REMINISCENCES OF SHERWOOD-DOWN THE MEMORY LANE

I joined Sherwood in June 1995 in the second standard. Being a hearing handicapped person, I had just passed out of Balavidyalaya School for Young Deaf Children in Chennai. My parents were very apprehensive of finding a good school in Hyderabad because of my disability and they were afraid that many schools would not accept me into their schools. The first school they saw in Hyderabad was Sherwood. The principal of the school then was Director sir, Mr Y K Gurwara. When he met us and was told the problem of my disability, all he did was to ask me a few questions and then put me into the school. All I can say that my parents were very relieved and even now they owe some gratitude to him. Because, the same was not the case with my friends from the previous schools. They were made to write entrance exams and in spite of scoring good marks, they were rejected by the school. Only after many attempts did they get into a normal school.

In my previous school, we were trained to hear and speak using hearing aids and in the process, encouraged to speak as much as possible. The atmosphere, methods of teaching and the rules of the school were very different from that in Sherwood. So when I went to the school on the first day, I felt lost in a whole new world. Over the days, it became even more confusing. I did not know that the students were divided into houses so when someone asked me my house name, I meekly replied that it was in Sikh Village.

My mother used to accompany me in the school bus to the school for a month or so till I got accustomed to the route.

Since we were made to practice Maths at an early age, I was well acquainted with the subject by the time I joined the school. I surprised the teachers by my quick solving approach. As far as I can recollect, there was this one incident in which we were writing the 2^nd class final exams and Kalpana mam said something while correcting the papers and then all students began clapping. I too joined them. She saw me and called me and then asked why I was clapping. So I told that since everyone was clapping I did the same. Then she told me that they were clapping for me because I had scored full marks in the Maths exam. That is one incident that I can never forget.

During the initial days, there were many who were not able to understand me but the teachers were very warm, loving and understanding. But they used to complain that I was speaking too much in the class. Irvinder mam used to take the English classes and her classes were always fun.

The teachers recognized my passion and talent in painting and drawing and encouraged me to take that up as a hobby, which later on helped me win competitions in the inter-school painting category.

My first annual day in Sherwood was an enriching experience. We were made to practice for days, the Marathi dance which we were to perform during the programme, As a result, even now, I remember those steps.

As the years passed, I learnt new things, things around me started becoming more clear, I used to be wary of Pramila mam, a stern and strict Maths teacher in the fourth and fifth standards Jaishree mam and Preeti mam are some of the teachers that I remember being close to.

Soon the time came when we were promoted into the sixth class and into the senior wing. I felt great and proud of myself. Most of my development ,physically, spiritually emotionally and intellectually took place during the time period from my 6^th standard to my 12^th standard. It has made me what I am today.

My first excursion was when I was in the seventh standard to Pachmarhi. It taught me the first lesson of being tough, both mentally, emotionally and physically, to be responsible and the ability to withstand hardships. Staying in the tents, sleeping on bare ground in rugs enduring temperatures as low as 8 degrees, trekking for long distances in the forests and the campfires all taught me that we face similar circumstances in life and that we should never be let down by them. They are all God’s test to see how far we can get on and how we can utilize the maximum of our potential.

Director’s sir Career and Guidance classes were unique. He always stressed on the importance of education and how it should be done in a correct manner. He always discouraged the rote method of learning and also encouraged treating students weak in studies on par with intelligent students. This kind of treatment is very rare now if one looks at the other schools around. One important lesson he taught was that one should never go after the result, rather they should focus on the path that leads to the result and that is where true learning takes place leading to true success in the long run.

The school has always given equal importance to activities, both co-curricular and extra-curricular activities like quizzes, debates, elocutions, essay writing etc. I used to take part in all of the activities not knowing how much it was going to help me in the future. Today when I look at my cousins I think of how fortunate I was to be studying in a school like Sherwood. My cousins, who had studied in SSC since 7^th standard, were not exposed to any of these activities and were always made to study and their learning was result-oriented.

Sherwood’s method of teaching is not result-oriented, rather it is about ‘learning in the process’. Director Sir’s words’ Success is a journey and not a destination’ are very true in today’s times. One cannot judge a person on the basis of his marks alone because he has some other strength within him and this is the very principle followed in Sherwood. It makes the process of learning enjoyable and fun. It believes that children should be allowed to enjoy their childhood days instead of wasting time trying to score 90%. And believes that each child is unique and should not be compared to one another.

In short, Sherwood believes in imparting education to the children that will help them face harsh realties later in life and also believes that there is a lot more to a student than he/she scoring 90% in exams.

I can never thank my teachers enough. Anita mam and Sudhansu sir instilled the fondness of chemistry subject into me right when I was in the 7^th standard. And, thanks to my English teachers of that time including Narayan mam and Irvinder mam, I now speak and write English fluently Director Sir also used to take us Maths classes and it was more of conceptual than theoretical.

Narayan mam also took some spare time off her busy schedule daily when I was in the 10^th class, to spend some time with me and help me improve my speech clarity.

I passed my 10^th ICSE Board exams in May 2004 with flying colours, I decided to continue my 11^th and 12^th in Sherwood in the MBiPC stream. Those 11^th and 12^th were the best years of my life so far in Sherwood. The bonds of friendship with friends, the bonds with teachers that we made over the years only strengthened further. I am also thankful that I took up Mathematics along with Biology in 11^th because now Math is one of the requirements to write an entrance exam into M.Sc.

The 12^th class excursion to Goa in September-October 2005 was the best excursion that I ever experienced It was 5 days of fun and masti, besides being enriching. Director Sir had accompanied us on the trip.

Soon it was the time when the 12th ISC board exams were drawing near and so was the end of our school life. We felt heavy, yet eager to go out into a new, dangerous world ready to spread our wings and utilize all the things learnt so far in Sherwood and put them to practical purposes.

I joined St Francis College for Women, Begumpet in May 2006. It was not easy in the first few months of the college. People treated me as being different, unlike in Sherwood. They were also not able to understand me and had to depend on my school friend, Ameena, to understand me. Although she was very helpful, and I have no words to thank her, I felt frustrated and sometimes lonely but I chose to ignore it. This was because Sherwood had provided me the mental strength to withstand it and keep trying. I realized it only after experiencing it.

Today, I am in my final year of B.Sc, ready to leave the college in a few months and I have many good friends in the college, all because of perseverance and patience learnt during the excursions. This is how each small thing that I learnt in Sherwood is helping me go ahead and I hope there are many more instances where whatever I learnt in Sherwood will help me.

Sherwood will always be special to me because it never treated me as a special child and gave me the opportunity to be ordinary and prove that I am as capable as any other person.

J. Mahita

Year of Joining: June 1995

Class of Joining: 2^nd class

House: Dayanand (10^th), Aurobindo (12^th)

Year of Passing out: May 2006

Class of Passing out: 12^th class.