Anjali Nanduri
My most memorable day during the lockdown was the day I went to school to perform on Republic Day.
Two days before the Republic Day, my music ma’am called and asked some of us to perform at school. I was mighty thrilled at the opportunity which came as a welcome break during the never-ending stay-at-home. The thought of going to school and meeting my teachers and a few of my friends made me shiver with excitement. I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep properly on the night of 25th January, 2021. And I was the first student to be in school on the morning of 26th January! I went with my brother and mother to school.
Since we had arrived before time, we went all around the school. It felt so wonderful to be back in the school campus, to see the big ground, the classrooms, the bus bay, my bus no. 9, the teachers, the aayahs and a few of my friends.
When the Republic Day celebrations began, we performed individually and in groups on several patriotic songs and the National Anthem. After our performances, we received eco-friendly pencils with plantable seeds from our school chairman.
After the program, we met all our subject teachers and also my favourite bus-mate teacher. Then, a few of my classmates, my brother and I took pictures in our classroom and then went to play in the ground. My friend and I had an awesome time climbing up the tree house. It was fun to feel the wood and sand under my feet. Then we played on a rope bridge. My brother who was playing there for the first time had a great time.
It was a day of many firsts for me and my brother. Here are some of them:
• First day I physically went to school in the year 2021.
• The first time my brother came to school as a student. He joined the school in class 1 and since it was during the pandemic, he only attended virtual classes. He was also very happy to see his classroom 1A.
• The first time my brother saw his teachers physically. It was funny he couldn’t recognize them with their masks on and he kept saying they look different from how they appear online during classes.
• The first and the only day I went to school while studying in class 4. Two of my classmates and I were the only lucky trio who got to sit in classroom 4A for a few minutes in the last academic year!
• The first time I performed on stage on the keyboard.
We left school only around 1 pm in the afternoon, after a lot of pleading by my mother. We got home, had lunch and excitedly narrated everything we did at school to my father and grandparents. In the evening, we watched the highlights of the parade and happily saw all the pictures of the day, clicked at school. Later, we did our homework and went to sleep with happy thoughts.
I miss school, my friends, teachers, the long bus rides, canteen popcorn, the playpen and much more. But I am also happy that I was lucky to go to school for that one day this year and the memories of that day always bring a smile to my face.
The author is a student in class 5, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Public School – Vidyashram, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad.