The School Trip

Finally, our longest lasting wish was fulfilled on the 13th of October 2010. Yes, at last, we were taken on a trip to various places by our school. We used to feel envious of the students of other schools when they were taken on excursions. But that feeling has ceased. When some of us, who had siblings studying in higher classes in our school{that has to be when we were very much younger}, had heard them saying they had been taken to theme parks or for trekking, we used to eagerly anticipate the time when we would be older and would be taken for such trips.

The places we called on included Vairavar Kovil, Pillayar Patti Kovil, The Pudukkottai Museum, Thirumeyyam fort, and other temples in the surrounding areas. Although we did not enjoy visiting temples much, our attitudes changed after that day. This had two reasons:

(i) We found the temples to be "not so boring" as we got a lot to know about them from our teachers, and now, the more prominent reason,
(ii)On just one day, we had visited so many temples that we got used to it...

With just two places, which were not entirely temples, you must have imagined our eagerness to visit these places: the fort and the museum.
Coming to the fort, from where we had our lunch, it was a superb place for somebody yearning for a beautiful view- You get to the topmost rock and a breathtaking sight awaits you. This fort, said to be the hiding place for Veerapandiya Kattabomman and his brother Oomaithurai, also had a little temple where it is said they offered their pooja to Lord Shiva.

Next in our itinerary was the museum. Now, let us travel back in time to when our buses stopped outside a very small door, above which were painted the very much obvious letters forming the word MUSEUM.
We were amazed: we had heard so much about this Pudukkottai Museum, that we had imagined a huge building with towering pillars. But this small 1 storey building that lay before us with its petite door made us stand jaw dropping on the road. Then, another amazement awaited us: as we toured about the museum, we found that it was not at all small. There was a maze in front of us- get in through one door, there's so much to see, and at last, another door- Go through that, so much more. It was as if we had entered Hermione's bag she used in HP7: small from the outside, unceasingly huge from the inside.
 As we were tired, after long walks in what seemed to be a never-ending number of temples, we could not much enjoy the various things that awaited us in the museum.

The day could not be over without the "real" enjoyment {as we, the students, term it}.Yes, the enjoyment we had in the bus while traveling, was unlimited. We watched a movie, some of us sang, danced, and what not! Even our lovely teachers danced with some of us.

On the whole, the trip was one event we would never forget in our entire lives...

POOKKALAM '10 in our School...

...and the vibrant journey ends in a happy note - The School has once again proven its acceptance of various cultural traditions - the POOKKALAM or Flower Carpet competition of 2010 has concluded.

                        It was a platform for the students of class IX to exhibit their talents, and as for us, the class X students, it was a time for relaxation, relief and refreshment {not literally reFRESHment although...} after the exams, in spite of all the sand work. Coming to my group, DIAMOND{fortunately headed by me :)}, we made a last minute change in the design of our POOKKALAM and chose one with Lord Ganesha on it, instead of the former design, which was bland with nothing special about it. The School Pupil Leader for Boys was a member of our group and he gave us the idea of fusing Onam and Ganesh Chaturti, which was round the corner, for our theme in the POOKKALAM.

                                    'Twas then time to decide who would give the exposition of the significance of our POOKKALAM to the judges. The ideal choice was the SPL, but as he had already been given many duties, our teacher insisted on picking somebody else, and the next choice was me - but being the President of my group, I had the privilege of just standing by our POOKKALAM even otherwise - so I insisted on getting somebody else. So the list of the ideal 'speakers'{if I might call them so} narrowed down. S, my classmate was ultimately chosen. Then the next comet hit the Earth - the teacher wanted to have someone from class VI or VII along with S. Our efforts became fruitless in finding someone apt. All other groups had somebody or the other ready for the job - and the first {and last} drops of hopelessness came down to us - we were unsure of winning....
                 
                       After finishing the sand base plot for our POOKKALAM on the eve of the competition, we left for our homes, each worried if we would lose {but then I had a bigger worry - whether the school dog might ruin our sand base plot...}.

                                       I went home and after much thought, decided to write the speech myself. It was a debut for me. I gave it to S the next day and then came to school {to find that the school dog had done no harm} to begin doing the intricate designs on our base. Only about half an hour before the competition we found a companion for S, at the speech, in a class VII boy, R. I had written the first few lines in Malayalam for a welcoming note. I got involved in teaching the small boy to enunciate the words properly. In spite of some regional accent, he was doing reasonably well. I found S reading the speech and heaved a huge sigh of relief. Then, I went back to arranging the flowers on our design.

                             Ultimately, quite happy with our work on the POOKKALAM, I found the two 'speakers' ready. To my utter amazement, I found the little boy R totally unperturbed; but then it wasn't for long - after some time he came up to me and told me that he was nervous. He made some mistakes and stammered a few times, but on the whole, he did well while speaking to the judges. S did well too. The best part was that some of the teachers commended me saying that ours was the best design with the best concept. I was in high spirits and found myself being able to hold an 'umbrella' to 'block the falling drops of hopelessness'. I told myself we had a good chance of winning.

                                                              Other groups, some who had finished well before us, seemed as confident as us, but I could see a small tinge of awe in their faces as they saw our design. My best friends, who were in other groups, showed the courtesy of coming up to us and complimenting us. During the time when we were busy with our designing, I slipped off then 'n again to peep into the designs of other groups. They had done some good work and I felt Ruby group's design was the best.

                           It was fun to be running around in search of bags, bottles and things of the sort. I enjoyed running back and forth from the ground to collect the sand to the stage where we made the designs.

                            Thus, another event concluded, leaving us in anticipation for the next competition to come round....

'till next time,
ASV