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The place where it all began
The gate was wide open. The blue paint on it was almost gone. The hinges holding it were rusting.
“The board,” said Maria, my best friend. I looked up to see the board. It said “De Nobili School.”
“Sijua” was missing.
I said, “Are you sure we should go inside, Maria?” In my heart, I feared what the situation might be inside.
“Susan we have come so far. We can't leave without going inside.”
“Yeah, you are right. Let’s go.”
We made our way into the school through the dilapidated gate.
“Jesus,” cried Maria.
The ground was covered with dried yellow leaves. The walls had turned gloomy with green moss on them. The corners garnished with cobwebs, ready to catch their prey.
Making our way through the leaves, we found the rusted and damaged window of the school’s bookstore.
“Susan, remember, we used to buy stickers from here,” said Maria.
“Yes, Maria. I remember. Beautiful stickers they were.” “And we always forgot to bring graph copies and project papers.”
Maria said with a laugh, “Yes and Miss Roberta would send us all in groups to get them from here. Such large queues waited here that the whole period got ended before we got our things.”
Giggling, I said, “Yeah…true.”
We stood there another minute remembering those blissful moments of our school life. Those years when we were probably the purest version of who we were.
“Let's go ahead, now,” said Maria.
We moved forward to grace our eyes with another pitiful sight. The long rectangular gate which stood in front of us was the home to thousands of spiders.
I said, “Pathetic. What has happened to this place?”
“Everything is in ruins…………..Remember, Sir Tom used to stand here and shut this Gate to stop the latecomers during the Assembly.”
I cried, “Yah….. I spent half of class eighth assembly standing here.”
Both of us chuckled. Fortunately, the door was ajar. So, we ventured inside through the gap, carefully placing our steps among all the mess. We reached the basketball court which was also used as the assembly arena. On our left, were long slabs meant for children to sit upon and on the right was the same, with the administrative block behind them. As we started walking across the court, our eyes fell on the basket. We came to a halt.
The stand was rotting. The tilted rim looked weaker than a baby. The net was worn out, and it would surely not survive another rough storm. We were lost in thoughts.
Unable to bear it, I started looking all around to distract myself. The neem trees at the boundary were still strong. But the few leaves which stuck on them were coated with a layer of dust. The boundary wall was demolished. I returned my gaze on the hoop. Above it, I could see the clear blue sky which on normal days brings a smile on my face. But it was not a normal day.
I wiped away the tears building up in my eyes and made my decision. I could go no further.
“I cannot go ahead, Maria. I will wait for you in the car.”
“Wait, Susan. I know. I will come with you.”
She held my hand and quietly we moved out of our school with our hearts broken.
As we reached the car, I wished to look back and see it one last time. The place where it all began. The place I have had my life’s most beautiful memories. The place which laid the foundation of what I am today. The place which no matter what I go through will always have a corner in my heart. It was here that I made the best of my friends. I was here that I learnt to hold a pen. It was here that I learnt to write and utter words perfectly. It was here that I got wonderful guidance.
It was the first and the only place out of my family where I felt at home.
Now, it stood in ruins. Thus, no matter how strong was my urge to look back, I did not. I could not bear to.
The whole journey in the car went in silence. We were too engrossed in our thoughts to speak.
Now, here I am, describing my day to you. As I wrote down the whole of today’s events, tears filled my eyes.
You know? It hurts. It hurts a lot to see from your very own eyes a place, a building or as to say a memory dying slowly………….
Right now, there is a pain deep down here………………….in my heart.
© Sanika
“The board,” said Maria, my best friend. I looked up to see the board. It said “De Nobili School.”
“Sijua” was missing.
I said, “Are you sure we should go inside, Maria?” In my heart, I feared what the situation might be inside.
“Susan we have come so far. We can't leave without going inside.”
“Yeah, you are right. Let’s go.”
We made our way into the school through the dilapidated gate.
“Jesus,” cried Maria.
The ground was covered with dried yellow leaves. The walls had turned gloomy with green moss on them. The corners garnished with cobwebs, ready to catch their prey.
Making our way through the leaves, we found the rusted and damaged window of the school’s bookstore.
“Susan, remember, we used to buy stickers from here,” said Maria.
“Yes, Maria. I remember. Beautiful stickers they were.” “And we always forgot to bring graph copies and project papers.”
Maria said with a laugh, “Yes and Miss Roberta would send us all in groups to get them from here. Such large queues waited here that the whole period got ended before we got our things.”
Giggling, I said, “Yeah…true.”
We stood there another minute remembering those blissful moments of our school life. Those years when we were probably the purest version of who we were.
“Let's go ahead, now,” said Maria.
We moved forward to grace our eyes with another pitiful sight. The long rectangular gate which stood in front of us was the home to thousands of spiders.
I said, “Pathetic. What has happened to this place?”
“Everything is in ruins…………..Remember, Sir Tom used to stand here and shut this Gate to stop the latecomers during the Assembly.”
I cried, “Yah….. I spent half of class eighth assembly standing here.”
Both of us chuckled. Fortunately, the door was ajar. So, we ventured inside through the gap, carefully placing our steps among all the mess. We reached the basketball court which was also used as the assembly arena. On our left, were long slabs meant for children to sit upon and on the right was the same, with the administrative block behind them. As we started walking across the court, our eyes fell on the basket. We came to a halt.
The stand was rotting. The tilted rim looked weaker than a baby. The net was worn out, and it would surely not survive another rough storm. We were lost in thoughts.
Unable to bear it, I started looking all around to distract myself. The neem trees at the boundary were still strong. But the few leaves which stuck on them were coated with a layer of dust. The boundary wall was demolished. I returned my gaze on the hoop. Above it, I could see the clear blue sky which on normal days brings a smile on my face. But it was not a normal day.
I wiped away the tears building up in my eyes and made my decision. I could go no further.
“I cannot go ahead, Maria. I will wait for you in the car.”
“Wait, Susan. I know. I will come with you.”
She held my hand and quietly we moved out of our school with our hearts broken.
As we reached the car, I wished to look back and see it one last time. The place where it all began. The place I have had my life’s most beautiful memories. The place which laid the foundation of what I am today. The place which no matter what I go through will always have a corner in my heart. It was here that I made the best of my friends. I was here that I learnt to hold a pen. It was here that I learnt to write and utter words perfectly. It was here that I got wonderful guidance.
It was the first and the only place out of my family where I felt at home.
Now, it stood in ruins. Thus, no matter how strong was my urge to look back, I did not. I could not bear to.
The whole journey in the car went in silence. We were too engrossed in our thoughts to speak.
Now, here I am, describing my day to you. As I wrote down the whole of today’s events, tears filled my eyes.
You know? It hurts. It hurts a lot to see from your very own eyes a place, a building or as to say a memory dying slowly………….
Right now, there is a pain deep down here………………….in my heart.
© Sanika
