New Beginning

I began my school journey at the tender age of two and half...My first steps into the world of learning were taken at a small nursery school near my home,run by the nuns of convent belonging to my parish...
Though I was too young to understand the significance of those days,they marked the beginning of a beautiful journey... Holding my tiny bag and accompanied by innocent curiosity, I entered a world filled with songs, rhymes, colourful books and caring teachers...
The convent nursery was more than just a school;it was a place where I learned my first lessons of discipline, friendship and sharing...the gentle guidance of the nuns and the warm atmosphere made it a second home for many little children like me ...Those early school days remain or of the sweetest chapters of my childhood...
Later I moved to a new school and everything felt different and exciting...It was no longer a short walk from home...Every morning, I had I board the school bus which made me feel a little more grown-up...
For the first time,i wore a complete school uniform with neatly polished shoes and crisp white socks ...a tie was carefully fastened around my shirt collar and an identity card hung proudly around my neck ...Dressed in my uniform,i felt like I belonged to a new world filled with possibilities.
The school bus rides,the neatly packed school bag and the excitement of meeting new classmates becamea part of my daily routine... Though I was still a child,these small changes made me feel that I was taking another step forward in my journey...
The new school was much larger than my nursery school..its tall buildings, spacious classrooms and bustling corridors seemed enormous to my little eyes...there were so many students,teachers and non- teaching staffs moving about,each busy with their own routines...As I stepped into the school on my very first day,a wave of nervousness swept over me... everything felt unfamiliar...the cheerful comfort of my nursery school was gone, replaced by a world that seemed vast and overwhelming...
I held on my fears quietly,observing the faces around me and trying to find my place among the crowd..It was the first period of my first day at school...we all stood up when the teacher entered the classroom and chanted the small prayer our class teacher had taught us...she had instructed us to say the prayer whenever a new period began ....The new teacher introduced herself as"Mathematics" teacher...i remember being slightly puzzled by the word..I was familiar with "maths" but I had never heard anyone call it "Mathematics"before....
May be i was just a little too innocent or perhaps,as I would say now,a complete idiot! When the teacher introduced herself,i actually thought Mathematics was her name..
I tried hard to remember that strange new name..but every timei repeatedit in my mind,i somehow managed to pronounce it as something completely different...I had no idea that "mathematics" was simply the name of the subject she was going to tech...looking back to those days,it makes me laugh...the little girl sitting in her classroom, trying so hard to remember the "name" of her new teacher,had no idea that this funny misunderstanding would become one of those tiny memories that stayed with her for years. ..
When I reached home that day,i excitedly told my mother about our new maths teacher..I proudly told her that the teacher's name was something that sounded like a very strange,mispronounced version of the word "Mathematics"...my mother looked at me,completely confused..she probably wondered whether the teacher had come from some foreign country...
And then came the day of Parent -Teacher association meeting..my mother arrived at school and among all the teachers,began searching for the one whose name i had so confidently told her about..she looked around trying to find the teacher with that strange name,but there was no one by that name anywhere..later,she met my maths teacher, started talking to her..it was during that conversation that everything finally becameckear...my mother realised that I had misunderstood the word"Mathematics"...
Even now, whenever I remember that incident,itell my mother about it with a little sigh and a smile..it has become one of those tiny childhood memories that never seems to grow old..but today,there is one thing that makes the memory even more special.. Good bye to those little sighs-because Mathematics eventually became my favourite subject...