So long farewell!

Farewell. That is a word much dreaded, well in ways. By 11th std coz they'd have to work until they would drop and for 12th coz of the many obvious reasons.We have been hearing the following since years... "You will soon step out into the world and will have to face it as it is." And these were the very words that were made fun of in the classroom. Along with mimicking the speaking or walking or the so called lecture giving styles of Sukhpal Sir or Bala Ma'am or Poonam Ma'am, Rekha Ma'am, Gurpreet Ma'am, and well nearly the entire staff! But then we have a lot to be thankful for. And a lot to be appreciative of. I know it doesn't always show; maybe it has never shown but somewhere deep down each of us and I mean every single one of us has taken away something from here. It could well just be the Moral values that Gill Ma'am or Poonam Ma'am or Sahi Ma'am and of course Sis Tara have tried to imbibe in us, or it could be the discipline we once promised Rekha Ma'am we'd keep for our lives and the very discipline that Meena Ma'am screams for, or it could be the self confidence Sahi Ma'am kept pointing us to, or maybe the fact that we are Satyanashis in Bala ma'ams words, or it could be the fact that "jero" was an invention and a discovery made in CJM Ambala, or it could be the General Knowledge and yes the mental maths classes that Gill Ma'am mugged us with, or it could be the umpteen songs we have hummed along with Sahi Ma'am, Melissa Ma'am and of course the very few ones with Sister!

Well for me its been a journey of 10 years. Years that were faced with the widest smiles, years that were faced with tears, and years that were faced with a straight face with a look of determination in the eye. In these 10 years I have learnt to say Good Morning, the national anthem, the many carols, the UK (or is it US?) English, the "please"s and the "sorry"s and the "thank you"s. And in these years I have been me. The school trips (how about one last one sister?), the preparations for Teacher's Day, the ruckus and the quiet, the sleep inducing lectures, the bring-me-to-life upright and sometimes unheeded moral lectures, the spats between friends; the laugh till u actually roll on the floor laughing, the many sleepy I-don't-wanna-get-up mornings, the pranks as small or as large as they could be, the recent but definitely the raving powerpoint presentations, the reflection time after seeing 'em presentations, the time spent in the canteen to get that one packet of Oyes! , the times (many times) we have been caught half asleep in classes, the "you-are-young-ladies-act-like-one" dialogues and most of all a school brimming with girls and no guys in their white summer uniform marching towards whatever it is they are marching towards! And for all this I'm thankful to each and every teacher here or elsewhere, who might have spared even a single moment for us, thankful to all the sisters for all the undefinable things they have done for us, thankful to Sitaram Bhaiya, Sanjay Bhaiya, Carpenter Bhaiya, Hema Aunty and of course all the ones I might just have missed, thankful to all the classes for the n number of times they have challenged us as a class, thankful to my so called "kiddo" friends and thankful to my own class! Lets remember and be in touch!

And now with may sound repetitive but what is true, a heavy heart and that sparkling tear I'll end this with the word I started it with; So long Farewell!