Aitchison Days - Junior School (vi)

I have been tied up with ‘other’ activities of life. That is why I wasn’t able to add another one of my gems on my blog. However, I ‘think’ that I am back now and I would try to keep scribbling down my blogs in routine. So here goes the continuation of Aitchison Days…

In 1988, I was in K-3-A. The boys in this section along with K-3-B and C are sent upstairs in Green Wing. Green Wing was mostly for K-4 boys. But the first three sections of K-3 resided with K-4 boys. I think one of the positives of moving our sections with the upper classmen taught us a few good things from them. We learned how to maintain our composures with them and the things which we would have learned in K-4 the next year, we learned them a year earlier just by living with those guys. On the other hand, there were a few negatives in this too. One of them was that we somehow lost touch with our class fellows of K-3 in normal routine. It has been a while I have been back in Gwyn House. So I am not sure that practice is still in place or has been changed for any reason. 

Our class mistress in K-3-A was pretty laid back. However, she was stickler as far as discipline is concerned. She did not tolerate any of the loose talk or careless attitude in the classroom. She demanded the best from her students. 

K-4-A was also pretty exciting. It was a good feeling to be getting to the second highest upper classman in Junior School. It made us feel much more matured, learned and experienced as I moved along in these classes. As we moved along, the competition in all areas got stiff. Athletics was most favored by boarders. And competitions like recitations (English and Urdu), readings (English and Urdu), writing (English and Urdu) etc were excelled by day boys. They also received top academic positions in the classrooms. Boarders competed with them in these areas but were quite outnumbered. 

Riding, the trade mark of Aitchison College, also started in K-4. Many of us signed up for riding. There is a certain uniform for riding the horses. There were britches, a riding hard hat, riding shoes accompanied by a blue blazer. So this sport was quite suitably looked very English. I also signed up for this sport and learned how to mount, dismount, jump and few other tricks of the trade. 

There was also a singing club present there. Ms. Abid conducted this club. This club had introduced many upcoming and talented students in the public. Students learned to recite Naats, Qawwalis, individual and group performances and many other aspects of singing here.

There was also a Scouting group. We learned how the scouts live off the land and live in tents. These were pretty exciting outdoor activities for us in those earlier years of our lives. All of these activities seemed pretty novel to us. At the end of the scouting year, we had a ‘Fire Camp’ where we performed our scouting activities and also showed our singing talent here. 

To Be Continued....

Aitchison days - Junior School (v)

In K-1, our movement was closely watched as we were new to the school. It was also to keep us away from older boys. In K-2, there was more independence compared to K-1. We could come to the classes and go back to the boarding house without any supervision. However, there was still a limitation. We were not allowed to leave the Junior School premises in any circumstances. 

Again, the days were full of activities. I enjoyed my classes. Some boys had already developed friendships from K-1 and some were still making friends. Most boys were mischievous in nature. Some were pretty calm and cool. 

The evenings were filled with even more activities including evening games. As mentioned earlier, I enjoyed my stay in Aitchison due to availability of spacious grounds and people to play with. Some days, it was Cricket, some with Hockey and some we just hung out and did nothing. It was that care-free time.

There is a big swimming pool behind Gwyn House for Junior School. We had swimming time allocated during summer. Aitchison College is famous for its horses and riding club. But the riding does not start till class K-4. There is also Junior School canteen next to the swimming pool. It has a fruits’ section and bakery section. There is also a tailor shop adjacent to the canteen for the boys. Our clothes were normally tailored in that shop. There is a full ground for swings and slides for the kids in the Junior School. 

I think we had three full months of summer vacations in those days. The winter break was for a month in December. In those days, we were only off on Fridays. Tuesdays were the visiting days. The last weekend of the month was a long weekend and the parents were allowed to take their kids on Thursday evening to spend ore quality time with them. Then we had our spring break for a week in March right after the Founder’s Day. Plus there were some days off for Eids and other religious occasions. 

