The return...

Our return to Delhi... though a big relief for us...has not at all done good to my blog.

The matchbox apartment (...of course so dear to my heart..) has gnawed into a lot of my emotional space as well...

Here stretching your legs, leave alone ur mind..is itself a challenge..

But whatever it may cost....i love Delhi..especially this campus...

It means a lot to me..

It is here that i built my dreams...fought for it..and now cherish it.

At Mau..definitely the air was more pure..the breeze more cool..the sky more bright..with rainbows to sight..

But somehow..i never felt a sense of belonging there...

I thank God for bringing us back here...It was just like coming home...

BUT NOT FOR ACHU...He had left Delhi when he was just one and a half..and had nothing here to identify with..

He missed his friends at Mau...and worst of all, here he had to undergo the draconian admission process..the magnitude of which even we could not anticipate..

The fact that we required an admission in prep and not nursery ..made things more difficult..coz vacancies were either limited or unavailable..

Here's the post mortem report...

The first battle of prep-

Venue- School auditorium( looking more like a mela ground with a riot of colours and perfumes)-

A big notice right at the entrance announced -"No Vacancies for the economically weaker section"..All other weaknesses were excused..

The watchman was doing the first level of screening using his own norms..which later we realized..is a privilege evry school in Delhi has endowed on their respective gatekeepers ..

We qualified...and made it till the building..

Immedietly, a wailing achu was escorted away by God-knows-who for a written test..

The prep admission test was for three complete hours!! What was more surprising was that Achu cleared it.

Next was the interview...

I have never attended a more solid interview till date. The interview board would even qualify UPSC criteria..going by their sincerity and authenticity...

Qn.1- Beta...tum kya karna sabse zyaada pasand kartha hein?

Beta- Sitting with a fixed glare----Nothing----

Qn. 2- Tv dekhthe hein?..(What a qn...)

Beta-(...after 3 min..)- Ha..

Qn.4- Which programme do you like?

Beta-..I like playing more than watching TV..

Qn.5- Phir bhi...cartoon tho dekhthe honge...

Beta- ( sitting stiff...without even letting his breath escape)- ......

Interview over...

With the result too obvious... a visibly upset appa and amma.. and a totally relaxed achu( joyous of having outsmarted the interview board by not giving away much of his confidential details...)..return home.

Amma- Achu, why didnt you tell ma'am about your favourite TV programme.

Achu- Then she would think that i am good only for that.

Amma- But you should have told her something...See..they wont give you admission now...

Achu- Is it? tab tho mujhe ye bolna chaahiye tha ki mein padaayi karna sabse zyaada pasand kartha hoon.They would have definitely taken me then.

The former was an obvious lie...but the latter was definitely the truth..

The second battle of prep-

At another school .. for interview..

Achu-(right at the entrance)- Come on, lets go back..i dont want to study here..its not good.

Amma- how do you know its not good ...you have never been here before.

achu- How do you know its good..you too have never been here before..

Amma- At least lets tell the principal and leave..

Principal's room..

Principal- hellooooo dear..what's ur name...

Only tears..no answers..

This time it was the principal's turn to be upset..we were better prepared..

Achu won a sympathy vote and got admission..

But he vehemently stood by his stand and refused the offer..

We lost the Rs.10,000 admission fee... which the school never refunded.

The third battle of prep

The school was in full session and the play ground was crowded..

Achu kept on scrutinizing the crowd and finally declared..'I dont want to study here'

Amma- Its a veryyyy good school achu..

Achu- No, it 's not..

By that time voices could be heard from across the wall..where the girl's school was seperately housed..

Achu- ( visibly excited)- They are there, amma!

But his plans never materialized coz school admissions were closed two months back itself...

But one lesson i learnt from that incident was tat only a co-ed school would suit achu..

Zeroed down to a single school..it was a nightmare for me till the results were out..

To my own disbelief..i lost two kg in a single fortnight ( ..a surprised Arun sincerely prayed for the results to be delayed a little further..)

Achu finally got admission ...because that school didnt have an interview at all...

This also brought back memories of his LKG interview at Mau-

Principal- How many eyes do you have?

Achu- Two..

principal-Hands?

Achu-Two..

Principal-Legs?

Achu- Sab do do he...

Principal- nose?

Achu-( after touching and feeling)- Arre..mera ek hii nose hein!!

Principal-( laughing heartily)- Sab ka uthna hii hotha hein achu..

Achu- (joining in the laughter)- Mein tho dar gaya tha....

Principal- OK Achu..tell me what you want to become when you grow up..

Achu- Bada hokke bhi mein achu hii rahna chaahtha hoon..mein aur kuch kyoun ban jaaoon...

Again laughter..

He joined school the next day...

Now that we are here..i don't think he will ever get a chance to speak his heart like this again...