The Proud Moment - Vijayakumar Natarajan - 16th Dec'21

 

I am Vijay. A nerd in 10^th Standard. I was always the class monitor. A person who was dreaded by classmates for intelligence. Admired equally for teaching mathematics with the same authority as a real teacher holding cane in hand. I was always the topper till 10^th Standard. Haven’t even got second rank in my internal exams or unit tests. Apart from studies, In the school, I participated in all the debate competitions. Have always won price. I had a distinguished respect for myself. No one questioned me for anything.

With all this, I have only one aim to score 1 mark greater than 417 to be on the school board. In my school for last 25 years no one crossed 417. My heart and soul wished if I could be that person.

I lived in Valasai. A small village with hardly few houses. I had to travel by bus every day to my convent school (English Medium) - St. Mary’s School in Veshamangalam till 5^th Standard.

I studied in Government Secondary School Kurumberi, Tirupattur, Vellore District, Tamilnadu from 6^th Standard onwards. In my village there was no English medium school. I was supposed to go to Tirupattur (nearby town) to study in English medium. But, my father was afraid to send me so far every day. Even our school principal came home and tried to convince him to send me there for a better future. Appa was every affectionate and scared to let his only son that far. He thought that a brilliant student can study well and achieve good in any school. So, I landed in the Govt. school. I denied to even go to school. I argued that if a good student can study from anywhere, then let me study from home. Despite all that, my father won this debate and I had to go to Govt. school. My best friend – Jegan also landed there for my sake.

 As my school was in Kurumberi, I stayed mostly in my paati’s (Grandmother – Mother’s mother) home. There they had festivities all the time throughout a year. Whenever, there was a festival, they declared half day leave. Loved to play in the well. Caught fishes in the lake with a fishnet. We enjoyed having ice candy near the school. The village was surrounded by sugarcane, plantain and rice crop. My eyes saw only greenery everywhere. There was no dearth of water. Nature was in its abundance.

Daily I woke up at 4:00 am. Took 5:00 am bus to tuition. Returned home by 8:00 am. Got freshen up and went to school. Studied till 6:30 pm in school. Came back home by 11:30 pm. Never watched TV. Studied on weekends. From dawn to dusk, I immersed myself in books. Didn’t play. Hardly managed to eat properly. Even I didn’t listen to music.

I had a stereo system with a huge speaker in those days. The entire village listened songs of “Jeans” Movie - a big hit then. After switching on the music system, I went to the school verandah to study.

My most enjoyable moments were occasional trip from Valasai to Kurumberi on cycle or by walk. It was hardly 30 mins ride. Still, I loved watching beautiful sceneries on the way.

At that time, internet was not there. It was 1999. It was sometime in April. The result was to be published in the evening Newspapaer  - Malai Murasu. Malai means evening in Tamil. Murasu is the drum beat. In the olden days people informed news on the drum beat in villages.

I couldn’t wait for the Malai Murasu. Went with my class teacher to collect the marksheet in the morning itself. We went to the district educational board. Class master alone was allowed inside the office. He took 3 hours to come out. My heart was thumping like anything. It was as if the heart will come out.

The moment he came out, he asked for sweet. I got angry. Why can’t he tell my marks first? He was holding my mark sheet in hand. I could see only the third digit of total score. It was 4. I was in tears as I thought it could be 404 or 414 which is less than 417. Seeing me sad, my master showed the result - IT WAS 444.

I was overjoyed. It was the best moment in my life. I jotted down the marks and went back to my village. It was a huge success. Everyone celebrated my success. My name was to be written forever on the school board beating the record of 25 years.

The irony, I have been to my village umpteen times in last 25 years, haven’t once seen my name on the board. I didn’t ever go back to the school after passing 10^th Standard. One day, I want to take a picture with the board where my name has got a place in the wall.

 

-        -   Vijayakumar Natarajan