Alma mater always matters

My cute pink pants and a light blue color top that pairs up as a night suite is the only thing that I look for after I return from work. After a long day, all you can think of is your comfy clothes and your bed. The bed was visible, but my clothes were not. Away from my room, I began my hunt, looking under and above the table, in and around all the corners of the house. Lastly, when the investigation failed, I threw all my messily-placed clothes out of the wardrobe to locate the oxygen for my survival. I couldn't find it, but, all of a sudden, I saw a small red and dark blue color frock. Oh yes! It was my school uniform. The uniform for the moment acted like the hope to bring my life back. So, keeping all the mess and junk aside, I ran towards the mirror and fancied myself in the frock by holding it from its arms and placing it in front of me. I photographed the child in me. 

The small-sized clothing would not fit me now, but it took me back to those sweet days of school, which momentarily made me relive my childhood. Oh! How lovely those days were! Polished-shoes, neatly ironed dress, well-combed hair tied with ribbons, and ID card around the neck - These were the only needs that made us feel content.  While sharing happiness was not as difficult as it seems today, because a small tiffin box sufficed to create bonds and to share the love with our dear friends. Cheerfulness was present in all the little moments spent with the 'Chuddy Buddies' - Be it racing on the stairs, day-dreaming in the lectures, pet naming the strict teachers, throwing paper rockets at each other, ganging up against the class monitor, pairing up girls and boys, and lip-synching while pledging as 'All Indians are our brothers and sisters' was disagreed. 

Along with the sparkling moments came the dark times which nobody wished for, and it was the devil - Exams! Before appearing like a disastrous cyclone, this demon came in tiny storms, in the form of surprise tests too.  Another demon-like character used to be the P. T teacher who with his outrageous behavior and "stupendous" English made us feel innocuous and innocent at times. But, all our suppressed mischief would take shape and pop out when the class monitor would behave like a teacher. Although after all the warnings and intimidations, it was acceptable to us to outstand the monitor and feel heroic for some time. 

Playfulness arose with celebrating moments which added icing on the cake. Festivals were the events which we lived with immeasurable joy. It included - Independence Day, where each one of us would dress up as a National leader and would sing National Anthem with all the pride and joy, Diwali - where Diya-making and lantern-making competitions would light up the festive vibes along with sharing sweet delicacies, and Christmas Eve, where a  part of chocolate brownie, pieces of potato chips and a small packet of 'Frooti' adequately made our Christmas a merry one. Furthermore, celebrations like Teacher's Day, where seniors would teach the junior classes, and act like one real teacher, and Farewell, where love and grief, both filled the air, were such flashes which still do have a mark in our memories. 

Those days at that age were not the days that we appreciated. Instead, we wished to grow older and thought it was cool to be a senior version of ourselves. That homework and project made no sense to us at that time, but now, we thank those teachers for being stern with us. The heavy bag - loaded with books, felt painful at once has now prepared us to stand firm in all the challenging situations. Those test papers that would blow our minds up accustomed us to deal with all the situations. 

It always appears less when it comes to the alma mater. I feel similar to the quote said by Cara Delevingne, "I wish my school days have dragged on a little longer, or that I could go back and do it later in life."