"Assembly"

“  Good morning class!! ” Mrs. Pandey said, “It’s good to see you all back!!We are your class teachers and welcome you to the eighth standard!” There was an uproar of “ Thank -you Ma’ams!!” from the class.  “Shall I take your attendance now!?” One by one, she called out the names of each student to which the latter answered-“Present Mam!”When my name was called out and as I squeaked -“Present!” ,Mrs Johri said, smilingly-“ Well! We have a new student with us this year. Mallika Bhandary.”(A few heads turned in my direction and away again) “Be friendly with her, all of you!”  “And..” ,Mrs Pandey added, her eyes twinkling towards a couple of boys sitting in the front row, “I hope this year I can expect very sensible and mature behaviour from some of you!” The boys in question rolled their eyes and laughed aloud!

As the first bell of the day went off (  it was an electric one and I wondered to myself what was the traditional one there for ), students started getting up and forming a line. It was Assembly time!! I got up and walked to the door. Standing behind a couple of shorter girls,I smiled to myself! I had finally arrived at Pride Education, and fortunately, without a bang too!!

Assembly was held outside in the large porch  under the covered walkway that connected the ‘castle’ to another building. The students stood  class wise, in long, horizontal lines. The junior most class was stood  right at the front just near the stairs leading to the smaller building. A vast landing on top of the stairs was also adorned with plants . A small table on the top of which sat a harmonium, was at its side! The senior-most class was right at the back, almost reaching the steps of the foyer at the other end of the porch! My class was quite far back too as ours was the next in seniority. Pride was not an old school. Our seniors were to be the first batch to pass out from school. Thus, even the strength of the school was smaller than most other schools. I knew that it was a deliberate school policy to keep the strength of each section to a limited number. That explained the close-knit environment of this place!

Gradually, the buzz of the Assembly hall subsided as the headmistress- Mrs. Lila Bhan came out of the main building and proceeded towards the steps below the landing, facing the children. Even now, I just need to close my eyes and I can see Mrs Bhan striding along the side of the assembled students, her hands behind her, her face breaking into a lovely smile from time to time, as she spotted  familiar  faces. As she passed by us, I caught the waft of her perfume for the first time! It is still one of the best fragrances I have ever inhaled! Till date, if my friends and I come across a familiar fragrance, we immediately become nostalgic and yearn to get enclosed, once again, in her warm hug which was once the safest place in the world for us to be in!

As she finally reached the platform and stood smiling, just with her index finger on her lips, not saying a word, I carefully took in Mrs. Bhan’s appearance! She must have been in her late fifties, then, and was quite tall. She was dressed gracefully in a light, sky-blue cotton saree. My mother had told me that she was a Kashmiri and she absolutely looked like one with her very fair, milky complexion! She wore dangling, silver earrings, and several silver bangles clinked as she moved her arms. Her black hair was casually tied up with a matching blue clip and her black eyes twinkled as she shook her head and gestured towards a particularly naughty child to be quiet! This very image always pops into my mind whenever Mrs. Bhan is mentioned or when I think of her. Her entire demeanour and expression showed her loving devotion for children and I instantly  felt an inner tug towards her.

As the last of the voices eventually died down, Mrs. Bhan looked at the young, very dark teacher standing amongst his colleagues  , who taking two steps at the time, jogged and reached the platform to take his position behind the harmonium. “What are we going to sing today, Mr. Gajendra?” Mrs. Bhan asked him, and after hearing his softly whispered reply, said-“Children! We will sing “Hum bane Mahaan!”

Mr. Gajendra struck a low note on the instrument and tilting his head upwards a bit towards the students, began to sing the hymn. The students, taking the cue, joined in unison and the whole place boomed with the synchronized singing of the song!

I obviously did not yet know the words to the hymn, so I stood silently with my head bowed, occasionally joining in the song whenever the chorus lines–“ Hum bane...Hum bane...hum bane Mahaan!!!..”! were repeated . After the song , Mrs. Bhan thanked the young music teacher who bashfully bowed in return before descending the steps.  She faced the students and said- “Goodmorning children! Its wonderful to see all of you back after a long and relaxing summer break!” She spoke in a  pleasant sounding English. “Now, I  understand that u will all take a couple of days to settle down again to the school routine.l look forward to your settling  down soon and working really  hard and participating in the other activities of the school! Okayy???  Now, as it is only the first day of the new session, I don;t think I have any more announcements to make.. so off u go!! Enjoy your first day back !”.

One by one, the teachers started leading the children back to their classes. As we retreated to our class-room, we passed an elderly person standing at the entrance of the foyer, with both his hands on his waist, his mouth pressed into a thin, straight line. He nodded curtly as the students wished him “ Good-morning! ”  He had the kind of salt-and pepper hair I had seen recently in a Hollywood movie with the same moustache to match and the immediate impression I got when I saw him for the first time was that he wasn’t the person whom I would want to get in trouble with! “Who’s he?” I asked my only confidante, Pari.

“That’s Dr. Bhan, he takes  our reasoning lessons. He is Mrs. Bhan’s husband and they both look after this school.” Reflecting my thoughts, she added-  “You wouldn’t want to cross Dr. Bhan ever, haan!! He is really, really strict!”

 I greeted  him along with the other students and hurried towards the classroom to attend my first lesson!