A different world altogether!

Let me take you to a world where blue sweaters were the code of the evening and red sweaters and house ties were the code of the morning, money wasn't the need of the day, friends become your only family and everyday a memorable event in some way or the other. My life in a boarding school was one i'll never forget. When i stepped in there i felt that everyone around already had their own group of friends as in any other ordinary school. Mom helped me unpack and then had to leave. The dorm was filled with loud music and sought after reunion of close friends after a long summer vacation. Girls around me were busy unpacking; they were showing each other their new stuff with lots of "uuhhs and aahhs" and "thats soo cool" statements. There were others who were busy exchanging gifts they had bought each other during the holidays along with animated conversations of exciting holiday trips and there were others who were swaying to the music in a place where the bunk beds were pushed apart to make some space. Then one of the girls who had chinese looks and pretty features came upto me and introduced herself and asked me my name...Then slowly we had to all go down for roll call where they allotted us our classrooms and called out the people who would be classmates. My 8th grade class was then announced and i was looking around for anyone who was in my class as i didn't know anybody there. Then a girl with long hair pulled into a plait came upto me and said " Hey i'm Anjali , you're in my class ok?" and i was so relieved tat i almost jumped.. :) Then, after a homesick night, classes started and i slowly made friends with a few people who were new to school like me..But friendships changed and soon they had friends of their own and so did I. Somehow, after giving a wrong first impression to that girl with long hair in my class, we ended up being best friends and then she introduced me to two of her close friends , mahak and archie, and after a few initial fights, we ended up being (the four musketeers as it used to be called! ) , the best of friends!!
Then coming back every semester to school was like coming back home..it felt so good to be back each time! There was something or the other going on in school to keep us busy. It was either band practice early morning, with the headmaster with a cane in his hand , shouting his head off at some of us and making a few others kneel down...or athletics practice early morning 6 am with warm ups and competing for 100ms and 200ms with my friends for practice. Sports was quite an important part of almost everyone there and we had a lot of interhouse and interschool competitions which were fun to be part of and to watch as well. I even went for some NSS marchpasts and some horse riding classes in the morning whenever we were asked to. We had dance practices(it was here that i actually learnt to dance after a loot of practice and help from my best friends! :) ) and all kinds of house competitions in the evenings before prep. Prep time was usually a good time we had in class in the evening when we were actually supposed to be sincerely studying or doing our homework. The guys were usually upto some mischief or the other in class as long as the teacher who was supervising wasn't passing by our class. It was good to be part of the fun and we had quite a good amount of laughs at the things that happened in class though i missed out some of them as i had to be down in the library for being a library prefect. But the moment i came back to class, these guys had to tease me in some way or the other indirectly AARRGGGHH!!! Anyways they make memorable moments that i can always look back at and laugh at whenever i talk to some of my classmates at present. Holidays(including Sundays) and special programs in school were always looked forward to as it was a time where we didn't have to wear our uniforms and everyone looked...well.... their best :)
Our dining hall was a place where i actually came to know who people other than my classmates were and listened to some new music which had just released and ate both formal and informal dinners and also had our birthday cakes and celebration as such with the class.
Though there wasn't much interaction or talking with the opposite sex in my batch other than the few couples who were going out, there were secret letters passed between friends(some of which were caught and people got caned for) and proposals going around too, and news of which guy likes which girl , n viceversa, all of which made interesting gossip! :)

Then came the end of 10th standard and i had no idea of how time flew; we had slam books to fill that too, secretly when teachers weren't around...(quite a few of which were interesting to read, i should say! ) and many of my batchmates leaving school to new,strange places in the outside world and some still staying back in a place that had become almost their own home..

I left my so called "home away from home" in 10th and i heard school totally changed after i left with different sorts of people joining who were i guess... not as innocent as we were.. :) and things changed, and so did some people i knew...but few others stayed very much the same!!!

I have luckily managed to keep in touch with a lot of my classmates through the net and have come to know a lot of people from my batch whom i haven't even spoken to in school and have become good friends. That is something which i did not even imagine would happen and i'm so glad it did!

Well..as I walk down memory lane , i realise that my life in school has taught me a lot of things i wouldn't have learnt in any ordinary day school at home and given me invaluable moments and experiences and the best of friends i could make which could not have been otherwise!