that and its Bengali pronunciation.
If it wasn’t St. Ann’s, my parents thought, we could put her in HPS! (do not want to think about that) There was this whole rubbish about how ICSE is only for candidates with elder sisters (Really so what did you tell those “elder sisters” when they came to apply?) So we had a family friend whose daughters were studying in the school and we got them to pose as my cousins so I got the OK stamp. (Come on that’s not so illegal! SOME people I know entered with fake birth certificates…..ok my father did the same thing when he had to enter his school ok?) So first day of school……….what do you expect me to say? That I cried and begged not to be taken away from my mother and created such a chaos that even Hurricane Katrina couldn’t match upto? No. Not me!!! I had finished all my crying at Auntie Bridget’s (Trust me there was a lot to cry about)
I actually came back home and said “Mummy, can you believe that the girls there were actually crying!!! That’s so stupid!!! But I didn’t cry one bit!” Girls school generally have a reputation of turning out snobs and I was a snoot to the boot right on the first day. Nice………….

Mrs. Bernis : At a later point of life, I can say that all my school teachers loved me but did I ever start off on the wrong foot! First parent teacher meeting………..”Your daughter has absolutely no manners! She never asks for permission to go to the bathroom! She just gets up and walks out whenever she wants!!!” To quote my 3 year old self “I never ask for permission at home so why should it be any different here? What is the logic here? I will go as I please” I had a point there. Responding to your instincts doesn’t require any social clauses! “Oh and she never submits her books! She always takes them home” Um…..where else will I take them lady? Besides what were you doing, flicking off all our books? She always made us sleep in the afternoons. I never slept during that time and was always reprimanded. Once I noticed the girl next to me drooling and in Dreamland. Eureka!! That must be the key! Drool! So out it came and stuck itself to my desk and I put my head down next to it. There! Now nobody will be able to guess I wasn’t sleeping for real. Golly, I was so smart!! I saw her outside my neighbourhood dentist’s office one day. She gave me a real hard time and I hoped the dentist gave her one.

Mrs. Maria Preza : Ah she was a darling angel! Pretty, gentle and soft-spoken. When I went to visit her in my last year of school, she was still the same just like I remembered her only now she had a very weird accent (maybe it was always there and I never noticed) so now she was pretty, gentle and weird –spoken. We had no problems with each other. But once during a class test she was asking people what sound does a cock make. Other people said “Cock-a-doodle-doo” I said “Kuku rook ku” She gave me look. Now come on!!! Isn’t that a more accurate answer? A cock’s vocal chords aren’t as developed as a human! But otherwise she took my side. Once when a girl unbraided my hair, I asked her to tie it back and she said she couldn’t so I went to her in tears and she gently whacked the girl and told her never to do it again and tied my hair up. She made us play games in class like close your eyes and turn around and one of your friends will call you and tell me who it is. Basically now that I come to think of it, these were just an integrated part of the curriculum to improve our sensory perception and social skills. Sigh! Not much of a help since I got 4/10 in conversation

Hindi Teacher : I don’t remember what her name is and I don’t want to either. I have no idea what kind of qualifications she had or who in their right mind would hire her to teach Hindi. Please!! I learnt better Hindi from my maid servant!! (I never spoke Bengali till the age of 4. I was too much in love with my national language) Once in a fit of anger she told me that she didn’t like my pencil box! It was blue and had a picture of Donald Duck on it and cute!!! That really broke my heart. You don’t tell a 4 year old that you hate her pencil box, what is wrong with you??????????? And why did you give a damn anyways?

Games Teacher : I don’t remember her name either but I can say that the bone structure of her face was very interesting. It resembled something lets say………………a zombie? She would make a very creepy skeleton when she died. She made Auntie Bridget look like a sweet little matron. Dirty shoes. WHACK! Long nails. WHACK! Loose socks WHACK! Her cane was busy 24x7. I do however have a vague memory of her singing “Mere khabon mein jo aaye” one period. Awwwwwwww the magic of DDLJ had spared no one!

Sr. Rose : Our sweet Principal. She was just like her name – rosy and jolly. She really cared for us. She arranged Christmas shows for us, danced with Santa Claus(who I always thought had emerged from a bell), distributed sweets and made it a point to explain to us that it was high time that we stop showing our pinkies and start saying “May I go to the bathroom?” (Yes, me too!) May God Bless You and your soul rest in peace

Sayonee

Friends, Romans, Fellow bloggers, lend me your ears(um eyes)..

Helllooo Folks! Finally i'm a bloggah! This means that i now have a platform to vent about life's unfairness.......like the fact that i had to write a freaking exam when i could have been watching Om Shanti Om (or something that does not involve the words math, physics or chemistry)...yes i do know that most people think it sucs but i still wanna c....Shah Rukh power! And why won't High School Musical 2 come to India? It's so annoying...i have to wait till december 7th to watch Zac..n that too in Hindi- uh hello ewww. And would you believe that my math teacher wants me to stop watching TV and reading books? Tell me to stop breathing next wouldja?
Mann i don't think this iit stuff is worth all this...we study our asses off so that we can go to the nerdiest institute in the country and study some more so that we can get fancy jobs and work reeeaallly hard...whew, doesn't anybody else see something wrong with this?How am i supposed to complete my wish list?? I have to-
1) become proficient in all existing dance forms
2) learn how to play the drums and the guitar
3) build biiiig fancy house with swings, theatre room, game room, and loads of well...just rooms!
4) stand on the roof of my house and sing really loudly in a drunk way
5) get a doggy and name him Woof
6) go on world tour(duhhh!)
7) buy a ferrari!
8) learn how to drive(yeah i don't know how to yet...so what?)
9) do something really crazy like oh i dunno dress up like a hippy and go fishing or something
10) go on a road trip(in my ferrari of course n yeah nobody else touches the wheel!)
11) punch someone(ohhh yeaaahh )...hmm or i'd settle for fishwhacking(for thsoe of u not clued in-that means whacking someone with a fishh)
12) and of course get a walk-in wardrobe of the most amaazing clothes on the planet:)
well right now my only wish is that the next six months get over....and fast! before i lose me marbles....
till the next time folks, this is me signing off...
Rachina

Start Of Something New

All Right. Why is it always deemed necessary that your first post should always be an introduction about yourself? This is after all not some kind of essay or a writing piece and really why should I be introducing myself to well..........me. This would be my third blog till date. Everytime I start a new one I always promise myself that I'm going to stick through this.......but I never do. First thing you ought to know about me is that I'm darn lazy. My first blog was on Rediff and a one-post wonder. The second one was on Nickelodeon, a possibly more active one with a picture of Nick Carter on it too!! (Now that really put the Nick in Nickelodeon!!) Some blessed soul from Singapore had viewed my blog there and decided to respond to it by saying........"You have crush? I also have crush. Want to know who his name is?" For some strange reason I never replied
Now starting today I declare that :
"This could be the start of something new!"
I like Zac Efron. He's really adorable. He looks really good with Vanessa onscreen but in real life Vanessa Anne Hudgens is a far cry from Gabriella Montez. Aparajitha said in disgust one day,"She auditioned for the part in tiny, yellow shorts!" My point is what do you have a problem with? The tiny, the yellow or the shorts? I personally have a problem with yellow. It can be a very disgusting shade at times. But I saw her shorts. This shade looked good though. My friend once confessed to me that she loved wearing shorts like those when she was like what 5 years old! Grow up Vanessa!! Guys are not going to fall for your "Oh look I'm so pretty and young" facade. And you run like a wimp!
So all out of thoughts for now. Stay tuned......We'll be right back after this creative break!

Sayonee