My Childhood part II

Age: 14

Till 14, I first went to a school which frowned on anything other than academics. I played a chess tournament at a well known academy and did well. The next day I was made to kneel down before principal’s room for missing the Independence Day celebrations at school.

Dad got a transfer option: Agartala for 2 years/Calcutta 3years. My sister and I were damn eager to get released from the prison and go to the scenic Agartala. So we did.

Agartala:

Capital of Tripura, NE region, it is 40 mins by air and 2 days by train (Train goes around Bangladesh). So even beggars travel by flight and only IA operates flights in this loss making route. My hopes of airhostess were dashed when a 40 year old lady roughly prodded the passengers to make way. Thank god for the competition in aviation now.

School is a posh convent in the beautiful hills of Agartala. Students were all 3 years older to me. Seems they do nursery till age 5 then go to kindergarden. My sub-5 feet lanky frame felt oddly out of place.

So there were odd love letters flying around and boy! Was I thrilled? I saw a cutie pie by the name of Ruchi Jain who had a twin brother whose name is guess what, Ruchir Jain. By sheer coincidence (!), I became a close buddy of Ruchir. Things were going well till Ruchi tied a rakhi. My eyes welled up, not because she made me her brother but because she gave a peck on my cheek and said ‘you are my kid brother from now on’. What a shame.

We didn’t stay there for long, but the memories are still fresh.