JAY JOSHI
Today, the sun might rise as it always does, the weather might be hot and humid as it always is, but still, it is not an ordinary day. Schools around Goa start a new academic year, and hence, for thousands of students, it’s the beginning of a new era!
The start of school is an exciting time. From buying new books and stationary, to looking forward to a new class, everyone sets about making a new beginning. For those who are yet in school, it’s a moment of joy and frenzy; for those who have already finished school, watching today’s schoolers go about their preparation brings lots of memories from their own time as students. Start of school has always been associated with certain things that have over the years become a part of our culture. Wrapping our books in brown covers, heading to the tailor for stitching new uniforms and shifting from the relaxed summer routine to the regular one- these are only some of the many things that look small but end up becoming beautiful memories in the future. Keeping this in mind, TG Life spoke to people across various generations to explore their memories of first days at school, and the conversation illustrated how much has changed on this front over time.
“I went to school in 1966-67. In the little village of Sonal in Sattari,” informed Shubhada Marathe, a retired teacher from Valpoi. “At that time, the classes used to be held in a temple. There was no school building or anything. Till class four, we had only two subjects: Marathi and mathematics. English wasn’t as big as it is today. So, we just had two text books and two notebooks with double lines, and we made covers for the books out of old newspapers. An aunt of ours used to stitch beautiful bags for us using old cloth. These school bags might not have had an attractive shape of colour, but they were very efficient and functional. We could simply stitch and attach extra pockets whenever we needed to this bag. But this bag had to be used carefully as we needed it to last for many years. You just could not get a new bag as easily as today,” she reminisced, adding that for footwear, they used plain slippers, and the concept of special monsoon wear was non existent.
On the other hand, Abhinaya Kumar from Margao, who finished high school in 2008, remembers the smell of monsoon footwear, raincoats and new books when it comes to start of new academic year. “Shopping for a new raincoat and monsoon footwear was one of the most exciting things to do, as was wrapping the books in nice covers and putting up labels on them,” said Kumar. “Also, we looked forward to sharing stories with friends of what we did during the vacations. At that time, cell phones and social media wasn’t as common as it was today, so meeting people after a long time was valued. Today, students can constantly stay in touch with each other, so I wonder what happens when they finally meet each other at school after vacations”
Anushka Jan, a student of class IX from Ponda however, rubbishes the assumption that students of today constantly stay in touch. “Not everyone is constantly online and connected. We do look forward to meeting friends at the start of the new academic year. That said, of course, there is excitement about shopping for new raincoat, footwear, school bags and stationary,” says Jan.
Whereas concepts such as sitting down with family elders to make covers for book still remains, many things have indeed changed about preparing for school start.
Along with branded raincoats and monsoon wear, school bags of different designs offer wide choice to students. Similarly,slates have become passe, and ink pens, which were popular in old days are not used by students after class four. In the future, we might be looking at the entry of tablets and e-readers, which might limit the number of physical books students carry. All things said and done, shopping with parents for the start of the school year will certainly never lose its charm.
