.Memories of school

I think I'm going through bouts of nostalgia,,
Yesterday about Christmas,
And today about my school in Bandra,

Apostolic Carmel Convent that's the name ,
On Hill Road, near St. Andrews lane.

School was fun filled with wonderful memories ,
Of friends and teachers,
And also sports and studies.

Ms. Lira, was my first standard teacher,
Who pronounced my surname as 'Daggi', instead of 'Daji',
And later I was renamed 'Charmaine Daji potato bajiii'.

Mrs. Amy was my favourite primary teacher,
She taught me in third grade and always called her students 'dear'.

In the later years, Teacher Joyce and Miss Iyer,
Our English and Math wizards,
Both so strict and disciplined,
Were always neatly dressed, a hair would not move out of place even in a blizzard.

Ms. Hamida who called a bubble ' Babol' when she taught Biology,
made the whole class giggle with laughter and glee.
Unfortunately, she is no longer with us anymore,
May her soul rest in peace and teach the Gods above Biology galore.

I still remember the lovely Mrs. Rao, who spoke in shudh Hindi,
And also can't forget Nancy, Sherry, Hazel and Bespectacled Mrs. Sondhi.

But the best of the best,Bernadette and Ursulla, Our PT teachers, the Super two,
Bernadette's one glaring stare would make us melt in our shoes.
They'd make us march 'Lept Right, lept right',
in the bright afternoon sun,
Hearing their funny pronunciations was indeed great fun.

I'll never forget our peons Changoor and Karan who greeted us warmly at the school gates,
They would help us with our heavy bags to our classrooms,
at times when we were very late.

Let's move on to my school pals,
Mirelle Rebello, Shruti Channa and Serena D'gama, the throwball champs,
One spin of the ball,
And our fingers would turn into strawberry jam.

I'll never forget there were so many girls with the same name,
Sonali and Shonaly 'my oldest pal- who after 30 years still continues to drive me insane.;).
Michelles, Mirelles,Tanyas and Poojas,
Sharons, Shabnams, Namrathas and even two Shraddhas,

I remember I was part of the student council 93-94,
with Tanya ,Meghna, Shraddha, Ashwini, Shonaly, Tzeitel, Priya and Mirelle Rebello.
The way we got along,
A real naughty bunch together we were,
With our naughtiness we could lighten up a dark house with fire.

Some of us still remain great friends even till today,
some have been out of touch and gone their separate ways.

But my fellow 'Carmelites' both close or far,
I'll always have great memories of you
May 'God be your strength'
no matter wherever you are.