A TRIBUTE TO THE PAST- Part I

After a long gap of two and a half years, some of us were lucky enough to relive those beautiful moments again that are lost in the whirlpool of time, during the small re-union in our school on October 9, 2010. Our laughter still echoes in the corridors, the benches at the back still whisper a mischief, the black-board still portrays the images of our teachers and the holy fumes from the havan-kund still linger in the school's atmosphere. A lot has changed in the past 2 years, still everything else remains the same. Yuvraj bhaiya still smiles on seeing us, the corridor near the toilet still stinks a lot, the back-garden still has beautiful roses, the large swing still makes a creaking noise and most importantly, we still occupy prominent places in our teachers' hearts.

I still laugh my heads out when i remember Hota Sir's dialogues, “yesterday tumko bola tha na tomorrow copy lane ke lie” and “Narayan Bidyadhar Mohapatra, GET OUT!!”, which he always said pointing towards the window instead of the door!! Tripathi Sir's patriotically mathematical emotions“Tum mujhe 80 do, main tumhe 20 dunga” and frustration “20 laat maar ke bahar dunga” still set an annoyed look on my face. Saubhagya Sir's “dhundla sa....” and “ I see a beeyuuuutiiiful lady in this chalk” still shoots my imagination. Sribatsa Mishra Sir's concern for her favorite student “Pratyasha is absent today?”(Pratyasha will kill me for this!!), Sanskrit Sir's expression when he remembers something suddenly “Ishh Ishh Ishh aa raha hai”, Sanjay Sir's words of wisdom “Don't say you have forgotten. Say you cannot recollect.”and “I know that you know but you dont know that you know”, Rao Madam's way of saying, “Ae Ranjeet”, “Ae Kishore” and “Y. navin”, S.K. Bhoi Sir's “very smart” which he usually said with a grin and Chaini Madam's “Yes boys....??” are all unique, special and unforgettable in their own way. These are just a few things that i miss about this sacred institution. But there are many more things, many more instances and many more people associated with my stay in DAV. The love and care with which our teachers have nurtured us is simply pious, unworldly and selfless. I am not sure if we will ever be able to repay them for their attention, constructive criticism, their love and care and their patience and tolerance. But there's something that I can assure you dear teachers, that no matter what we become in our lives, no matter how far we go or how busy we may be, your place in our lives, in our hearts is irreplaceable. You will always be remembered and respected from the core of our hearts.Thank you dear teachers.We love you all.

                   It's been almost three years when I stepped out of my school, my D.A.V. Life has changed so much since then. We have all been too busy in our lives to take out time for each other. Truly said, "When I was a child, my friends didn't have branded watches but they had time. Now they do have branded watches but they don't have time." Despite that, a candle of remembrance still flickers in our dark yet beautiful hearts. In fact, our heart derives its beauty from millions of those candles that are associated with zillions of wonderful memories. When I called my teachers after so many months on this teachers' day, I was glad to learn that they were all waiting for my call. :-) They often think of us like we do. Whatever I am today, I owe it to my parents and teachers. All the good habits inculcated in me are the ones taught by my parents and teachers. All the bad ones are probably the ones which they never talked about. :-)