Apart from an episode that I wrote about my first day and a slight schema of my school life, there was a period that was left unsaid in that piece of script. It was the final six hundred and five days of my school life. A period that stands like a rose damp in the dew of a cold morning in my life as a student. So fresh. So nourishing. With full of energy.
There were forty of us. We were all combined in our Eleventh standard as the Commerce Batch 2001-2003 students under Jacob Sir and Geetha Teacher. Initially, the entire class was divided into two major groups. Boys and Girls. In that itself there used to be a lot of sub groups too...
But, that situation survived only for a couple of months. By then those great walls between us melted. We used to feel so homely in and outside the school campus. We used to feel it as a spirit when we boast that we are the students of Jacob Sir and Geetha Teacher. It was true that the scale of that spirit was not the same in each of us. It varied in each one of us and it could only vary. And I believe that, that spirit had an out of the ordinary worth that was in possession with no other student of that school.
Jacob Sir and Geetha Teacher. They were the head teachers of the commerce department. Both were strict and loved their students like their own children. But they way they both expressed it was entirely different. When to speak about Geetha Teacher, it is some of her masterpiece dialogues that hits my mind first. Some dialogues like “you people are notorious for your behavior”; “people who laugh for no reason are to be sent to a different place” and so on it goes. But the height of sincerity she had towards each one of her was remarkable. Though we all liked her very much, at times these words used to irritate us a lot. Sorry ma’am for being a bit frank….. But, I’m sure that what we all are today, have a share of the strain that she used to take to bring up each one of us. The sad thing is that to realize her feel for us, we had to move to the then unknown future, the present day, where those old days stands like a gorgeous tantalizing reverie…
Now comes the Macho-Man, Jacob Sir. What should I say about this man…? He is the person who moulds us into Commerce students. He was our class teacher in our eleventh standard. We all used to be his fans more than just students. His voice used to inspire us, scare us, and make us under his control with mutual admiration. He is the Magical-Teacher of Bhavans. A teacher who is the richest for the relation with his students even as the pages of years keep passing after the chapter called Bhavans is over in the book of life. His style and attitude used to fascinate us a lot. And yeah…, among all these the most important one that struck me was his 350cc Bullet Standard. The way he gets onto it, the way he starts it…MY GOD..!!! I was never able to tame my mind at all to wait for a day when I could buy a 350cc Bullet Standard of my own and use it the way he does. It would be an injustice if I didn’t admit the fact that he was the second person after Mohanlal who ignited that dream to buy a 350cc Bullet Standard into a much bigger forest fire which was only to the size of a spark within me. But he never knew that until I told him about it when I went to school for the first time, after my days as a student over there, on an Open-house day to collect my sister’s progress card. And the result…as u can guess was a loud laugh in that rough voiced and the waves of which was bounced from wall to wall several times in that classroom…
Sir used to have a minimum of three periods each in both the Eleventh and Twelfth Standards and each period used to be of forty minutes. And he also used to give us a lot of free periods allowing us to play. Let me be specific…this was never a reason why his students loved him so much. Even if he takes class for continuous hours we used to sit in the class as if we all are in a movie hall watching an action-thriller movie. Though we all were hard core fans of his, the interaction with him is still a nightmare. For him everyone was equal. Even the best student can be a victim of his caning. That whipping sound as the cane cuts the air and then that “CLAP” reverberation as it comes in contact with the buttocks of any one among us… Ooff..!!! Even now when I remember those my body makes a sudden jerk shutting my eyes tightly and stiffening my whole body for a moment. While caning someone Sir’s body language often reminds me Tigers Woods, the ace golf player…a Tiger Wood making a stroke with a single hand.
I was never ever his best student. Yet, by God’s grace….just only by God’s grace, none of my body parts have been a platform to produce that whipping sound when touched by a cane. Even for some issues which on which Geetha Teacher couldn’t make a control, Sir used to take the role of the executer. And in those situations, he may become several Tiger Woods together for just a single stroke. But still, we used to realize the reason and then correct it…both…those who have it and those who see it. But this never used to be the mode of approach when it was against girls. For them it was imposition. May be to write lengthiest problem of the Company Accounts a certain number of times. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Sometimes we may feel that caning is better than imposition. Because caning lasts for only a few minutes tension. But imposition spoils that night’s sleep and will also be caught by Geetha Teacher the next day for yawning in the class.
