Yaadein -2 : Carmel (1993-1998)

The Year 1993 was a milestone. Many things changed, both at home and at school.

    Academic Year 1993-94 : New class! I was sitting among seniors in Class 6. The Principal Sister Mira has already told my father that if I do not perform well in the First term exams in July, I will be put back in Class 5! Studies were tough, especially English, Bengali, Maths and Science. I had a lot of catching up to do. It was my sister who gave me the courage and confidence to take on the school syllabus after a skipped academic year. The class teacher was Sr. Dolarine, who taught us Moral Science. Sweta Mukherjee was elected the class leader by a huge margin. Cutely, the baby me was also put in the race for fun and got 5 votes (:D). Our desks were arranged into four rows, named as Shanti, Jyoti, Preeti, and Neethi squads (houses), with a squad leader each. 

    This year saw the beginning of separate subjects of Physics and Biology, both taught by Ms. Manjushree Ghorai. We were terrified of her, specially when she asked questions. She gave homeworks and screened them publicly on the next day. I messed the first Physics homework and got ear-twisted by her. In spite of her strict demeanor, there was something endearing about her. Sutapa Miss continued to teach us English and Maths. I bungled up many formulae in Maths and several rules in Algebra, thereby starting to disappoint her (after a promising run in Class 4 in the previous year). English also seemed tough, with a quantum jump in vocabulary. The Gulmohar reader, which we had been reading since class 1, was suddenly appearing difficult. The prose pieces were no longer the innocent ones like before, where it was sufficient to know the story. We not only had to know what the character was saying or doing, but also what s/he was thinking and feeling. Whether it was Sinbad the Sailor, Jim Corbett with a cobra, the Japanese fairy tale of The Crane, the Prince of Athens with a Beast in a maze; all of them left me struggling. The poems were even more complex. William Wordsworth, William Blake, John Milton, all of them were hammering our brains. Dissecting them with feelings and nuances was something I had not done before. The same happened with Bengali prose and poetry. Tagore and his ilk invaded our syllabus. Thankfully, I never had a problem with the grammar in any of the three languages. We had a new Bengali Teacher, Ms. Bhaswati Bhattacharya, who replaced Ms. Ghosh upon her retirement. She made the Bengali classes interesting, but had very high expectations. It was for the first time that I scored 43% in Bengali Literature! (It was a jolt and I understood I had to pull my socks). History was taught by Ms. Anita Jha, and we needed a dictionary in her class, too. It had become a boring subject and I hated it for its political content. We were also quite scared of the cold teacher (did she ever smile?). Geography was first taught by Manju Miss and then by Sr. Rashmi (who made it more interesting). 

    I made new friends among the seniors : Neeta Shrivastava, Arpita Sutradhar, Kamalika Nandy, Anusua Dutta, Amrita Bhattacharjee, Mousumi Mitra Roy, Sabina Banu, and more. In the summer, I borrowed the books of Class 5 from a school senior (Ritushree Saha  of Manohartand area of Sindri) and devoured the content in 5 weeks. Thankfully, I performed decently in my examinations (though it was nowhere close to my previous performances), and therefore continued in this 'senior batch', and became their batch-mate. The double-promotion had put me under pressure. I even had to catch up on water-color painting in the Art class (under Sir George) and Crochet in the Craft class (under Ms. Naalam Kalra). Here, we made a set of six table napkins with matty cloth, doing cross-stitch, and then laced them with crochet.

    In September 1993, my sister left home for Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune; to study the 4.5 years of MBBS course. This ensured that she would be inducted into the Indian Army at the end of her studies. It was a huge success! She packed her bags, and dad escorted her to Pune in a very short notice. He settled here there in the girls' hostel, and she quickly started her 1st Term classes of MBBS. It was the second change at home, after my grandpa's death in 1990. My mother became slightly depressed at her departure, and took several months to come to terms with the 'empty nest'. Father started taking Physics tuitions at home to be more engaged after work. In Sindri, I made friends with my father's colleagues children, : Raja, Rana, Tina (children of Chatterjee Kaku, older than me) and Hampi (son of Bishu Kaku, younger than me). My parents visited them often and vice-versa. They also threw parties in our big house with all his colleagues with family, with my mother dishing out gourmet recipes from the Bengali cuisine. 

