Memories

 Memories:

I was travelling on a Grant Trunk road between Jalander and NewDelhi and I spotted the beautiful and huge orange canopy near Phagwara town ( Dist Kapurthala Punjab). Oh! You are back, it is almost 50 years since I saw you. How refreshing it is to see you back, I said aloud. I came across a few more canopies. I was in the hurry to reach New Delhi but I thought to find the origin of canopy. There she was. Standing tall and welcoming me with the rich orange carpet. The Gulmohar tree. What you treat it is, to have an orange carpet and a matching canopy in the scorching heat of April month. This scene transported me back to my school (Ramgarhia model school Phagwara district Kapurthala Punjab) days. Schools invariably reopened on 1st June in Northern India. Our excitement to go to the school in the year 1965 to 1970was at the peak. New uniform (oversized at times), school bag, notebooks, black slate (some teachers insisted) and second hand neatly wrapped textbooks as due to unavoidable reasons we were not in a capacity to purchase New books.  Steel tiffin was a bonus. What else I wanted. I used to start from my house and time it in such a way to join other friends joining from each lane at Satnam pura Phagwara Punjab. Six of us had a lot to talk. We were talking about holidays, relatives, new hobbies etc. Two and half kilometre stretch of walking from my house to school was a memorable experience thought during the school days but walking in the month of June was very special. On both the sides of the street, we had Gulmohar trees. It was as if the trees had laid the orange carpet for us. Our school compound to had a couple of Gulmohar trees. We used to have lunch underneath one of the trees. What a treat it was to sit on an orange carpet and share lunch with friends. On breezy days, we would get the shower of orange flowers. They had their own charm on rainy days. Flower pearls of rainwater, we used to wait for such occasions. Collecting fresh flowers and pressing them between the pages was a must activity for us. Our group of friends was given the task of collecting flowers and make a bouquet for guests who visited the school. At times, we had to be called by teachers to hurry up. We could spend hours in admiring the vibrant colours, smooth texture of flowers & complimentary leaves. Buds have their own beauty. A tinge of yellow colour used to peep  out. Some of our friends were interested in buds only. It came handy to throw them from last benches. There was one tree in the school compound which was dedicated for punishment. Students had to stand under that specific tree victory so that School Principal could watch the kids and kids had good time watching the street. Punishment was more a blessing to enjoy on an orange carpet and crown. Our drawing teacher made it mandatory for our class to draw some part of the Gulmohar tree. Thirty five drawings with splash of oranges, green and brown colours were prepared for exhibition in the month of June. This is one of the best memories I carry with me. Once specific Pipal tree gave shelter to bags during our sports hour, which was always the last hour of the school those days. It also acted as finish line for all the races. We call that good luck tree. Took blessing from this tree before the exams. There was yet another tree near the gate. We used to stand under this tree after school hours. This tree witnessed our emotions and all our meltdowns. A bunch of flowers from the tree on our laps assured us to leave all our worries and go home happily. During our school time, students and teachers use all the elements like trees, natural slopes, rocks etc as a part of learning activities. I seldom see such adaptation in the present day schools. Anyways, time change, situation change and perspective changed too. Full bloom Gulmohar trees brought back memories of my school days and I am going to enjoy orange carpet in orange canopy this summer.