Back To School

While chatting on What's App, a friend of mine shared her son's photograph. He was all dressed up for his first day of primary school. His neatly ironed school uniform, colourful umbrella, water bottle, all-season footwear... everything took me back to my school days. And it also made me realize that sooner or later, me and Amol and most of our friends are going to return to school- as parents this time! The efforts our parents had taken to make us sit at one place and solve some mathematical problems or to make us learn the tables by heart or to make us complete those work books were commendable. Seeing us take similar efforts is going to be amusing for them. Life is about to come a full circle!

It all begins with our first day of school, or sometimes even before that- if you have had elder siblings or neighbouring friends whom you saw going to school everyday. We do not remember now, what and how much we understood then as toddlers at age 2 or so; but looking at the kids that age now, makes us realize that even we would have been super excited with the idea of getting some new and attractive things of our own, even at such tender age. Of course, it was not the age to understand that once you own these new wonders you will be made to sit away from your parents for 4 odd hours with kids who own more attractive stuff than you do. So most of the times, we have ended up among a bunch of sobbing, screaming, crying classmates to be one of them. Those must have been the trying times for our parents. Later on, as we must have got used to the school routine;  the next big trouble our parents must have faced is making us do the homework. And more importantly, to make us sit still for completing our studies. The entry of colourful, attractive yet tiny study table in our house must have been one of their efforts for making us complete our tasks. No matter how short may be its life in terms of usage, such tiny study tables do enter our homes at such early stages of our academic lives.

As we grow a little older, the size of our study table and more importantly, that of the cupboard that encloses all our toys, increases gradually. Our parents need to make some arrangement to organize the cute little mess of our note books, text books, work books, pencils, sharpeners, erasers, colour pencils, drawing books, wax crayons, playing wax, adhesives, scissors, crape papers and what not! As we grow older and join the secondary school, we start learning newer things like cricket, football, harmonium, guitar, calligraphy... Whatever we learn, it ends up getting some new stuff to our homes. And along with managing our studies (or making us manage our studies) and encouraging us for acquiring newer skills; they also need to manage these new entrants in the house. Older toys find a way in a less privileged kid's home and they make space for a cricket kit or a harmonium or may be a guitar. Days pass by and you enter standard 10.

Tenth standard has always had its own significance in the academic life of every student. We have seen our parents take all sorts efforts for us when we were in 10th. They wanted only the best for us -the best question banks, the best coaching classes, the best stationary- whatever they could do, whatever they could afford was done by them for us. These days, as per parents' capabilities, they are seen helping their std. 10 son or daughter with amenities such as air conditioned study rooms, latest laptops or a brand new study table. The story of std. 12 is not much different. 

The real fun begins when you enter the college. Availability of your space for studies becomes parents' necessity as much as yours- thanks to the assignments for which you burn the midnight oil. Some of us need drafting tables then while some of us need space for heavy reference books. Some of us need space for keeping special apparatus like cameras or canvas or even the knife box depending upon the professional course chosen. The requirements are weird at times during this stage. My sister needed drawers to keep her A1 sized drawing sheets while doing architecture. Hence my father got a customised study table designed for her. The A1 sized drawing sheets bothered Amol as well when he was pursuing interior designing. A special folding table was  developed for him so that he could complete his assignments comfortably. I used to buy or borrow loads of heavy books during college days which obviously needed more space. We got a mini-library developed in our living room to accommodate them. My cousin- an IT scholar, needed a PC of his own while others in his family shared another PC. With the growing significance of information technology with respect to higher studies, this has become a common practise in many households. Making space for two PCs is quite a task especially in residences in Mumbai. Unique needs, unique study habits and several memories are attached with the study tables that witness our college days. 

The photograph of my friend's son took me down memory lane. Student phase is a significant phase in one's life. Parent's efforts to make it more conducive play a crucial role. Probably that's why I can fondly look back to the good old days today. 

- Kalindi Joshi

With Amol Vishwas Joshi, Interior Designer, AAkruti Interiors

Whether you need a customised PC unit developed for your son or a customised book shelf set up for your daughter or a complete renovation of the study room of your kids; you can contact:

* Amol Vishwas Joshi, Inerior Designer, AAkruti Interiors, Kandivli, Mumbai * 
@ 9967534621 @ For more details, click here -->>