Remembrance of things past: School ends, 30 years ago

In cyberspace, we have been marking the passing of thirty years since we completed high school. Yes, it was back in 1981. In a small town, Neyveli. A town nearly as magical as Macondo in One hundred years of solitude.

In the culture then, I know not how things are now, there wasn't any formal occasion to note the last days of school. Nothing structured, I mean. All of a sudden the exams were over, and that was it.

I remember being confused--because it was the first time in my life that I didn't know how life was going to be when the summer break, or "annual vacation" as it was called, ended.  Up until then it was easy--roam around aimlessly and simply waste time. Eat quite a few mangoes. Care not about the hot Sun, despite all the yelling from parents and grandparents. And, as one who simply loved going to classes, I missed that structured learning, but knew that the soon I would head back to that known place.

But, this time it was all brand new. All I knew was that I would report as a student at a college. And it was going to be at a new place. With strangers.

Well, thirty years later, after meeting a lot more strangers in life, we have been reconnecting with those old mates.  Our faces are barely recognizable anymore--some have changed a lot more than others.  Out of the 120 or so students in the graduating class, we have connected with 40, and four are already dead. And perhaps we have lost more?

We have been sharing memories of teachers, good and bad. Many of the teachers are now long gone. YouTube came to my rescue with "To sir, with love" as the music of the evening as I thought about my teachers.. Of course, we didn't have any male teacher a tenth as good looking as Sidney Poitier is in this movie. Heck, not a millionth even :)  But then, well, he is Poitier, and it is not fair to compare any normal person with Poitier!  But, we did have a few teachers who really cared, as much as Thackeray did. And they were not "sir" but "miss" ... I suppose it is then "to miss, with love"



Natalie Merchant did a wonderful cover of this song--can't find a decent audio/video version of hers on YouTube.  But, there is one that is good enough--with Michael Stipe of REM