    Till now, we were not allowed to watch Bollywood movies. Every Sunday evening, when the neighbourhood TV sets would be blaring the 80's Bollywood Masala movies and the road would be deserted, our home was quiet with we studying at our desks as usual. I am sure my parents have sacrificed a lot of their entertainment time for us. This year, I watched my first movie on TV, named 'Daulat Ki Jung'. (When I watched it again much later, I realized how bad it was!). There was a party in the house later that evening, which was why I was exempted from studies. This was also the first time that we went to the local theatre (Kalpana Talkies) in Saharpura to watch the Hindi version of 'Jurassic Park'. From then onwards, I was allowed to watch one movie per month, though none were worth the time (Remember the crappy 80s-90s Bollywood?). I heard of a someone called Shah Rukh Khan, who dies at the end of every movie. This year, our whole class performed on the Parents' Night, just before the Christmas vacation. It was a Hindi song to commemorate the Birth of Jesus Christ ("Yesu janma Bethlehem mein tere mere liye"). 

    December was fun. First, we had a 4-day trip to Durgapur, where my father as posted during 1972-1980, and where my sister was born. I met my parents' old friends (Pal Kaku, Tushar Kaku, Randev Jethu) and their children. The Durgapur township was similar tp Sindri, though much smaller. The Christmas vacation brought a new experience. Relatives from Kolkata visited us : Anu Dada, his wife Anjana, his son Bapai and his mother (my cousin aunt). We took a 2-day trip to the nearby Parasnath temple, located on the highest point in Jharkhand. We stayed at the foothill Dharmashala at Madhuban, and on the next morning at 4:30 AM, began the ascent. It was a 4-hour long 15 km trek. Anjana, Bapai and me made it to the top, from where the 360 degree view was mesmerizingly beautiful. My Mother and Aunt attempted the climb, but withdrew in less than a kilometer. They waited at Madhuban, with Anudada joined us midway during the descent.

                       

Row 1 (standing) : Sneha Verma, Rupali Shrivastava, Devyani, Rashmi Kumari, B. Ramya, Anjali, Minal Vora, Neeta Shrivastava, yours truly, Madhura Moulick, Rina Mondal, Kamalika Nandy, Deboshree Mukherjee, Annu Dubey, Bhakti Rathore, ??, Inderpreet Sodhi, Mousumi Mitra Roy, Suchismita Mohanty, Nitu.

Row 2 (Sitting) : ??, Rashmi Singh, Jayshree (Akansha) Singh, Sweta Mukherjee, Shikha, Pooja Sharma, Papya Chatterjee, Shruti, Pallavi, Sr. Dipasha, Reema Mukherjee, Nidhi Kapoor, Rishika Jhamb, Khushboo Singh, Anindita, Suvashree Mukherjee, Manka Mishra, Shyamali, Deepi (Priya) Goyal.

Row 3 (Sitting on the ground) : Sonika Sharma, Soumi Mukherjee, Sharmishtha Roy, Anusua Dutta, Poonam Jhunjhunwalla, ??, Rajnessh (Prabhjoth) Kaur, Amrita Bhattacharjee, Arpita Sutradhar, Sabina Banu, Yogmaya Singh, Sharmishtha Bakshi, Puja Kapoor, Seema Bharadwaj.

    In class 7, we got a new principal, Sister Lily, for a year. Neeta Shrivastava was the class leader. The classroom, located in the 'Science wing' of the school, was poorly lighted and too congested. Even the corridor leading to the classroom, after crossing the Manager's room and the Library, was dark. There were windows only on one side of the room. I did not like it. I was still struggling to raise my academic performance, esp. in English, Bengali, and History.  English was briefly taught by Ms. Nagaratnam, after being split between Ms. S. Bagchi (Grammar and Language) and Sr. Lily for Literature. English was slowly coming under control. A new subject, Chemistry, entered the curriculum. I took some time to gel with the subject, esp. because it initially talked too much about the history of Chemistry. It was taught by Ms. Reba Mazumdar, who also taught us Maths. Algebra saw a quantum jump this year. Physics was taught by Ms. Ira Bandopadhyaya, and Biology was taught by  the new Ms. Archana Chatterjee, after our sweet Teacher Ms. M. Paul, who had made Biology very interesting for us, retired. Since the science practical classes had not started, we visited the Birla Museum in Kolkata for seeing exciting science experiments and demonstrations. Moral Science was taught by Sister Ursila. Another newcomer, Sr. Dipasha (in the class photo above) was our class teacher and taught us History and Civics, and Ms. Suparna taught us Geography (after Sr. Rashmi vanished suddenly after the first term). The history book content became more boring this year. I hated the history of Medieval India (dark age of India). The only character who stood out was Sher Shah Suri. Till today, I admire him and want to emulate him in my own tiny way. Our batch organized the Workers' Day celebration this year, on May 1st. We put together a cultural program, followed by lunch (menu was decided by Ms. Neelam Kalra). In her craft class, we made table mats this time, followed by a tea-cosy. In the singing competition, our class sang the "Jamaica farewell" and came 2nd after the best performance of Class 7A's "Top of the World". This was a big recovery from the previous year's disastrous performace of "Do a deed of kindness everyday", directed(?) by Sr. Dolarine. Class 7B clinched the top place in Dance competition, thanks to Team Pooja Sharma. 

