Habits developed in the primary years are the most important ones!

Okay, where should I start?! It was 1999 when I had joined this school. A 3-year-old boy who didn’t even know how to speak properly, was going to school. An unknown place far away from his home, which he didn’t know would become his second home. Children cry and avoid going to school, I used to cry to be able to go to school as the amount of love and care that was given to me here was tremendous.

So I started in The South Point school in Pre-nursery. To me this was totally a different world which I was unaccustomed of. Little children running everywhere and I didn’t know anyone, except that one guy who was my cousin. The first thing I remember about the school is that the moment I saw him I was so happy like I had found the best toy of the world.  My first friends and the best ones I made were then, Ankush and Harshit. For me, I had found the world in that class of mine. The first memory of the school other than this, was that office of Majumdar Sir. I didn’t know people that nice existed. He was my first teacher, my mentor and a friend to me in school at that time. 

For the first year, we were four friends: me, Shanteshwar, Ankush, Harshit. Then came Nursery and then KG and these people continued to be constants of my life.

Eventually, I made new friends. Arjun, Pallavi, Shalini, Chintamani, Rajlakshmi and Aartika. I met some of the best teachers. The best of them was Priya Ma’am. I know I shouldn’t compare teachers as each of them play a different part in your development, but what can I say? She definitely was the best. I knew I had someone in school whom I could call my mom and she always treated me like that. What I didn’t know was this was just the starting. She left and then came that three people of my life whom I think I owe everything. They were Irfana Ma’am, Nandini ma’am and Mirza Sir. It was like Priya Ma’am had never left. They became the 3 pillars of my life.

I never knew I would love dancing and theatre this much until I met them. Those, definitely, are the best years of my life. Improvised dancing, theatre and Music found a way in my life and I found myself in them.  This was totally a new world for me, and was the one I liked the most. From acting on the school stage to performing in Nagri Natak Mandali had totally changed me. I remember the play Raju ki barbadi and I was chosen as the young Raju. I remember that we were practicing a dance for the play when Mirza sir (I’m 95% sure it was Mirza sir) came to me and said, “Listen baccha, what you have been chosen for is something very important to us. You have to give your best and I’m here to guide you through it. If you ever have any difficulty, just come to me or Nandini Ma’am”. That moment is when I knew that I have people in my life who care so much about me. From Nandini Ma’am guiding us through the play to being my mom on the stage, I had found a family.

I am most grateful to Irfana ma’am that she was the one who taught me. Teaching me everything about life, in that little time I studied from her, was best.  What I am today is all because of her. Some of the best habits I got from her is reading books, speaking in English 24*7 and dedication. I don’t think I ever have had a teacher like her. I remember those journals we used to write about what we did the whole day. Till now, I’ve been writing a personal diary because old habits never die. The sleepovers we had at school, those pizzas we made, scaring each other at night and playing whole day long are some of the memories that I can never forget about. Wish we could have one now.

I left the school after completing 5^th in South Point. I didn’t know how I would cope up with the world out there, but the habits Irfana ma’am had instilled in me gave me an easy ride through my new school. I made new friends, met new teachers but I haven’t still found a single teacher who is better than the trio I had in South Point.

From then to now, only one thing has changed. Now I am a Software Developer. That’s it. In my heart, I am still that small kid who went to The SouthPoint School. I must tell you I was very emotional while writing this piece. 

(Ramnarayan Singh is a Software Development Engineer and currently working with Blocknous Technologies. He graduated from National Institute of technology, Surat in 2018.)