The school I went to was a very small one when I first started going there. Just a handful of students, a few loving teachers, a small shed or two where classes were held, and lots of trees. Sometimes, we had classes under the trees, and most of the classrooms were the kind where you sat on the floor on mats and wrote on little desks. It was lovely.
I told this story to Puttachi last night. She dissolved into tears, and couldn't be consoled.
As the school grew, new buildings had to come up, and the trees needed to be cut down. The first one to go was a magnificent breadfruit tree. It had been the backdrop for most of our activities, and when our teachers told us about its fate, we were really upset.
We were asked to draw pictures of the tree as a keepsake. I remember the picture I drew very clearly. The tree had a little broken branch jutting out from the trunk at a height that was within an adult's arm's reach. Our headmistress used to hang her bag from that branch. My drawing included that too, and I remember it made the teachers laugh.
When we went back to school after the weekend, there was just an empty space there.
I told this story to Puttachi last night. She dissolved into tears, and couldn't be consoled.
5 comments:
Just shows how Puttachi is so caring for everything around her.
Wonder if such schools exist now in Bangalore with trees all around? We had few honge trees in our school, under which we used to have lunch and another tall tree(aakaasha mallige) which would give fragrant flowers which were always upside down and. We used to pick the flowers on the ground, in the evening after school and insert the stalk into porake kaDDi and used to keep in flower vase! Lovely memories. But now there's not a single tree in the school premises.
tears in my eyes.
ನಮ್ಮ ಜೆ ಎಸ್ ಎಸ್ ಶಾಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹಲಸು ಮಾವು ಬಾಗೆಕಾಯಿ ಮರ ಹೀಗೆ.. ಅದರ ಕೆಳಗೆ ಮಳೆ ಬಂದಾಗ ನಿಂತದ್ದು, ಕಲ್ಲು ಮಣ್ಣು ಆಟ ಆಡಿದ್ದು, ಗ್ರೂಪ್ ಸ್ಟಡಿ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದು ಎಲ್ಲ ನೆನಪು.. ಈಗಲೂ ಆ ಮರಗಳು ಹಾಗೆ ಇವೆ, ವಾಚ್ ಮ್ಯಾನ್ ಕೂಡ ಅದೇ ರೀತಿ ಕಡ್ಡಿ ಹಿಡಿದು ಮಾವಿನ ಮರಕ್ಕೆ ಕಲ್ಲು ಹಾಕೋ ಹುಡ್ಗರನ್ನು ಗದರ್ಸೋದು..
ನಿಮ್ಮ ಬೆಣ್ಣೆ ಹಣ್ಣಿನ ಮರದ ಕಥೆ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿತ್ತು, ಆದ್ರೆ ಕಡೇಲಿ ಅಯ್ಯೋ ಅನ್ನಿಸಿತ್ತು. ಪುಟ್ಟಚ್ಚಿಗೆ ಸಾಲು ಮರದ ತಿಮ್ಮಕ್ಕನ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹೇಳಿ.. ಅವಳಿಗೆ ಖುಷಿ ಆಗತ್ತೆ. ನೀವು ಈಗಾಗಲೇ ತುಂಬಾ ಗಿಡ, ಮರ, ಹೂವು ಇದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಬರೆದಿರೋದು ನೋಡಿದ್ರೆ ಪುಟ್ಟಚ್ಚಿ ಗೆ ತಿಮ್ಮಕ್ಕನ ಪರಿಚಯ ಇರಬಹುದೇನೋ...
Radhika, I am sure there are some on the outskirts of the city. And in some old schools too, perhaps. There are a few in Puttachi's school - young ones - they need some more years to grow mighty.
RK Bellur, yeah, me too.
Veena, yes, I'll tell her. I heard there are more people like Thimmakka, just that she has become very popular.
My school had lots of mango trees... not any more, alas.. now it has international accreditions...
Post a Comment