Winter is the season of warm fur coats, hot beverage, bonfire, layers of blankets, knee-high boots and every cozy thing one can think of. Living in Kalimpong surely means getting all these perquisites but here’s the best part- wearing socks 24x7 is optional, not absolutely necessary because it isn’t breath freezing cold in here. Apparently, for the same reason, the worst part is – it never snows here. Never! Everyone has their own way of approaching this season. While some love it for getting the liberty of justifiable hibernation, the others hate it for shorter days and sniffles. Winter has long been associated with snow, Xmas, fresh baked cookies, long simmered meals; but the onset of three long months takes me back to the time I was preparing for I.C.S.E.
The three winter months mean a long, wonderful vacation for all the school students in the district except for the ones who must appear for their board examinations. Private tuitions, coaching classes, self study, notes, routines, pressure, rabbit, leaves, blah blah blah… but all of this leads to the making of stories that last for eternity.
Having restricted myself to the sick bed for quite some time now, I decided to take a brief walk around town yesterday. Christmas seemed to have comfortably snuggled in. As I looked around, I saw quite a number of young faces walking with notebooks in their hands towards their tuition; some may have been returning home, and some, if they are anything like I was, were bunking….. that's when I decided to dedicate this post to all the students of Kalimpong who are preparing for their board examinations in March/Feb. To be honest, it was a cold day and I knew nothing better than to sit in my room and ask people of Kalimpong (and the ones who studied/study here) about their experiences/ memories during their coaching time via social media, but here are some the interesting inputs I got.
"Ok we had this tuition place in thakur bari For computers and Mr.Nipanjan Paul use to take our tuitions And almost all the students; from different ICSE schools of kalimpong use to be there all dressed well. And that was the place where most of them were too busy checking out each other and had least amount of time for studies. I found it very amusing though it was fun to be there. And that was the time when we could take out some time from studies and simply enjoy the chills of winters and got to laugh so much on silly reasons." -EX STUDENT, SAPTASHREE GYANPEETH, ICSE 2007 "One of the first memories that I remember while going for sir hassan's science tution is the "science boys" ( yes. We had kept a name for them. Quite an innovative one, i must say) . This group of 4 boys would sit at the back of the class, exactly behind a friend and me. Every evening they would turn up wearing similar clothes,from that distinct dark grey beanie to the classic leather jacket. They would walk in like a boyband. We never really had the guts to look back at them directly, convent geeks that we were, but we sure were amused by their presence; they were downright hilarious. All four, once seated, would talk nonstop, passing stupid comments. In one particular class, sir was dictating some chemistry definitions and we were busy writing. But those poor science boys could not comprehend a thing of what sir was saying. Yet, overconfident as they were, their conversation went someting like this- Sir-"the chemical used in fire extinguishers is nitrous oxide"... "Oyee....psst...k haray? (Hey...psst..what did he say?)" One whispered. " ach...etti pani na janeko...fire oxide hau (you didn't even get this much..it's fire oxide) " another would whisper back. My friend and I nearly died trying to stiffle our laugh. Eventually, in a similar manner we heard them whisper all wrong ans to each other with such pride. After class, when for the first time we glanced back to look at them, one even managed to give an all knowing cool dude smirk , looking at us with a superior air. We laughed so hard... our faces hurt that night."
- EX STUDENT, ST. JOSEPH''S CONVENT, I.C.S.E 2011 "Mero ta keta haru lai dhaleko matai memories cha(I only have memories of taking my friends' case).. .........Somethings are memorable like momos in the cold.. Walking around with friends..We still talk about the kind of twisted shit that came out of my mind back in those days..Abhinav and I made a song called Basti roads to the tune of country roads. That's really memorable." -GOURAB, ST. AUGUSTINE'S SCHOOL, I.C.S.E 2011
"Having bhaang and then going to miss mala's for history tuition used to be pretty fun....Although we would get really hungry whilst the class carried on..." -AMRITAYUSH, DR. GRAHAM'S HOMES, I.S.C 2012 "Umm I remember it was strike time then and we had to come early morning for computer tutions and everyone was running for coachings everywhere.. everyone was hitting on someone at the tuitions..and drivers playing 'chungi' on the road. I remember CRPF in main road early in the morning..their faces wound up in .mufflers and monkey caps." - EX STUDENT, ST. AUGUSTINE'S SCHOOL, I.C.S.E 2011 Attending tuitions does not necessarily mean ‘only studies’. I mean, my parents met in some tuition back in ’84. Things haven’t quite changed since then it seems. Winter coaching continues to remain the yeartime of budding lovers and heartbroken admirers. Tuitions turn for some into an altar of romance and the nearest food stall or shop becomes a dating site. Newfound crushes, rapid circulations of gossip, fights, weird encounters…aren’t these what add flavour to the stories woven in the cold winter days? ~Love is an ugly, terrible business practiced by fools. It’ll trample your heart and leave you bleeding on the floor. And what does it really get you in the end? Nothing but a few incredible memories that you can’t ever shake. "There is this one thing - during class 10 coaching....I was in the batch that had to go at 4pm...and there was this senior..like a really hot tall notoriously sinfully good looking male senior who used to come in the batch before us..a Grahamite..One day we were all waiting outside for their coaching to get over..it was at Sir Hassan's place.. and I reached a little late that day and a bunch of guys (hot senior and friends ) would go back there to the little canteen and smoke.....anyway so when this guy(whose name we still dont know) walks out of there....cigarette in his mouth the girls all started chattering....so i just kinda asked them what all the fuss was about and they were all like "look at him and youll know".. and when I turned around, there he was, an Adonis, jaw dropping good looking.. i mean... seriously..Then,I saw him again a few days later when I was waiting in supermarket at seven in the morning..and he was dressed in a leather jacket and red and black striped pyjamas..and I dunno..I found the combo funny at the momemt..and he was being followed by a tiny little hunched manservant.... and really he looked like a prince or something .....I dunno if this helps or if its funny or whatever but its something you'd remember because he literally and I do mean literally made my( and many others included)...heart stops beating. Anyway there's no big dramatic proposal( i wish though)..uh...this is all I remember really..coaching was not a happy time for me" -KHUSHBOO, ST. JOSEPH''S CONVENT, I.C.S.E 2012 "I just wasted my coaching time.... No memories.... But I fell in love with a girl eventually....We were together for 4 long years. :)" - ST. AUGUSTINE'S SCHOOL, I.C.S.E 2010 "I liked one girl in my tuition and recently I told her about my feelings. We are dating now. I look forward to my tuition now" -ROCKVALE ACADEMY, I.C.S.E 2015 For me, the break before ISCE was much more fun than the one which had to deal with the pressure of college admissions. I used to bunk my tuitions most of the time and roam around aimlessly, eating, crashing my friend's date, playing video games and snooker, but mostly eating. I too had a pretty memorable crush phase during which I'd get up early in the morning for a particular tuition even though I still am a person who finds it difficult to get up even at 10 am. Since it is always difficult concentrating without food, the shop opened by a kind lady right next to our science tuition used to be the hub for the starving youngsters. Many fights and conversations have happened at this place so I guess it is kinda-sorta important to all of us who went there.
I have had one of the best plates of veg. momos right here and for very cheap.
So with this, I wish all the very best for all who are waiting in line for their board exams and a big cheers to all those who have 'seen the devil'!! :)
