Buds

          I have been told that I was a happy and talkative kid. It is not hard to imagine myself as such! I do remember a lot of things from the time I was a wee three-year old, and I thought of penning down some funny instances associated with that period (before I fall prey to Alzheimer's and much of the sweetness of the past is lost) . My father was transferred to the picturesque Haldia township when I was about 2 years old. The sector we were assigned to was still in it's infancy then and in the old, worn-out pictures one can see signs of heavy construction going on in the background.My parents and myself moved into the quarters of the still-in-creation sector 17 which would be my home for the next 6 years. With baba settled in his new job-profile and ma having established domestic bliss, it was time for my parents to worry about their little daughter's education. On enquiry  it was found out that I was too old for the playschool of the township nursery, BUDS. BUDS had a good reputation and few seats, so apparently there was "competition" among the tots of the IOC, HFC & CPT townships for getting into the reputed Montessori school.Getting into the playschool year is easy as no scrutiny is conducted. And I had missed the bus. Well, there was nothing to do but wait out till the next academic session and apply for step-2 (step-1 being playschool). All I remember about the admission process is that I was taken into this serious looking room with my dad and there was a very pleasant lady sitting there. She had asked me some questions and I had given some quick answers and then as the interview was about to end, I had started asking questions on each and every interesting object I saw in the room, thus proving that not only was I not scared of the personal interview, I, in fact was enjoying the entire process! Anyway, my inquisitiveness paid off and I was selected for step-2 directly. One more girl, Kitty was selected along with me, the rest of the batch being students promoted from step-1. Kitty stayed near my house and was, for all purposes, my first friend & playmate. (She is now pursuing a PhD degree in Germany, bless her).

             The BUDS days comprise a happy blur and not many specific incidents come to mind. Everyday I would wear the pink-and-white chequered tunic,take my bag, hop onto the ridiculously crowded van of Nishikaku, and reach my school with a bunch of other kids. During assembly we would sing some funny songs befitting the age of the students' and then proceed to our classrooms. I have report cards from the years in BUDS wherein my childish scrawls and picture-coloring never fail to bring me mirth. Once,  I had forgotten to bring my ID card. At noon as the closing bell tolled, I lined up with other youngsters to go out and hop onto my van. But the absence of an ID card ruled out the possibility of me being allowed to leave the school and my mother was summoned to come and pick me up after showing the necessary ID details. I was taken by the school ayaah to a room and told to stay there till my mother comes to take me home.One by one, all my friends and soon, all the students left. BUDS was empty, but for the ayaah and the cleaners working nearby.I was the only three-year old still in the building, alone in the room the ayaah had put me in.For sometime I was looking towards the door, obediently waiting for someone to come, but as I realized that it would take some time, I put my bag down and turned around to explore the room. And then lo and behold! It was like I was in a treasure trove of toys! All around me were toys of different shapes and sizes, colors and types. I was wonder-struck. It seemed to me that I was in a secret room of toys and I had to explore it as much as I could before I would be taken away.The entire interlude of me being whisked away from the gate due to the absence of the ID  card and my mother coming to pick me up was spent in happy merrymaking mostly in the dolls' section. I remember sitting on the floor with toys surrounding me on all sides-- I was immersed in playing in the wonderland as I saw it, when the ayaah came to inform that my mother has come. I almost did not want to go! She was surprised that I have not been scared or crying and had been happily whiling away time alone! That was the last time I saw that room. Later I got to know that the room that harbored me is a part playschool section and having never attended the playschool at BUDS explained why I had not seen it earlier.Anyway I was still happy about having the entire  playroom to myself, a privilege the others hadn't had. :)

                 From step-2, I cruised onto step-3; the final step of Montessori before going into the kindergarten of St.Xavier's school. The step-3 classroom had two columns of benches, with the teacher's desk being in the front and the benches on either side. One day, the teacher was droning on and had given us something to write from the board.I was sitting on the 2nd/3rd row and Kitty was sitting right across me in the next bench column.Both of us were impatient and bored and could not help chattering a bit and as it always happens; the teacher who had hitherto been most absent-minded suddenly became vigilant and immediately caught the two naughty girls indulging in the forbidden act of talking in class! So, well we had to be penalized for our act. The penalty meted out was that both of us were asked to go the back of the class, kneel-down at the two respective corners and hold our ears for the remainder of the  class. We pranced to the class-end and did the needful. Soon the class was rid of the temporary disturbance caused by us and the usual rhythm resumed.The initial glee of having had a change of state died down and soon I was bored of quietly kneeling down. I looked at Kitty but she was looking straight in the front. Unable to find anything new to do, I unhappily tried to continue my punishment for the rest of the period. The teacher was correcting notebooks and the class was quietly and meticulously copying down the new words taught that day.The long period spanned out in front of my eyes and I almost regretted talking with Kitty when we should have been busy studying....Suddenly I heard a "psst!psst!Daby!Listen!". I jerked my head towards Kitty with interest and whispered to  her "What?".She pointed to her shoes and her laces which had gotten loose. She indicated that she had not yet learnt to tie her shoelaces. And then she just meaningfully looked at me.I got the drift that she wanted me to go and tie her laces but I was worried. What if teacher caught me? It would be disastrous to get caught doing mischief while already in punishment!What to do? Kitty was going on signaling me to come.I saw that the teacher was busy correcting and was not looking up at all. If she did, she would immediately see me crossing from one corner to another...after a while I just decided to be foolhardy. I cautiously started crawling towards Kitty's corner, with her egging me on. I reached the other side safely, and promptly tied her shoelaces. She said thanks and I, seeing that Ma'am is still engrossed in her books,quietly returned to my place. I was feeling happy about the successful endeavor when I heard Kitty calling out again. "What now?", I thought and I saw that she was giggling silently and then untied her shoelace. Before I could react, she tied the lace back on!! She made me understand that she already knew how to do it but was getting bored, so just thought of that devious idea! I was flummoxed but then decided that even though it was risky, I did actually enjoy the experience. But to get even with her, I untied my shoelace and pointed it out to her. She got the hint and like a loyal friend, slowly moved on all fours and came to my corner. She deftly tied my shoelace and quietly scurried back. Now that both of us were party to the game, a series of to-&-fro trips by both parties started.By the end of the period, we had made about 5-6 trips.I remember feeling supremely triumphant about the fact that we both had indulged in such adventurous fun under the teacher's nose and no one got to know!Happy,elated,proud of our feats, I could talk about little else that day.

     The day of the planned "shoelace-tying" is long past... but it stands for the innocence of childhood and how we converted a punishment into an act of gaiety. Thus I bring to a close one of the oldest incidents that occurred in my life which brought with it guileless amusement, and continues to do so when it revisits my memories..