“Bhavans is a school were one can find the cream of teaching profession. And these two teachers are the purest part in that pot of cream. Of course there are some exceptions. After all there are exceptions in everything and everywhere. Whatever it may be, they are the best.” This was what my seniors used to say when I asked them about Sir, Geetha Teacher and their classes before entering into my eleventh standard. And we continued to say the same when our juniors asked us and it keeps going on. Commerce of Bhavans will remain the same with the energy of a teenager as long as they are there.
This was we…….
Aasish - True lover of Carnatic Music and a Die-hard fan of Mohanlal.
Akhilesh - Calm and quite outside…but a funny volcano inside. Ready for any mischieves.
Ani - Somewhat same like Akhilesh.
Anitha - The heavy-weight girl.
Artika – Brilliant and have a very good smile. She shifted from our school following her father's transfer reducing the strength of our batch to thirty nine.
Arun PA - Quite, Calm, Softspoken…the one who owns an extraordinary tale to say.
Arun R Warrier - The wit…another Die-hard fan of Mohanlal.
Betty – Ever smiling Pretty Betty.
Catherine - Quite, Cute, One among the Top 3 or 4 in the Class.
Cherian - a.k.a Chery. The chocolate guy. ‘Was’ an artist….
Dhanya - Quite from a “far” view. Miss Cheerful.
Diamol - Everywhere, every time…energy refuses comes down from the peak.
Goutham - The Ganguly fan. The silent but the subject in most of the gangs where he is present. Most popular for his gestures and actions.
Jayalakshmi – Quite (not when laughing). The listener among the 40.
Jithu - The Leftist in the making. Don’t know if the Leftist is still in the making or not.
Joji - Athlete. The Ben Johnson of Commerce. A pious guy with his own principles of values.
Krishnadas - Shortest but sharpest among all of us.
Meera – The thin and tall form of fun.
Neethu - Almost a copy of Meera. Someone who always find it hard to control laughing.
Nelson - According to him what he asks will be a sensible question. But, for those who hear may feel he's out of sense…hahaa...Sorry Nelson.
Nihas - The Athlete. The Bruce Lee. Decent guy with all kinds of jokes. Above all he’s a great singer too. He used to be my favorite music system during free hours.
Nirupama - The Judo Girl. Energy….that is what she is.
Prashanth - a.k.a Pashu. The magician. The prefect. The quickest one to get popular. I like that quality of his.
Poojitha - Miss Careless and funny.
Rakesh - Yet another athlete. Hard Worker.
Ray - Better known in another name…OMG..!! He's going to kill me for this. Ray, Aasish and me used to be seated together. He’s my first friend too.
Remya - Studious. Always first or second rank in class…..
Reshmi - A quite little girl.
Sanay - Jolly, cool and soft guy. Pashu's best friend. Everyones too.
Sangeetha - Same as Reshmi. A small quite girl.
Shalini - The slim beauty.
Shoby – “The Revolutionary” as per Geetha Teacher. A great fan of the cow boy novels authored by Louis L'Amour.
Simi - Always Fashion designing in head…also sings well…
Sithara - everywhere, every time…energy refuses comes down from the peak.
Sreejith - Record holder for making Jacob Sir pose like Tiger Woods for most number of times.
Srinath - Artist. Friend for all.
Tony - The Footballer. The Cricketer. All in one and an all-rounder.
Varun G - a.k.a Padayappa. Don’t exactly know how this name came into being. Most of the laughter in chorus during Geetha Teacher's class hours begins from our Padayappa.
Varun N - myself….I have no rights to speak about myself.
Vishal - He's the best known for the way he laughs. Ray and Padayappa are the guys to use to tease him the most.
Vivek - a.k.a Pattar….Quite from a far view…but cheerfully violent as we get closer.