I had my boarding roommates from all over Pakistan. Some even came from abroad to study in Aitchison College. There were so many kids from Sindh, Baluchistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa and Kashmir. There was nobody from my hometown. But there were plenty of kids from Multan and D.G.Khan area. The day boys were from Lahore. They belonged to all kinds of family background. There were kids of businessmen, politicians, army men, bureaucrats, landlords etc. All kinds of families were represented too like Qureshi, Gardezi, Jamali, Khosa, Bhayo, Khakwani, Sukhera, Durrani, Wattoo, Chaudry, Malik, Shirani, Sindhu, etc. 

I think many of these kids were born with silver spoon and were very privileged kids. Their parents wanted the best for them in this world. No wonder they were sent to Aitchison College in their early days for studies. However, I do believe the environment in Aitchison neither promote nor discriminate on the basis of family background. A kid has to prove his talent and must work hard for it. The high ethical standards have been set decades ago. So we were all judged based on the earlier standards. 

Over my years at Aitchison, I have seen all kinds of examples like kids were being expelled for cheating, unsportsman like conduct, plagiarism, bad behavior etc. So we were all aware of these things and tried our best to be on the right side of the history. Nobody wanted to leave Aitchison for bad reasons. That’s why I think Aitchison sets itself apart from other institutions for its  high moral and ethical standards. 

To be continued....

Aitchison Days - Junior School (iv)

When I moved into K-2-A, I had to move physically from Blue Wing to Yellow Wing. Yellow Wing is still on the ground floor, right across from Blue Wing. Normally, all the K-2 boys would be in this wing. However, along with K-2 boys, there are a few K-3 sections which are also present here with the K-2 boys. K-3-A, B, and C would move to Green Wing, but the rest of the sections likeK-3-D, E and F would stay back in Yellow Wing with the K-2 boys. So, that was a different experience having upper classmen staying with us.

We still had our nanny or 'aya' and our bearer to help us in our daily routine. But since we had developed all those etiquette back in Blue Wing, we were not scrutinized that closely every day. Plus, the aya would not help us that much in our clothing or bathing and routine things like the one in the Blue Wing.  So to some extent we were held accountable to our actions in Yellow Wing. We were not able to put responsibilities on anyone anymore. To some extent, we were responsible to make our own beds, keep our dorms, cupboards and drawers clean. We had our dorm inspection almost every week and cleanliness was thoroughly checked.

In Blue Wing, to some extent we were kept isolated from upper classmen to keep us away and closely monitored for any peer pressure. Since Yellow Wing is housed with K-2 and K-3 boys, things changed. The friendships are developed among various classes in the Gwyn House. The sports are played together between different class groups.

Normally, the routine which we were taught in Blue Wing stayed the same in Yellow Wing as well. Waking up early with the sound of the bell, getting ready for breakfast, Junior School assembly, attending classes, break time, then lunch after school, nap time, tea, sports before Magrib prayers, dinner and prep time and off to bed.

More to come...

Aitchison Days - Junior School (iii)

Our daily routine was full of activities. We were awaken by a loud sound of bell by our bearer, Chacha Fazal Din, in the Blue Wing, when it was still dark outside. We brushed the teeth, washed, changed into the Winter or Summer uniform. The Summer uniform was pretty simple which included white half-sleeve shirt, khaki shorts, socks and black shoes. Then, there was our uniform inspection before the breakfast. After breakfast, all the Gwyn House classes lined up and leave for the assembly in front of the Junior School academic building. Then we left to attend our different subjects in the classroom. After school, all the boarders would arrive in Gwyn House. Normally, we would change before lunch and after lunch, there was sometime left for nap.

This nap time was longer in the Summer because the weather is pretty hot and humid in Lahore. Around 4 pm, there was a tea for everybody. This tea included a pastry or biscuits with a sharbat in the Summer and a cup of tea in the winter. Then we were off to the games. They lasted for about an hour or so and then we had Maghrib prayers in our white shalwar kameez. The shalwar kameez were inspected for their cleanliness and iron. After the Maghrib prayer, we had our study time which was followed by dinner. And then we were done with the daily routine for the day.

All of these activities were performed by ringing a bell similar to the one below. Sometimes we enjoyed the ringing of this bell letting us know about playtime or sometime other fun event. And other times, we didn't quite enjoy it like waking us in the Winter morning, when it was still very dark and cold outside, or in Summer, because the Summer nights are shorter and we didn't have enough sleep. But we all followed it precisely.