    In August, my mother and me travelled to AFMC for a week to meet my sister. It was the first time I travelled to Maharashtra. We stayed in her hostel's guest room, and dined in the hostel mess. She showed us her college and the Southern Command Hospital. She also showed us around in the city of Pune. I remember the Shanivaar Vada and the MG Road. I had never seen such an active city before, where people were busy in the daily activities almost in a mission mode (No, you don't see that in Kolkata). Also, I had never seen women riding bicycles and scooters until now. I had seen extremely few working women in Sindri. Yes, I realized I was in the prosperous state of Maharashtra. 

    In the winter vacation, we had 15-day family trip to Gujarat. We visited Dwarka, Porbandar, Somnath, Gir forest, Junagarh, and Ahmedabad. Among them, I particularly liked the Somnath Temple and the Junagarh Fort. Dwarka had a beautiful temple of Dwarkaadhish Shri Krishna, dressed as a warrior prince. I saw a lighthouse for the first time, and used to watch it from our hotel room window. The Gandhi Ashram in Porbandar, which included a museum, was interesting. We took buses from one place to another. Somnath was right on the seashore, with waves crashing on the temple boundary. We also visited Prabhas Patan from Somnath on a horse carriage, where lay a small Triveni Sangam. Our next stop was the Gir Forest, where we could not avail the forest safari. Disappointed, we left for Junagarh. Our final stop was Ahmedabad, where we first tried chicken in the vegetarian state. What I noticed across the state was that people were always busy in business. 

    In Class 8, the two sections of the class were mixed up, and I made new friends, like Aruna Banerjee, Antara Guha Roy, Sushmita Ghatak, and Sudipta Hui, and many more. Aruna was our class leader. Sister Dipasha became our principal. She was a pioneer in many ways. She initiated the up-gradation of the Junior School, which now has an additional floor, housing the Classes 4-6. This also led to the starting of Classes 11-12 from the academic year of 1998-99. She was a first Sister and Principal (that we had seen) who taught full subjects like History and Economics (and not just limited to Moral Science!). She started the process of clearing the jungle area behind the school building, to make a new playground. She also introduced Computer Science in the school curriculum, and set up a Computer Science Lab. Ms. Ira Bandopadhyaya was our class teacher. Chemistry was now taught by Ms. Sumita Chatterjee. She taught us very meticulously and Chemistry became interesting. This was the last year that we learnt Hindi as a third language, taught by Ms. Chandra Singh. History was taught by Ms. Banhishikha Das, the elder sister of Ms. Seema Das of KG2. Her classes where like chit-chat sessions. However, the content became quite interesting this time, with more emphasis on cultural history rather than political history. We also had a separate book on World History. Ms. Suparna returned to teach us English, with Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare (prose) and Flights of Fantasy (Poetry). Subjects began getting more challenging, and I was triggered to work harder. But I was still struggling to up my game. I was gaining command on Maths and Science (PCB : Physics, Chemistry, Biology). But the language courses were tough : I found it difficult to explain poetry and prose. Deep down, I did not know why I was studying all that Shakespeare and Sankalita (by Tagore); and this is what caused disinterest. In the craft class, we learnt fabric  painting and made a dining table center piece mat. This year I discontinued my Rabindrasangeet classes, and opted for classical music training for a year. My mother was very particular about my singing classes, after having unsuccessfully tried to make my sister a singer. 

