'Chito khana khanu aija....8 baji sakyo!!' Exactly the words of my mother everyday and I busy multitasking, i.e brushing and doing my other business in the loo. A journey of 4 KM to the school with a 3kg bag on the shoulder didn't seem to matter much as the thought of friends and fun in the school would overpower them.
As I enter the school compound, little beautiful kids in red sweator would be seen running around the corridors and in the ground making the school look full of life and vibrant.
As soon as I kept my bag in the classroom, someone would ask me, 'Amir, did you do the homework given by D.D. Maam?' 'Lah.....!!' My mouth wide open with fear and I literally start shaking. He would keep his hand in my shoulder and calm me down, 'Aich.... Dont worry... Even I haven't done it.' and gives me a cheeky smile. 'I am glad I wont get punishment alone....' he would add. :)
'Lets go have some lal pathar* instead....' (also known as dhunga mithai or rashta ka pathar). As worse as it looked but Uttam daju's shop had the best lal pathar I have tasted till now. We would stuff our mouth with a black/brown colored gross looking thing and then walk towards our class yet again to see if we get more company for the punishment.
HAS, is a place which is more like a family than school. Teachers more like parents. Everyday we learnt something that wasn't written in books or wouldn't come in the exams.
As I look back now, I realize that those lessons were equally important. I dont remember who is Akbar or Babar, whether Akbar is Babar's son or Babar is Akbar's son, when was battle of Panipat fought? or formula of (a+b) whole cube, or sin theta or anything....
But I clearly remember those pleasant classes of Keshav Sir, Sanjeev Sir, Nima Tshering sir, how we longed to attend their classes again. I remember how Nursery Miss nurtured and fostered the nursery students (which she does till now), those inspiring talks and classes of Geeta Maam, I remember those punishments of Hemant Sir, those comics and tinkles at the school library, those friendship, those little crushes, those debates, singing competition, house quiz, games period, momo and aalu dam at Yogen Sir's canteen, murai ko dalla at the old factory shop, those children day celebration at Jau Tar or Sribadam, those funny dances of teachers at many happy occasions and many little big things.
I understood now that life is not all about the lessons that we learn in classes, not about how much percentage we bring, how much attendance we keep, how good our handwriting is, how many certificates of excellence we receive but many more than that....
Life is about learning the secret of enjoying the little big things in life, of knowing the difference between good and bad, how we react to things, being compassionate with the elders and tender with the young, being empathetic with the striving and tolerant with the fool....
In my point of view, education and literacy are completely different. All educated person are literate but all literate person are not educated. Himalayan Academy School gives us education and not just literacy. As its motto says, "Abide in Truth', it teaches us to be good from the inside out.
I am preety sure that if you have spent even a day at this institution you will remember it for a long time. And how lucky are you if you are a part of this school, luckiest if you are a #Himadrian.
