Our family i.e Sri B. N. Ramasesha Rao’ family had the unique distinction of associating with Vanitha Sadana in many ways. My father was part of VS think tank, mother a teacher, and we the children were VS products.
P. Vedanthan’s article reminds me of my own tyre adventure. VS Nursery had several of them-may be 8 to 10. I took advantage of my mother’s presence there as a teacher and staked claim for all the tyres-sort of ownership. I used to stack all the tyres one over the other and sit on the top, like Hanuman so that no one came near it. Only with my permission one could get a chance to play with the tyres.
There was one Jumki Ratna Madam who wanted us to learn music. But I flatly refused as I was of the firm conviction that music was only for girls. She could not have been harsh with me because of my status as teacher’s son. She did not punish me directly but complained to my mother who in turn admonished me.
When I was studying at Vanitha Sadana there was only the pitch roofed straight line building.The U shape was added later after I left. The school had only nursery section. The primary section had upto 4th standard. There were only imaginary walls between the classes. We could otherwise peep and overhear what was going on in other classes. When I got promotion from class 1 to 2 after 6 months I just had to jump and sit in the next room. I cannot forget the answer of one my class mates to a question posed by my mother who was incidentally the teacher for class 2.Her question was:
- How do we get rain?
- The answer was:
- “ I have a tall ladder at home; I climb up to the sky and open the taps and we get rain”.
There was another very enthusiastic girl who always jumped to her feet to answer any question but ended up saying “ oh! Sorry I forgot the answer”.
Vanitha Sadana was a model school, teachers were kind and never punished the students. When I joined Lakshmipuram Boys School popularly known as Doddi school for 5th standard, I was scared to face the teachers and the tough boys in a imaginary hostile enviorn. So I coolly returned to Vanitha Sadana and sat in the 4th standard again for about 10-15 days and heard stories narrated by Smt. Susheela Bharati which was always absorbing. Later I joined Marimallappa’s.
I used to proudly tell my young son that I always performed well and ranked within the first five ranks. The secret was there used to be only 5 students in my class. Of course I always let out the secret myself
On a serious note I must confess that I had a good time at Vanitha Sadana and it helped in shaping my character as I grew up.
B. R. Narayana Prasad
Prasad, your mention of sitting on top of a pile of tires reminds me of a sketch Sri M.E. Guru, (one of the great artists Mysore ever produced) who used to work at Vayaskara Shiksahna Samithi opposite Ganesha park. It was in one of our text books and also in Kuvempu's Ramayana with Hanumantha sitting on top of his coiled tail, at a higher level than Ravana in his court at Lanka where he went to look for Seetha at Rama's behest. Believe me, I can picture you doing that! Your mom was my teacher too.
ReplyDeleteIt is such a pleasure to remember those days. I very much doubt if today's kids can even comprehend that when we tell them. We were like kings whether it was in the school, at the Gubbachchi school where we played cricket or on West Cross No. 7 during our chinni dandu, goli, bugari or Ramana chendu -Bheemana chendu games!
Our twice a day walk with BJ, Pali and a couple of more friends all the way to the market via Shivarampet, visit to Palamrutha Paniya and back via Jaya scout is very vivid in my memory. Just can't forget those days!
Affectionately,
Vasu