Back to School?

A couple of weeks back, my mother wanted me to accompany her to her school in Vile Parle(Mumbai), so that I could click some pictures and also see the school and house my mother had lived during the 60's in Mumbai. So on a Sunday morning at 8 am, I was out on the roads and we went to Vile Parle(E) to see the school. The photo above was the school my uncle had studied, so that was the first stop. I had a glance inside the school and remembered my days in school in Chennai. Those days any building seemed big because we were tiny tots, and today thanks to too many structures, a school is sometimes just looked at as a building. Inside every school is a treasure of history, moments of innocence that has shaped us, teachers who moulded us in the wonder years of our life. The last time, I went to my school was way back in 2005 July/August. Must make a visit to Bala Vidya Mandir, when I visit Chennai next time.


My mother was way too excited when she entered the airport quarters, as she went about showing me the playground she played and once lost her slippers. It didnt matter much to me whether Chaddha uncle lived in that house or Narayan Mama was in the adjacent flight, but the least I could do was listen to my mother, as she rattled stories of her days as to who lived where and how she liked one aunty more than the other. But it was interesting, seeing the enthusiasm in her voice, as she told a story about each house that she saw, her friends in that colony and instances from the 60's

Seemingly, this was the flat my grandparents lived in

This was the school my mother went to. Though this is near Vile Parle(e), the school is on one end of the Airport quarters and is more so closer to Chakala in Andheri. I must admit that the guards at the school were a really nice bunch of folks, who said " Jao, Bindaas Dekho" when my mother requested permission for being let in, as she was an old student. It was a nice poignant moment. More than that, it was a Sunday well spent. When we were on our way back, I learnt that my grandparents moved to Chennai in 1969, and when I heard that, I just thought, if only Bryan Adams had composed the song earlier, My mother could have vouched just as the famous number goes " The Summer of 69, Those were the Best Days of My Life"