School Induction - Day 1

After the morning rituals, I set off to Navajeevan Bethany Vidyalaya. The unfamiliarity of the name and the slight uncomfortable feeling of having to wear a saree was fresh on my mind. The uncalled-for traffic blocks on the way got me all the more irritated. My father dropped me off at the front gate before 8:30 am and wished me good luck. The gigantic gate stood like a Titan before me. The security guard took my temperature reading and asked me to write my details in the visitor's register. I noticed that all my group members had already arrived. I started climbing the stairs to where my peers were waiting. I entered the room and took a seat at the back. Things started becoming normal once I saw the familiar faces. 

The principal of the school, Shahna ma'am welcomed us warmly and took the attendance. Once we got the permission to move around, we started exploring the school buildings and surroundings. Annu, being an ex-student of the school, turned out to be a saviour. I was really excited to go back to school since I was not a student, LOL. First, we visited the main block containing classes 6-12. We couldn't step into the classes since most of them were devoid of students. We also visited the primary sections but, most rooms were desolate. We took pictures of anything and everything we found there. Some classes were in session and we saw several eyes staring at us! Then we moved to the KG sessions. The absence of the little ones made the colourful building look sad. The building had bulletin boards welcoming the tots to take their initial steps into education. The children's library seemed like a miniature home with a personal book shelf. The classes were too cute to look at and we wished atleast some of them had kids.

After the exhausting walk, we were refreshed by a cup of tea. The librarian showed us the book collection which totals to 7886. We scanned through the magazine pages and took some clicks as needed. We even got a teacher's handbook which helped us get some more information regarding the school. Later, we decided to meet our concerned subject teachers. Vinitha ma'am was our in-charge. She gave us a brief idea of the class routines and introduced us to Aksa ma'am. She kindly accepted our request and promised to arrange classes for us to observe. Since taking lessons aren't mandatory, she asked us to decide among ourselves whether we'd like to engage a class individually or as a group. All of us came together once we got assigned of some duty or of some class for observation. We moved back to the room and many of us dozed off because of the sunny afternoon. We left the school after a tiresome yet productive day.