Category Archives: Musing

School Stories: Sports Day

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One more story from my school days. Last week I was speaking with GG and BB and we started talking about sports days in school. BB’s school usually alternates between sports day and cross country running every other year and so I shared some stories about sports days in my school.

In my school, sports day usually happened in the second term, which would be after the winter holidays (you could not schedule anything before that because of the Mumbai monsoon) so it would be sometime in December/January.

Our primary school races are the standard ones and happen without much fanfare. It’s the Secondary school that has all the fun in my opinion. I’ve mentioned before how our houses are allocated and during the main sports day, one half of the stadium is split into four parts – each section for a house. So we generally sit in our house section and not with friends, because that day it’s house loyalty before family and friends.

The sports day would usually be on a Sunday and would start around noon. Once we reached secondary school, we would go on our own and my parents would come by later to pick us up. It’s usually a festive air there with hundreds of school girls screaming and shouting.

There’s fierce competition to see which house comes first and a blackboard in the centre of the field will usually have the current point tally going on. The prize for the best house, in addition to the champions trophy is the honour to lead the march past at the end of the sports day and this would be fought relentlessly.

The house I was allocated to, Shenaz or the Green House used to always win the championship and we used to lead the March past each year. I can only remember one year we did not. I must have been in grade 5 then and was the first time in the Secondary bleacher when this happened. What happened was unprecedented in the history of the school. Three houses were joint first and since three houses can’t march together, they had to toss and Godafried or the Red House won the toss! I can still see the red house captain coming excitedly to the stands to the house teacher and shouting that they were going to lead the march past while our captain walked by crying. We were second in the march past that year.

In the last few years in school, I used to get pulled into the march past contingent. We used to march wrongly while practicing thinking we will be kicked out, but no such luck for us! Being in the march past meant that we had to wait all the way till the sports day ended and could not sneak out earlier.

But it also meant a month or so of missing the last few periods in school going for march past practise in the garden behind the school. As I type this, I can hear the commands in head and the one arm length we had to stand behind each other. We used to wear a strip of ribbon in the house colour on the sides of our white shorts (we were one of those rare schools at that time who had to wear white shorts for PE and sports) and a cap in the house colour.

I just checked my school website and Shernaz is still continuing to rule, they are still overall champions, though some of the uniforms we used to play in has changed over the years. The march past is no longer in shorts, but in black long pants and they wear a house tee shirt over it, while we used to wear our school uniform shirt. The cap still remains and the school head girls and captains and vice captains all wear black long pants and a blazer (with the captains and vice captains also wearing the house cap). During the the I was in school, they all used to only wear their usual school uniform. And we also have a school band now! That looks so much fun, wish that was there when we were studying too.

The march past would be like in major sporting events. The head would be the school head girl carrying the school flag with her deputies behind her followed by the junior head girl and her deputies. Then we would have the first contingent which would have one girl (usually a small grade 5 girl) carrying the house name, followed by the house captain with the house flag and her deputies behind her. Behind them would be 30 girls marching in three columns. This would be followed by the house which came second and then the third house and the last house bringing up the rear. We would make one circuit of the stadium and the guest of honour would get the salute after which would be the prize distribution ceremony including that for the best march past contingent (which I can’t remember us ever winning). We would go home late evening, tired but happy with the day. The next day would be a holiday from school which was very warmly welcomed by all.

As with other school memories, this post brought many smiles to me as I went back decades to relive my school days. For more stories about my school, click here and here



2019 Week 21 Update

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This week has been me in the sick bed pretty much the whole week.

I have been having some issues with my eyes for a while and it was diagnosed as dry eyes for which I have been getting treatment. Last week, in the middle of the week, just before bedtime, I felt a searing pain in my right eye and it felt like something went in. I rubbed the spot and went to bed thinking it was nothing. I woke up in the morning to an eye that was completely red and looked like something out of a horror movie.

I rode out the day thinking it will subside, but when it didn’t I called the hospital where I was getting treated and asked if I could get an appointment. I was lucky that I managed to get an appointment for later today.

I also saw my GP who suspected that it may be some sort of viral infection and gave me an antibiotic cream to tide me till my hospital appointment. I was also asked to monitor the situation and go to the A&E if it becomes worse.

