My boarding life started when I was in sixth Standard in Dehradun, initial days were quite confusing and painful at times, I still remember the day when my father accompanied me to the school, we got a big list of items mostly necessary things like toiletry items, clothes and a huge trunk with bedding to purchase. Finally next day my father left without even telling as he feared me I would resist, being the most pampered child I always shared a very good friendly relation with him which was quite rare at our place.   Journey had started, initial days or months were like a testing period for us, they decided whether you can live this life , lot of students would leave in the beginning or at the end of the year. I consider myself lucky since I had two of my siblings already in the same school one of them being a House Prefect so there was no bullying and every one took extra precautions with me. There were disadvantages too I didn’t make many friends in the first place, a lot of students were jealous and feared coming near to me, however with time things started settling and I became just like other boarders.

Each day in the beginning made me feel that you are away from home with nobody around, I always tried to be brave and would go to toilet cry, shed tears and then back to routine, when I recall those days couldn’t my resist smile and at the same time feel proud, even today I rarely seek help and try to handle things myself. One would think what difference did it make? Here I would say that boarding is altogether a totally different environment; nobody cares about what you are doing in studies or games , it only showed when results were out, either get a scolding from house master or school teacher. You had to learn everything from the most trivial like tying your shoelace to most difficult ones. They were the stepping stones of boarding life.

   At times I considered the day scholars were blessed, would make friends with them just to have an extra home made parantha or get a help when we needed something from the market since we had only two outings in a month. Today I value more the experience of the boarding days as it helped me to be independent, learn through mistakes, understand things better, I remember during first year my engineering days how many of my fellow students were indecisive, would feel home sick, find reasons to go home, at times leaving important things behind, it was nostalgia that prompted them to act.

There was a huge difference between boarders and day scholars, boarder were always at the front in all the activities except studiesJ, we boarders always considered ourselves to be superior, privileged and looked down at others. Apart from this, boarders were one huge cohesive group always together and helped each other in need. Day scholars were individuals who mostly cared about their academics if they ever did. In sports too they couldn’t face the competition since the games started after the school and boarders were always available thus stole the show, be it a practice for a school function, sports days preparation or annual day.

Today when I compare my corporate life with my school days I found it bears a lot of similarities in many areas. We were taught to be united, competitive, obedient, work as a team and at times to act dynamically according to situations. Such instances were visible wherever group activity was involved mostly in sports since studies were more of an individual affair.

 We had a sport for each season that ended with Inter-house and Inter-school competitions. In Inter-school competition the name of the school used to be the rallying point since it involved the prestige of the school. Each player was highly motivated to perform, excel and win the trophy for the school. One such reminiscence is when we reached finals of the Inter-school Football competition, to cheer our team two buses full of boarders reached the venue. It was a tough final with heavy downpour, the ground was slippery and the host team was our opponent. We were outnumbered by their numerical strength but not in energy. All of us were standing encouraging our players, shouting “Chocolate, Limca lollypop we want CH at the top”. We took an initial lead but they responded fiercely and the score was 2-1, time was running short and there was chaos all around.

Pressure was tremendous as we had to regain the trophy as we were the current champions, each shot used to shook our heart, then there was a bullet shot from one of our players, the goal-keeper had no clue where the ball came from and it was a goal. What a reliefJ! The game finally ended in a draw and we won in the penalty shoot-out 5-3. Then celebrations ensued, at dinner cold drinks and cakes were brought, the trophy was filled with cold-drink and each one had the most privileged moment to have a sip from the trophy. Can you imagine from the trophy itself! That liveliness, fervor and enthusiasm is rarely experienced now. Essence of winning was team work, discipline, unity, trust and mutual respect for each other. After the match the players would take endless rounds of the football ground with trophy in their hand. Even after the exhaustive 2 hours match they still carried the gusto and power to run a cross countryJ. A cross-country used be one of our other events where a short marathon used to be organized.

But this glory, success and extreme ecstasy was due to months of hard work and travail which players had to undergo. Getting up early in the morning practicing for hours, working on mistakes, team work, co-ordination was the mantra for us. Our coach used to tell that even ten good players cannot win the match if there is lack in coordination, we were taught to play for the team not for ourselves. These basics are applicable to all spheres of life.   

A similar lesson of team work, unity, discipline, trust used to be the part of our soft-skill curriculum in one of our induction program in so called professional life. They taught nothing new the lessons were already learnt and felt. I owe most of my learning from school days, according to me life is like a circle you come across same things in different formats. Still the sound of competition echoes in my mind, those pictures, memory flashes and unforgettable moment’s gets alive when I recollect my most cherished and prized possession “Boarding Days”