THE RINGING BELL

 

Next! Next! Next! I was switching the channels of TV. My brain was about to burst. Unknowingly I went through the whole list and I reached channel number 1 again which was DOORDARSHAN. And I heard Ringing Bell at school on it. The small children were rushing to their school.

   And obviously my stiff cheeks took the shape of a fluffy curve (smile). Ha-ha! I smiled eternally. And soon I was lost. I was lost and I walked years fast backward and I reached my school.

    The arena where every stair is witness to our top secrets. Toilet was the area we shared a recent series of cartoons and serials. That corner of the corridor where our whole crowd used to hangout.

    Peeping out the door looking for the teacher and suddenly somebody pushed you out and you were about to be caught and you lied, “I was going to the toilet." From sharing Tiffin in lunch break to sharing ideas for Science projects. Proving our notebook cover wiser than else and copying friends while the teacher was dictating.

   We all had that perfect angle from where we used to stare our crush. Cracking Jokes in the assembly line and making weird noises while one of our fellows is reading in the class.

     We never felt less than superhuman, when the teacher sent us to the staff room to bring chalks and duster. Hiding the stuff of a bench partner and marking halfway after quarrels. Planning out of the picnic agenda to take aside benches for Social Gathering practice. Getting ready for Independence Day and Republic Day.

     Every bell came with a significant mood swing for us. Mood varied bell-bell, Subject-subject, teacher-teacher. Most favorites were lunch break, PE/PT bell, and the sound of a bell that notifies the end of day in school.

     Hoch!  How can I forget to express the victorious sound of the bell? That last second of the last paper of the semester or final exam. As soon as teachers used to collect our paper we ran out of school, shouting, screaming, dancing, singing and laughing. Golden days. Purely Golden days those were. Although we never felt when we were in school but today we mean it.

     And again the bell from DOORDARSHAN interrupted the recalling of my memories. I blinked my eyes, looked around and I landed back to reality. 

    Glancing back at our life I realized, we all were so bound together; we all were branches of the same trees. But today our grudges are so heavy that in the era of advanced technology and high speed communication we are standing so far. A single mistake or a single misunderstanding made us indifferent? How? Why? 

We were never like that. 

     So I request you give that one "THE RINGING BELL" to your fellow schoolmates, keeping beside all your grudges, misunderstandings, mistakes and I am sure you will end up being in school. We are always more than this. 

   After all, we can buy another car, we can buy another house, we can buy another gadget. Almost everything is replaceable in our life. TIME and MEMORIES are only irreplaceable ones.

 

 

BIG SMILE