From my dateless diary:Elementary school days

My education till past 14 ,was in a government school in my native village; before going to  the elementary school at the tender age of three, I had attended a school conducted  on a payal   by a  lame teacher; later  I was  formally admitted into the elementary school  at 4 plus  in the first  standard.   I remember to a have spent only a  few weeks  or a month in that class; one day , the teacher  asked me to read and write and tell some tables which I did and he was happy with me. Immediately I  was moved to the second standard .I vividly remember  that day when I ran fast with happiness and joy flooding my  heart on the  verandah  with school bag hanging on my shoulder. Once settled in the class of second standard I  felt as if I had earned something extra. This double promotion caused problem later when in 11 th standard I had to verify my real birth date and record into the first page of S.S.L.C book.

The  school was close enough that I walked home for lunch . when noon meal  scheme was introduced ,  along with friends I used to walk home  in the afternoon to refresh   and take  the plate and some home made lemon pickles.

Most of us belonged to the middle class family and not poor and I was the only child at home and food was not an issue and yet we took our noon meal at school and enjoyed the company of friends and the cooks were excellent ; the food was tasty.It was really a golden era and the teachers were more committed to work and we were handled in a humane way; though the medium  of instructions was Tamil ,English was taught as a second language in Third standard and for the beginner it was not that simple. Quite surprisingly we did not study English in the fourth  and from next year onwards the foreign language was in full flow and I was more comfortable. But my proficiency in Tamil was at

I loved going to school without missing a single day. It so happened that on the day of marriage of my uncle(the younger brother of my father) I  found myself taking the bag and walking towards the school and in the midway a relative caught hold of me ,virtually lifted me as I refused to obey him ;he scolded mildly dragging me back towards  home bristling with marriage festivity.