That's where I began my tryst with the world beyond Mummy, Daddy and Me. I vaguely recall crying inconsolably, when my parents left me inside the two little gates of the Kindergarten section... but, that was only until I discovered the joys of creaky swings, bumpy merry-go-round rides and hugely popular slides inside that little haven.
And so, I grew up, dreading the two days of the week when we had 'Sports' scheduled.. when we'd have our nails and white-keds checked, to have the teacher nod disapprovingly at the slightest hint of a smudge on our shoes or badly cut nails. I now admit though, that I used stolen chalk-pieces to polish my shoes, and resorted to biting my nails; just so I wouldn't have to kneel on gravel in the scorching sun. And then, there were the particularly hilarious incidents when one of the sisters (ahem!! that's what you call the nuns at school) gave us a piercing stare and said in this imperious tone: "What child?"; and we'd wish that we'd melt right there in our shoes.
(I'd laugh in their faces, until I turned red, if they said that to me right now!) And then, there was the 'Dramatics and Singing' class.. where we'd sing and dance to the notes of the piano.. well... all in a day's work!!!
However, the most striking memory of my convent-bred childhood will always be the morning prayer.. "Our father in heaven..." followed by hymns and cute li'l songs or the National Anthem. I wonder at the simplicity of the time we spend as children, there's nothing that CANNOT be taken care of!
Anyway, it was at school that I discovered Literature... and consequently, the therapeutic value of writing. Of all the forgotten stories, essays and poems.. I salvaged just ONE! And that's the one I've typed in here. Before you get lost in that quagmire of banal poetry, lemme deny any understanding of what these verses imply.. cuz I have no self-professed love/respect/whatever for the 'Knowledge' that school imparted to me and no great insight into the architecture, either. I guess it was in those fits of solidarity (that we parade) to school or in times of exaggerated emotion, that I penned them. But, if you tried to be tolerant, and read between the lines.. you'll be sure to catch a tiny semblance of what I probably wanted to say behind the veil of verbosity.
There it stands in the midst of flora,
It's high shadow towering over the world
The grisly grooves like the recesses of a secretive heart,
Covers itself with benign hues
The formidable structure encloses within
An array of mysteries forever shrouded.
Exuberance takes lead in the atmosphere,
That exudes the sweet fragrance of Knowledge
And endows us, the Seekers,
An invaluable store of pure elusion
Proffers to us bitter endurance,
At the pre-dieu for the sacred altar.
Autumn brings the fall of golden leaves,
Showering confetti over the reunion,
Of the two forces of Emerging Soul and Divin Knowledge
The reunion that personifies Eternity and Peace
Peace, that is joie de vivre and
Eternity the ultimate bliss.
'Ere i stand before the incarnation of sanctity,
Moving along like the Saintly Piligrim to the Sacred Shrine
Shedding the superfluous materialism within Me,
To achieve Divine Prescience
Across the labyrinth of emotions,
Bidding au-revoir to worldly allurings.......
Phew!! Now that was quite a roller-coaster ride...