    In this year, I became more independent. E.g., when our school buses were deployed for the month-long Bihar Legislative Assembly elections, we used local transport (trekkers) to reach our school and return. I learnt to handle cash, and used to get my own stationery. This was the year which made me conscious of the world around me. In Hindi, one calls it "Hosh Sambhalna". I became more and more aware about the world. I started reading newspapers seriously. I started asking my parents about their grocery bills and electricity bill, the train fare to Kolkata (where we often went), and my father's salary! This was when my father told me that I have to become finally independent and stable as soon as possible, because that was the only way to survive in this world. In summer, I saw another family wedding in Kolkata, which brought me the same suffocation as my uncle's wedding a few years ago. In October 1995, I saw a solar eclipse for the first time. It was in the mid-morning. Dad, Mom, and me applied soot a few pieces of glass and used them to watch it. It was a 98% eclipse in Sindri. The plants and the trees in the garden and the balcony provided thousands of pin-hole cameras, clearly depicting the eclipse. During the Puja Vacation, we visited the Maithon Dam and the nearby Kalyaneshwari temple. It was a big group : My uncle, aunt, her sister with husband and son, and my nephew, and the three of us. 

    In November 1995, we had a 1-week long family trip to Gangtok and Darjeeling. We took the train to New Jalpaiguri, and then the bus to Gangtok. On the first day, we visited the Rumtek Monastery. The visit to the Tsango Lake on the next day was particularly awesome. What I was mesmerized by was the view of Kanchenjungha from Darjeeling (the view from Gangtok was somewhat different).  We saw the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Himalayan Zoological Park, the Mall, Happy Valley Tea gardens, and took long strolls around the town.

    Early 1996 night sky gave us comet Hyakutake, which I gazed at for a week with my father. Class 9 brought in Economics, taught by Ms. Sudipta Roy. I liked it very much. I found it to be a very practical subject. It was the first subject that taught us how the world was running. I realized economics is the biggest Game in the world, and every body plays it, in big ways or small. It is something no one can avoid. Half of the class learnt this subject. I did miss Home Science, taught to the other half of the class by Ms. Neelam Kalra. (So, in 2021, I bought the ICSE Home Science books and did self-study). In the (scary) English front, Shakespeare invaded our lives. Thanks to Ms. Mohana Suresh, who was also our class teacher, The Merchant of Venice was under control. Ms. Manjushree Ghorai was back as our physics teacher. Our school got a new smiling Geography teacher, Ms. Baishali Sinha. History, Biology and Chemistry continued with the previous teachers. This was the year that we started our Science (PCB) practical classes in the three respective laboratories, supported ably by Lab Assistant Naveen Bhaiyya. Thursday afternoons were exciting, when we spent two consecutive periods doing our experiments. Kamalika Nandy was our Class leader. Our class organized the Teachers' Day  celebration this year, on September 5th. Then came a disastrous day when the Principal got very angry with both 9A and 9B for indiscipline during the recess. Both the classes were made to stand outside for the rest of the day, and also suspended for the next day. All of us still came to school on the next day, and sat without any teaching. No teacher stepped into our classrooms. By the end of the day, we apologized to Sr. Dipasha, and somehow things subsided. In this year, we also had the Patna-based Taru Mitra Organization visiting for promoting awareness about the environment. Under them, we organized a rally from School to Jorapokhar Police station (about 2 km), and upon reaching there, we 'repaired' the forever-damaged road with stones and stand. The road was closed off and only ambulances were allowed. One particular spot on a road, which had a huge pothole, was filled up completely. This incident was covered by the local newspapers. In December, we had a open fete for parents, with tents pitched in the huge playground of the Junior School. Our batch sold bun sandwich. Two weeks later was the Parents' Night. This time, my mother attended it, because my father was away in Kolkata for renovating his retirement home. I did not go on stage this time, but helped the batchmates who put up the Ritu Dance (classical dance depicting the six seasons of the Hindu calendar). 

    My mother got a new group of friends (Shikha Mashi, Haashi Mashi, Nupur Maashi, Sumita Maashi, Runa Kakima, Mondal Kakima, etc.), who played 'Chit fund' and had their monthly kitty parties. She had lots of hobbies. Sometimes, she stitched clothes for the whole family on the manually-operated sewing machine, which once belonged to my father's mother. In winters, she knitted sweaters, cardigans, mufflers, caps, shawls. She made them for the family, extended family, friends, and neighbours. She also made sabu dada papad, bori, potato chips, all from scratch. During festivals, she made special sweet dishes and snacks. Holi was incomplete without Dahi vada. Durga Puja saw Nimki and Pedaki. Makar Sankranti (January 14) was sweetened with Peethe and Paatisapta. Sunday breakfast was always Luchi with Aaloo dum. Sometimes, she made Idli and Dosa, with coconut chutney (using the same coconut from the tree in our garden). She also did embroidery, and hand-held us through our craft-class assignments in school.

