GRG HSS

My brother Ram was finishing 6th (I think) and I my 2nd. My father's priority to Ram and me was our education. Though he did not talk about it, he decided to put us into GRG HSS (Higher Secondary School), a CBSE board school, a rarity then and thought to be a tougher and better board. CBSE had board exams in 11th and one could straight go to college, saving a year till the 10+2 system came in 1980.

GRG HSS founded in 1969, was a long way off at Peelamedu, a good 10 km away from home - a long distance then. A shift from Pandian school 4 buildings away and leaving behind friends, there was the first time feeling of separation. On the other side it was exciting - prospect of new friends, the adventure of travelling to school, all white uniform, black shoes & belt, a red tie (with elastic bands) - first feel of western looks. And there was this badge to be worn to school made of brass and had to be polished to shine (I don't see schools have this nowadays). I notice that GRG school still has the same as it's logo though it went through a few Avatars. The logo has this little girl (Amul girl like) reaching up. The school had this simple motto that focused on the sense of belonging, which I felt was great - 

"This is my school

Make me proud of it

Make it proud of me" 

The school was spacious. It was all white, with, mint green Windows, roads lined with coconut trees and a large playground. The campus also had the girls hostel for a sister institution (PSGR Krishnammal School & College for women), a hostel for the teachers. The new school building was partly constructed where the seniors had classes and we had our classes in part of the hostel, converted into class rooms. The school was on the highway and the large black gate was closed once school started and an old stout bald man would keep an eagle eye watch to ensure nobody stepped out.  The school looks much the same today though with many more buildings (and has become a matriculation school) 

The early days here was different. There were a set of kids who had started from nursery when the school started and there were the new comers like me. I don't remember all the teachers names. I think the class teacher was also the maths teacher. Settling in took some time. Soon class tests came and I think I came somewhere at the top in maths and a moment of recognition dawned. Made me sense the importance of first impressions and also I think made me get accepted easier with both the old and new gangs. Prabhat and Surya were the early friends I picked with this and it rapidly expanded. This school environment was to shape me for the next eight years...

At home this was the year when Sridhar, my cousin finished his 10th and was going to leave us for college. While leaving school, the Autograph book was in vougue. There were Autograph notebooks available in stationery shops and it was quite a custom for teachers, friends and others at school to write messages, notes and advice in them. It was, I thought a very nice thing in those times where once you separate, communication was difficult - unless one became pen friends and wrote letters through post. Sridhar was one of the most open and frank personalities I experienced early and while normally everybody kept their autograph notes private, Sridhar would share what somebody wrote each day (as this goes through the last few weeks at school). I remember one day he was upset as one of the teacher's has written a note which read - 'Dignity of Labour - Even if you are a ditch digger be the best one". Could she not have chosen some other profession was the debate. I certainly did not realise the import of the advice at that time but the quote remained etched and in times to come made me value individuals and their efforts and think that if a person believes in something, he/she can excel.