Recollections of a scattered childhood

People don't stay at one place or with same group of people their entire lives. For the same reasons,having only brief fleeting memories of parts of our childhood is quite common these days.

I have been trying to stitch together such patches of memories so that I get a fuller picture of my past. About many of the younger years, at least my parents, brother or other relatives would have recollections of events and people.

But what about those experiences where I was the sole witness or rather the first person involved? No one other than me can put those stories and images together.

My schooling years are the really scattered parts of my life about which I have some faint memories. I did my schooling in four schools, err five to be precise.

-- The only memories I have about my LKG was that I was taught Malayalam then. It was a christian missionary school near to where our family still resides. Hence the images and stories are quite solid, though I don't have anything special to recall.

-- My second school was K.V. Port Trust. My brother was in another KV at that time. I did my 1st standard alone in this school. I remember the excitement of watching the airplanes land and takeoff near the classrooms, and some bullies. Everything else is a blur. Never visited that complex again. Beautiful it was. I began my timid life there.

-- Then I got admission to K.V. 2 Naval Base where my brother already was studying. This turned out to be a longer association. Lots of good friends, with many of whom I still maintain contact. Lots of normal, good memories and references to validate them. Again just that some contacts were lost as I again moved out. Been back to the school after college days just to re-instigate the memories of those days and recall friends.

-- Moved to K.V.1. Harni Baroda in 1998 for a very short period of time. My 6th standard was split between three schools. Academics were shot to smithereens. I developed the skills to master languages and understand cultures. Officially became fat :). But this period is the least remembered part of my schooling.Except a few partial names and faces, I don't recall anything or anybody. No contact with anyone there. Those days are at a stage of possibly getting erased forever from my memory. Been trying to get hold of atleast someone who can help me put together the picture there. Only the life outside the school is well held in memory as my family was part of it too :)

-- Moved to K.V. Ernakulam. This one has a straight continuation into present life as all people, events are close by and in contact. 6th to 12th. The final touch.

I guess nowadays most of the people have such patterns in life or even worse as I have seen w.r.t kids of Govt employees who get frequently transferred across the country. They turn out to be rich in lots of unique skills and attitudes too :-) as a result of the pain of not having permanent long standing friends, and deep ties to any place or person.

I was just taking a stroll down the memory lane when I realized I might have enough content to jot down.

Me and Hockey

Many people question me or look at me questioningly when I mention my support for the game of hockey, or talk about the plight of the game in India.
Many have asked whether I am mad..and why I support the supposedly 'stupid' game. My blood boils when I hear the dumbos speak up against such a fine game..themselves being idle followers of the foolish game of cricket.

I was trained in Hockey in my school by a Mr.Shenoy. That is all I know of him, and that he used to be a top-notch player in his days. He was around 50 years old when he used to be hockey coach of our school. A man of perfection and excellently fit, he made his boys play hard and everyone loved him for that.
I was in my 8th grade when I was under his supervision, but being stockily built, I found it hard to find the forward positions and played the fullback position. But, as it happens, I couldn't manage to secure my position in the school team, but made it a point to watch as many matches and play as many practice matches as possible. I enjoyed trying out scoops and passes after school hours.
But, my tenure with hockey came to a grinding halt(as with all my sporting and extra-curricular activities) when my academics took a bad turn. Also, Mr.Shenoy left our school the very next year. Since then, I had not played a single hockey game, and sadly not met not more than a handful of 'real' hockey enthusiasts.

My brother too used to play under Mr.Shenoy, but he played much longer..into his college days and won many a tournaments as well. His hockey stick, that lies around his room always reminds me of Mr.Shenoy and makes me wonder whether I should have stuck to the game.

Anyway, my love for the game remains, and the plight of it pains me. I wish I could find some one to play a game with( might as well be a dream for some time). Having played it, I find it physically challenging and highly enjoyable, compared to the lazy game of cricket.

Thank you Mr.Shenoy(gee..I don't even know his First Name,but as he is a popular figure, I will get to know sooner or later), for introducing me to this wonderful game. The last I saw him was at Fort Kochi a couple of months back, training a batch of students. I had gone there for chilling out, and by chance caught a glimpse of him from a distance. I was surprised at his dedication and commitment to the sport.A great man, who is one of my role models.
I miss his popular chiding remarks,"Idiot International", "Attapaadi Adivasi" and "Foolback".