My eyes have become extremely sensitive to light and I can’t use any electronic device. I am able to only use my phone for extremely limited amounts at a time.

It’s only now have I realised how much I depend on my eyes and how much I need it for my daily activities including hobbies. I have to keep taking rest very often to rest my eyes and find myself sleeping a lot. I have literally slept my way through the weekend and am joking to my family that I am clearing sleep debt of a couple of years this week.

Wish me luck as I see a specialist later today that it’s just a simple infection and that it gets cleared soon. I am having a digital detox this weekend and want that to also end.

2019 Secondary 4 Week 21 Update

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We are at the last week of school now, though both BB & GG have to go back to in the June holidays for extra lessons.

Both schools are also doing intensive lessons for those who take the mother tongue languages of Chinese, Malay and Tamil. They will have their first attempt at the O level exams in the first week of June. Since both BB & GG’s mother tongue language of Hindi is not in this scheme, they, along with other classmates sit in the library and self study during this period.

We are also gearing up towards the Early Admission Exercise for Polytechnics. Both have specific courses they are interested in and will apply for them when the portal opens in end June. If they get selected in the course of their choice, it means even if their O level results do not meet the cut off points of that course, they still get in as long as they meet the polytechnic entry criteria and course base criteria.

That’s all from us for this week! We have the parent teacher session at the end of the week and I wonder what both sets of teachers will have to say for the children.

Memories: The time I repeated Junior KG

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Do memories become stronger as you grow old? I wonder about this because these days I have been thinking about my childhood a lot. So here’s another memory for your reading pleasure plus for me to browse when I am old and probably senile.

A small background before I start – when I was young, I remember my dad telling me that our area was designed to be an educational hub when the city of Bombay was being expanded. So if you draw a circle of around 2 km diameter around my home, you will find many educational institutions like schools, colleges and even higher educational institutions. This includes my dad’s alma mater as well as the school me and my sister went to.

This memory is around the time I was about three years old. Since we had many schools in our vicinity, it’s quite usual to see students on their way to school in the mornings. Growing up, there were many people around my age group (give or take five years) in my building and when I was around three years old, they were all in school too. My mum was handling me and my sister who was a toddler around that time. We also had a fulltime mum’s helper named Maria who would come in the mornings and go back in the evenings and her main job was to help my mum look after two young children and play with me. Maria stayed with us for about two years and then left as she was getting married. By then I started formal school and my sister was also slightly older so my mum was able to manage without a helper.

When I used to see my friends go to school and also see all the children going to school from our home, I also decided that I wanted to go to school. However, the school my mum had decided for me would only take me in for Kindergarten 1 at the age of four which was still a year away. I have spoken more about the discussions and arguments my mum and grandmother had in deciding the school I would attend in a previous post.

I started throwing mega tantrums about going to school and used to create a ruckus at home because I wanted to go to school. Exasperated, my parents decided to send me to a school which was literally next door. This school would allow me to get into Kindergarten 1 or Junior KG as it was known in Bombay then. So I started going to school and was thrilled. I think I started school after the formal term had started because I don’t remember wearing the school’s uniform and used to wear my normal clothes to school. Most days, it used to be either my mum or Maria who would take me to school around 8:30 – 9 am and bring me back around lunchtime.

I must have been a model student there because the teacher who used teach me remembered me right around the time I was in college and would ask my mum about me when she met her on the streets. I used to be so touched when my mum used to tell me about her encounters with the teacher. Someone who in her career has taught thousands of students who pass through her class still remembers this one girl who was so determined to go to school, even though she was there in her class for less than a year. I actually have no memories about this teacher and don’t remember her name or even face.

So this is how I repeated Junior KG!

Recipes: Vegetable Biryani

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The other day when I asked S what he wanted for lunch on a Sunday, he asked for Biryani. I then wanted to make an old recipe, one I last made a couple of years back. This recipe brings back memories of my late father-in-law. He loved this version of biryani and whenever I make this recipe, I always remember him.

This recipe is slightly tedious and takes time to make. But take your time and the results are worth really worth it.

