Memories of Sunlight.

For a couple of years, I studied in this beautiful school in Coimbatore as a child. Stanes Higher Secondary School, it was, yet I never experienced the 'Higher Secondary School' part of it. My first grade class teacher was a certain Mrs. Newness, and shouting Good morning Mrs. Newness in an innocent sing-song tone is one of my fondest memories of the place. Where people expect grass or just concrete roads to connect school buildings, the entire school was flooded with sand. On raw, wrung out Monday mornings, it almost seemed like a royal sandcastle standing majestically in the quiet South Indian city. I tricked myself into believing I was queen of the castle. I didn't know then that magic was just tricking the mind.

When the class opened, a musty air accosted us until we finally succumbed to it a few hours later, and did not notice it at all. The room was opened everyday, but gave the air of the unused and untouched. The class was lined with antiquated wooden desks. Each came with a seat designed for two to sit comfortably. As sore as the hard seat made my bum by the end of the day, the desk came with myriad cracks, along with 'Raju was here' scribbled with whiteners, that kept me entertained. I remember the sun streaming into the class room through the large windows to the right, as I fervently memorized the table of five and mugged up the spelling of stomach for a test. All our innocent faces scrunched up as we looked in the direction of the sun. The warmth on our faces was a welcome delight, especially on winter mornings. We loved the sun on our faces. All of us. At that age, we didn't know how to tell time but with the sun to our right and with sharp pencil in hand, we knew the day had really begun. And that recess was near.

Now, I study in a class room where I cannot see the sun, where words are used as leverage and where everyone pretends they are somewhere else.

Who Loves the Sun?, the Velvet Underground ask.

I do.

:)

I hope the sun finds me again soon to remind me that everything will be okay.

I found this really old picture of the school on the Stanes website. I remember that tree! A crow crapped on my head while I stood in  its shade. People told me it was considered good luck. I just yelled Yuck and dashed for the washroom.