    Another summer, another family wedding in Kolkata : I was physically present there, but was mentally removed from the suffocating drama. By now, I was repulsed by this society. I knew I could not live life simply by going through the motions of living on a daily basis. Because I had already become conscious of the world around, I had also started forming my own opinions. In the winter vacation of 1996, my uncle, aunt, and their son visited us in Sindri. We went for a tour to  Ayodhya Hill. We took a train from Pathardih to Barabhum, followed by a beautiful rural bus journey from Barabhum to Baghmundi. We trekked up the hill to reach the picnic spot. We also saw the lower Bamni falls. On our way back, we took a bus to Tatanagar, and then a train to Howrah. 

    Early 1997 night sky gave us Comet Hale-Bopp. I watched it every evening in March-April. It was once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. This was the time I wished Dad had a telescope. By then, after many sky-gazing evenings with him, I had learnt to recognize the Pole star, the Ursa Major, Castor and Pollux, the Ursa Minor, and also the planets (Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn). It was more fun than watching a show in the Birla Planetarium, Kolkata. 

    This was when I started Class 10, the last year in Mount Carmel. There were no more PT classes. The first period of the day was always the Maths class by Reba Miss, who was also our class teacher. Our batch formed the school cabinet, and I was one of the four 'Discipline ministers'. Aruna Banerjee was the SPL (School Pupil Leader) and Neeta Shrivastava was the ASPL (Assistant School Pupil Leader). Ms. Mohan Suresh, our fabulous English teacher, left school to a tearful farewell, and Ms. Harmeet Singh replaced her. The Merchant of Venice continued, along with books of proses and poetry. Nidhi Yadav was our class leader. Our batch had to organize a fete for the whole school, with snacks, Rasna drink, and games. It was supervised and directed by Ms. Neelam Kalra. In her craft class, we made a doormat with old saari-s, followed by a jar of lemon pickle. In this year, our school started Computer Science classes in a air-conditioned lab in the first floor. Some of us took this course and learnt BASIC. 

    In November, our batch had a 2-day life-guidance seminar, where we stayed overnight at school. It was a proper sex education class, which I applaud our school for organizing every year without fail (My sister's batch had theirs in 1990, i.e., when they were in Class 10). This was the first time we had an overnight stay away from home (we did not have 'sleepovers' back then). We all were super-excited. Sr. Violita came down from Patna to take the seminar. We had lectures, skits, Q&A sessions, and one exhibition. We barely slept that night and was very tired by the time we returned home in the evening. This December we had another PT Display in the newly cleared compound of the School premises. It was a torch dance to the patriotic song "Bharat humko jaan se pyaara hain". We wore white salwar kurta, white caps, tricolor wrist bands, and white canvas shoes. 

    School ended in mid-January. We answered our Mock ISCE examinations, followed by a farewell function organized by Class 9. It included the Carmel Queen Contest, which was judged by Sr. Dipasha and Sutapa Miss, and was deservedly won by Aruna Banerjee. Vibha Agarwal was the runner-up, while Sweta Mukherjee was Ms. Spontaneous. Pooja Sharma was Ms. Charming, Arundhati was Ms. All Rounder and Ritwika Dwivedi was Ms. Talented. 

    My sister finished here MBBS and in 21st February 1998, she was commissioned into the Indian Army. We travelled to AFMC for the Passing-Out Parade (POP). It was a very formal event. There was a march past by the graduated cadets, followed by their commissioning, one individual after another. It was an extremely proud moment for the family. High teas, cultural programs, and gala dinners were held to celebrate the 2-day event. We were also excited about her first (internship) posting in Bagdogra, near Siliguri.

    Three weeks later came the ICSE board final examinations, conducted in the Main Hall of the school, and invigilated by Mr. I. Kerketta from the neighboring De Nobili School. From March 15-29, 1998, every afternoon saw one examination, starting at 130 pm sharp. I was in a different mental zone throughout this time. This was our first public examination and I had to excel. When the results came out, it was the fructification of all my efforts of the last 3 years. I finished School, graduating from Mount Carmel after 11 years. This completed the first 5-year plan 1993-98, and then started a 2+1 year plan to reach college.

......................................................................to be continued.

Links to all parts : Part 1    Part 2    Part 3