School...

It's been a while (not just since my last post)!

25 years, actually...


Only the other day, RV (short for R Venkatraghavan) reached out to members of the facebook group titled PSBB (Class of) 1990:

"Did you all realise this is the 25th year since we left PSBB? In recent years I have heard from PSBB alumni (current PSBB parents) of other batches that they organised their 20th or 25th reunion at PSBB. Maybe we should plan on a reunion at PSBB sometime around Mar-June 2015?
RV"

However, Hamsini (elder twin of Harshini, both daughters of my mom's younger sister), had reached out to me even earlier, albeit on a different note:

"One small request., whenever you find time, can you please write about how much chennai and Psbb mean to you? I've always wanted to read your version about them..."

Needless to say Hamsini and Harshini both go to PSBB! So did their brother Harissh. My son went there too and would have stayed if I hadn't moved to the US, but we'll save that story.

What I will tell, as we sit here on the cusp of a New Year, one that will mark the Silver Jubilee of my graduation from PSBB, is the one story that has stayed and comes first to my mind when I think of what PSBB means to me...


I love the school's Anniversary Program! A 3-day event that happens sometime Jul/Aug, it's the quintessential showcase of the not just the students' talent, but the ability of the teachers, the support staff, the management and the parents to all come together and deliver an event of great, grand scale...

The theme for the program is chosen months in advance and right from the time school opens for a new academic year in early June, staff coordinators are allocated for specific routines, students (spanning 3 branches and all grade levels) are chosen for the various parts to be played and rehearsals are held after school hours every single day leading up to the event...

Every single parent gets a printed invitation with the details of the program, children are brought in early to school on the days of the event for make up and other preparation and then bussed to the venue, which is usually one of the large prestigious auditoriums in the city...

Every routine includes elaborate sets and the right elements of music, lighting, props, computer graphics and even special effects. Students, teachers, parents and even celebrities make up the audience. A show grander than this is legion only in the world of Indian Cinema...


Even though I had the fortune of enjoying this event for 14 years in a row, plus one (when I went back as an alumnus to receive an award), it's one little thing from the year 2006 (when my son was in Lower Kindergarten - LKG), that stays top of mind...

The theme that year was "Dhanam" meaning charity, sacrifice or simply "To Give"! One of the routines was the story of Lord Vishnu's Vamana Avatar. The essence of the story is how the Lord taught a powerful but vain king a lesson on humility. "To Give without pride or ego"...

The Lord appears as a puny peasant begging for alms at a ritual the king is performing with pomp and show. When urged by the king to ask for anything at all that he may want, he asks for just 3 paces of land as measured by his tiny feet...

The king, consumed by his arrogance is amused by the peasant's ask but grants him his boon anyway. The Lord, who then assumes his true form, in his first step, measures up the entire earth and his second, the heavens and the entire cosmos...

When time comes to take the third step, the Lord asks the king where he might place his foot, then the king realizes his mistake, bows in humility to the Lord and offers his very head for the Lord to place his foot on...


This routine was being performed by 7th and 8th grade students. The character of the puny peasant though was played by a kindergartener. The moment that took my breath away was the point in the play when the Lord assumes his true form...

At the cue of the mighty king laughing in arrogance to the peasant's ask, the lights went out for a matter of a few seconds and when they came back on, the stage was filled with kindergarten students playing the king and his retinue and an overgrown high school kid playing Lord Vishnu!

And as the Lord placed his foot on the king's head, the music reached a crescendo...


Thank you for your request Hamsini! And I'll do my best to be at the 25 Year Renuion RV...

Whether it's 2015 or the end of time, I'll always remember PSBB as the place that taught me what BIG IDEAS are all about...


Happy New Year Everyone! Have a Healthy and Peaceful 2015...

Rag...

"Don't wear stripes", they said!

"Or checks! They'll make you count them. No long sleeves, no bright colors either, don't tuck in your shirt, wear simple pants, no jeans, don't wear shoes, only slippers and don't even think about snazzy sneakers."

I don't remember who said it, but it pretty much made up the playbook for 'How not to become an obvious target for ragging'. What they didn't tell me was that I was going to get ragged anyway, just not on these!

I had also heard other stories. From fun - like making a bunch of freshers go dancing around the college bus saying, "Aiya! Bus vandhachu (Oh what fun! The bus is here), to fatal - enough said.

"It's all in good spirit", they'd also said. "Ragging is how you build a relationship with your seniors because eventually they will give you their books, advice and who knows, even career opportunities."

But I wasn't exactly the bravest of men (read: "I was s#!+ scared")! So, it was with mixed feelings (more like sense of terror) that I looked forward to College.

I decided to prepare! But a look at my wardrobe only made my heart sink further. Not that I had any bright colored shirts (not with my skin color), but I seemed to have a penchant for long sleeves, stripes & checks.

My options really reduced to a white, polo style t-shirt I used for cricket or the white short-sleeved shirt from my school uniform! And given a bright red manufacturer's logo on the t-shirt that alluded to a famous cricketer (Sunny), I decided it was better to go with the school shirt, even if it meant that I would have to painstakingly un-sew the school monogram that was stitched on to its pocket. Even if I had outgrown it.

With plain black trousers and sandals (from Bata) to match, I felt ready when the day arrived. I was careful not to wear a watch and to smear my forehead with sacred ash and vermilion. I prayed every minute.

So much for all the hard work, I don't even remember how the first day went! I tend to think it was mostly uneventful, because sooner than I knew it, I was walking down the long pathway leading to the bus stop.

I was almost there, when, "What mighty arms?", I heard a voice say. Certain that the reference was not to me (but fearful that it might be), I scurried to fulfill those few steps that would get me to safety. But the "Hey You!", that followed told me that it was indeed being made to me, much to my horror and despite my frailty.

"What is your name?", was the first question, followed by "Which school did you go to?" and "Where are you from?" They got to the point (there were 2 seniors) once I had answered them satisfactorily.

"Why are you wearing such a tight shirt?", one of them asked me. "I was told to look simple and I couldn't find anything else", I muttered, still in fear. "You don't have to be afraid, but don't wear this anymore", said the other. "There's a bus due in 2 minutes, so come along. Let's get to know you better on the way home", said the first, even as he threw his arms over my shoulder.

I stayed scared for the best part of my first year at Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, but the only ragging I really remember being subject to was having to run around the college cricket field on a hot afternoon with a twig in my right hand, held high to signify the Olympic torch.

But all day on Sunday, 10 Aug 14, I've only remembered little things from those 4 memorable years I spent there.

For, it all began, 24 years ago, today...