Vegetable Biryani

Ingredients:

For the rice

  • 2 cups basmati rice, washed well and soaked in water for 30 minutes
  • 3 green cardamoms
  • 3 cloves
  • 1 inch cinnamon
  • 2 Bay leaves
  • Salt to taste

For the gravy

  • 1 cup cauliflower, chopped into medium florets
  • 2 medium sized potatoes, chopped into 1.5 inch pieces
  • 2 medium sized carrots, chopped into 1.5 inch pieces
  • 10-12 french beans, chopped into 1.5 inch pieces
  • 1 medium sized green bell pepper, chopped into 1.5 inch pieces
  • ½ cup fresh or frozen green peas
  • 3 large onions, halved and sliced thinly lengthwise
  • 2 tbsp ginger-garlic and chilli paste (to make this paste, blend together 5-6 pods of garlic, 1 inch piece of ginger and 3-4 fresh red or green chillies into a fine paste)
  • 3 tbsp ghee or oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 3 green cardamoms
  • 3 cloves
  • 1 cup fresh youghurt, whisked and blended well
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp red chilli powder
  • 8-10 cashewnuts
  • 8-10 almonds
  • 1 tbsp raisins
  • Salt to taste

To assemble the biryani

  • ½ cup finely chopped coriander leaves
  • ¼ cup finely chopped mint leaves
  • 4 to 5 tbsp milk
  • ¼ tsp saffron strands
  • 2 tsp rose water (optional)

Method:

To make the Rice

  • Drain the soaked rice and cook in a rice cooker with the whole spices and salt until ¾ done. In this recipe, for 2 cups rice, I used 1.5 cups of water. If cooking on the stovetop, keep an eye on the rice and stop cooking when the rice is 75% cooked. Drain the balance water and keep aside.

To make the Biryani Gravy

  • In a deep bottomed pan, heat the ghee and fry the cashewnuts until they are golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep on a kitchen towel. Do the same with the almonds and fry until golden brown and crisp and drain on to a kitchen towel.
  • In the remaining ghee, add the sliced onions and sprinkle some salt over it and let it cook. Fry until the onions caramelise into a golden brown colour. Remove ½ the onions and drain into a kitchen towel and keep aside.
  • To the balance onions in the pan, add the whole spices – cumin seeds, bay leaf, green cardamoms and cloves and stir until they crackle.
  • Now add the ginger-garlic-chilli paste and saute till the raw smell goes away.
  • Add the turmeric and red chilli powders and mix well.
  • Now add the chopped vegetables and saute for a few minutes till the vegetables get coated with the spices.
  • Cover and cook till the vegetables are half cooked.
  • Then add in the whisked yoghurt and some water and continue cooking, covered until the vegetables are done. Make sure you don’t overcook the vegetables, they should still have a bite to them. Check for seasoning and add what is missing. The vegetables should have a thick gravy and should not be watery
  • Warm the milk in a small pan over the stove or in a food safe container using the microwave and when warm, add in the saffron strands. Mash the saffron strands a bit so they get dissolved and keep aside.
  • Add the fried cashewnuts, almonds and raisins to the gravy and mix well. Keep aside.

To assemble the biryani:

  • Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.
  • Take an oven safe deep dish to layer the biryani
  • Layer half the vegetable gravy in the oven safe dish
  • Next add half the quantity of rice.
  • Then take half the chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves and sprinkle it over the rice. Add 2 tbsp of the rose water into the saffron milk and sprinkle half the milk over the coriander and mint leaves. Lastly sprinkle half the caramalised onions over the milk.
  • Repeat another layer with the remaining gravy over the first layer, then the remaining rice and then the remaining coriander and mint leaves, rose infused saffron milk and finally the fried onions.
  • Seal the dish with aluminium foil and cover with the lid. Cook in the pre-heated oven for about 20-30 minutes. Once the oven timer goes, let it rest for at least 10 minutes before serviing.
  • While serving, make sure you get both the rice and the gravy together. You can also mix the dish together before serving.
  • If you don’t have access to an oven, cook the deep dish over indirect heat. This means placing a flat pancake griddle over the flame and then placing the dish where the biryani has been layered on the griddle. Let it cook on indirect heat for 20-30 minutes on a low to medium heat. Again make sure you let it rest for 10 minutes before opening the lid and removing the aluminium foil and serving it.
  • Serve it hot with a raita of your choice.