Our 6th SAP trip was scheduled on Monday, 1st September, 2008. It was the day before Algebraic Structures III component test. The syllabus for the test was complete Unit 2 [homomorphism of groups]. We, group 1, panicked whether we would be able to reach home early after the trip and have time to study for the test on the following day. So we decided .to request our H.O.D to postpone our trip. Our request was denied What else can be done? The whole class unanimously agreed to postpone the test. It was good for us.
I always get down at Mylapore Tank after visiting the school and walk back home. This time I decided to park my two-wheeler near the Tank so that I can drive back home. My father warned me that it might not be safe. He made me quite worried by his statement. But my mom encouraged me saying that nothing would happen to my vehicle. So I decide to give it a try.
Monday, 1st September, 2008, was an unforgettable day. It was day 5. Mira was very sick [was running a high fever]. She had come to college in order to take Statics seminar. Very sincere, indeed! I told Mira about my two-wheeler parking idea. She gave me a second warning. Oh! I felt I should have not done so. First hour was statics. Mira’s seminar was too good. I still remember the “potatoes” which she used to explain the lemmas. The one hour was truly enjoyable! In spite of her sickness, she gave her best. Her dedication towards her work must be appreciated. Next hour was algebra. Mira was unable to continue sitting in the class. She felt more tired, after spending a lot of energy in conducting the seminar. So, with Ms. Mercy madam’s permission I made arrangements to send Mira back home safely. Hence, I was unable to attend Ms.Mercy madam’s class. That was the sad part. But when I came back to class I got great news that the test was postponed to the following week. 3rd hour was Ms. Vinitha madam’s class. The last two hours were free. I had a nice time chatting with Sahithya near the canteen area. We also spent some time together in the library.
It was One PM. As Sahithya and I were in the NCC ground we didn’t hear the announcements. We briskly walked and joined Lithiya, Diana and Inbam to start our 6th trip to the school. Sahithya and I plugged in to our mp3 players and were listening to music and walking towards DMS. Lithiya, Inbam and Diana raced us ahead. We didn’t care. We walked at our own pace. We got into a bus at DMS and got down near Anna University. A little later we got into a 21G and reached the school by about 2 p.m.
The kids were busy doing some work. They smiled when they saw us. Both Lokesh and Vignesh were present. On seeing me they immediately enquired about Mira. They felt sad and disappointed on knowing about her sickness. One of the teachers there asked me to do some Tamil ‘split and combine’ exercises as exams were fast approaching for the kids. I opened the Tamil book and started helping them to answer the questions. I just had to do one question of each type. They were immediately able to co-relate and answer similar questions. Vignesh needed some extra help. Within about half an hour we successfully completed all the exercises.
Then, both Lokesh and Vignesh, insisted on my listening to a story. It was the story of movie “Muni”, which I believe was telecast recently. They didn’t know the name of any of the characters in that movie. They referred to characters by their physical appearance [like “surutta mudi” [curly hair], “Sori moonji” [face with rashes]]. They dynamically narrated the story to me. It was really a pleasure watching them do so. They quoted some dialogues and sang songs from the movie and danced. This was the highlight of my trip.
Lokesh said that he loved “The Parrot and Crow” [in Tamil] story which I read and explained the previous class. He was telling Vignesh how pleasurable it was and thus both insisted me in taking that lesson once again. I hesitated at first, but on seeing their eagerness agreed to do so. I asked Vignesh to read and Lokesh to explain. Vignesh isn’t as professional in reading Tamil as our young Lokesh [Well, that’s what Lokesh feels!]. So, Lokesh kept teasing Vignesh and didn’t allow him to read. I asked Lokesh not to do so and advised him to help Vignesh in reading. He didn’t seem to like the idea, but I stressed on my point. It was three. “Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding” the bell was sounded. The kids rejoiced at the sound of the bell.
The teacher told us that the exams were about to commence in a few days time, and hence asked us to come back after October 3rd, i.e., after the kids’ quarterly holidays. We agreed as by that time our 2nd Continuous Assessments Tests would be over too. We walked back to the bus stop along with the kids. On our way to the bus stop, we saw a 21G pass by. We quickly signaled to the driver to stop. To our surprise the driver did stop! We hopped in happily. On our drive back I told about my two-wheeler parking idea to Sahithya. Oh no! I got the third warning from her. I prayed God that my vehicle must be safe and I decided not to try this idea once again. While getting down at Mylapore Tank, Lithiya and I thanked the driver. Thank God! My vehicle which was parked in front of a bank was as safe as the bank itself! I happily got on and drove back home with the day’s sweet memories.
