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.

Height Of Irresponsibility

Come Diwali and its time to rejoice and celebrate. For many. But for some others also it means time to plug in some cotton wool in their ears during nightime all thanks to negligent neighbours.
Children and young people are always full of enthusiasm but when it exceeds a certain limit, it is upto the elders to show them some discipline or to impose restrictions and above all, tell them whatever they are doing is wrong. But if the elders do no such thing, then its the hapless people around who are being victimized. Our family is one example of being a victim of 'mind-blowing' carelessness.

I stay in an independent house on the first floor. My aunt,uncle, her son and their grandchildren stay in the ground floor. The grandchildren are aged 5 and 1 years. My grandmother stays with us.
It was a Saturday night around 11,when the whole colony was sleeping. I was watching TV. Suddenly out of nowhere I heard a blast,so loud that it made my ears tingle. I then looked out of the window and saw my neighbour, a boy of 17 years bursting bombs and crackers. I got annoyed but still I didnt do anything. Then one more followed,and one more, and one more and more . Then it stopped. I heaved a sigh of relief. Just when I thought it was all over, another blast followed. Then my sister, who stays downstairs went outside and requested them to stop since everyone was being disturbed. After half an hour or so, the blasts stopped. I looked out of my window and saw that the neighbour's lights were off, meaning that their midnight spree of bursting crackers had ended for the day.

Then on Sunday night, no sound of bursting bombs could be heard till 11 so we concluded that they weren't going to burst crackers in the nighttime anymore. Around 11:30, another 'Whaam' and this time it was a lot more louder like bursting a balloon right in the ears. Startled, my dad and mom woke up. ( Sadly, I was at my cousins place for the night and missed out on the thrilling experience) My dad looked out of his bedroom window and saw the very same boy bursting bombs, this time from his first floor balcony and throwing them into the empty space between their house and our house.

Even the Punjabis who stay in the house opposite to ours had got up and were requesting the boy to stop lighting crackers. The people who stay in the next house to ours also had got up and were on the balcony trying to find out what was happening. My dad then bellowed out to the boy from his window itself to stop. Despite his heeding, the boy refused to budge and continued to light the bombs. Finally, my dad lost his cool. He, along with another neighbour and my uncle, who stay downstairs, went out of the house, into the colony and to their house. They beckoned the boy to come down to speak with them. Even then, the boy refused and still continued to burst the bombs. Then my dad threatened to call the police if he did not come down. In his height of arrogancy, the boy replied , with a very casual tone,to him to call the police.

Then my dad did it. He called up the control room who then informed the patrolling police jeep. The inspector was in the jeep at that time and spoke to my dad to enquire about the situation.

You might be wondering all this time where the boy's elders were. The boy was staying with his uncle and aunt. Till this point, the uncle did not even bother to come out and try to stop the boy from bursting the crackers. Even after my dad went out to their house to tell them to stop, the uncle remained inside, Only after my dad lodged a police complaint did he come out.The boy also had stopped bursting the crackers.

Within 15 minutes the police jeep was in front of the house. The Inspector got out and asked my dad about the sequence of events that took place unto that point. The boy and his uncle also came down. Then the uncle denied that the boy was bursting crackers and that he had stopped as soon as we asked him to. He told that it was a small incident and nothing major had happened. But my dad and the others told that despite repeated requests, the boy had refused to stop and even asked us to call the police. After a series of arguments, the inspector also got irritated with the man's way of talking. He then told them to come to the police station along with the boy, in the jeep itself.

The inspector asked my dad also to come to the station to lodge a complaint. Sensing that the situation was getting too tense and big, my dad told the inspector to let him and the boy off with a threat. But since the boy and his uncle were already in the jeep, the inspector told that if they were let off, they would remain stubborn. So, my dad and uncle went to the station on their bike, following the jeep with the boy and uncle in it.

In the station, the boy remained quiet. It was the uncle who did all the talking. He accused my dad that he was doing all this to show off his power and also threatened to put a case against my dad. He also told the inspector in a mock voice that we sleep by 8 and that he returns from his office after doing puja at 11 so after that only, he can burst crackers. ( stupidity isn't it?)

Then the inspector explained in a stern voice, with all patience of a mother trying to explain her son the ABC of eating food, to the uncle about the harmful effects of bursting crackers in the dead of the night. He explained that there are persons with heart problems, small babies, old people who all get disturbed in the night. He further told that there was time till 10 in the night to burst the crackers so at was the need to burst it after then?

Then the inspector told my dad to return home while he would keep the boy and his uncle in the station for some more time. My dad then returned home while the uncle and the boy were still in the station.

I do not know when they came back from the station and till now I did not see them outside. But as far as I know, they are not harmed.

Perhaps this situation is an eye-opener to the many people out there who burst crackers late in the nights mindless of the disturbance they may be causing to the people around.

Golden Days. Are They Over Yet?

Gone are those days
when I used to paint my imagination.
Now all I do is to draw dissection diagrams.
Gone are those days
when I used to pick up an innocent fight
Now all I do is to chill
Gone are those days
when I used to wait for enjoying in the school bus
Now the auto awaits to take me alone
Gone are those days
when it was mandatory to fold the hair up
Now all we do is let the hair loose
Gone are those days
when our legs used to groan under our weights
during the school assembly
Now there's no such thing as a college assembly
Gone are those days
when I used to dread my graduation
Now the graduation day is a few months away
Man! Wish I had a time machine
so that I could rewind the old school times
I ask myself
" Are the golden days really over?"
For I think not yet!