A Letter.

To,

Kaduva, (Well, that's what the kids call you.So, Don't blame me.)

The principal,

Sarvodaya Vidyalaya.

Yes.I totally understand.You would like to improve the school and you are trying to usher in a new era.Now, since this is your first year in our school and I have lived a good fourteen years of my life there,I guess I am in a position to give you a bit of advice about some of the changes you are trying to initiate.

1)English Drama

Okay, I will give this to you.This might actually end up doing something good.But, then I did be damn annoyed if you are going to censor just about everything they come up with.It's only with independence, that creativity comes into picture.

2)Re-naming the L- and R- blocks.

I am guessing you go to some Church, being a Reverend and all that stuff.And, I am guessing the church has a name.What would you feel if one fine day, the priest decides to change the church's name for the heck of it?Do not change stuff for the fun of it or to score points with God either.We have lived a good part of our lives there.It's our temple and church and mosque.We are pretty sentimental about the place.We hate annoying changes.

3)Segregation of girls and boys till tenth.

How exactly did you get that brilliant idea?Are you stupid enough to think that if you forbid interactions between the opposite sexes, it will solve all the adolescent issues riddling them?If you ban them from talking to each other, are you mad to think that they will accept it silently? They are teenagers and they'll rip your ban apart.If you want them to grow up respecting each other, separating them is not going to help.Yes, some of them will go and have relationships behind your back.But, it's a phase and it's harmless.If you are still very concerned, give them a proper education on their limits rather than treating them like babies.

4)Banning the kids from playing in Basketball court during recess and making "unnecessary" noise.

No, A Basketball court is not where you have tonnes of shelves containing books and boards with "SILENCE PLEASE" written over it.You got confused.I grew up running across that court with my friends.I haven't become a criminal yet.Kids are supposed to grow up doing precisely what you have banned them from doing.In the name of education, do not ruin their childhood.You'll end up producing a bunch of robots.

5)Reducing the duration of Youth Festival and banning events like Western dance.

A school is not a place which burps out engineers and doctors annually.A school is where a kid gets an inkling of what he or she would really love to do.There's nothing indecent about loving literature and fine arts.And, Western dance?Oh yeah, I forgot. Veerapan and Bin Laden did a lot of western dancing in school,didn't they?

6)One day Excursion trips.

It's been more than three years since I stepped out of that institution.Whenever my vacations come up, I always find time to wander in and around Sarvodaya Vidyalaya.You see,my chest puffs up when somebody mentions that name.It's called memories.It's not just physics, chemistry and mathematics with which I passed out of Sarvodaya. I had a lot of awesome moments in school.Excursions count as one among them.The sky will not fall upon your head, if you let them have fun for three or four days.

7)Discipline

It's a very interesting quality.But, it's quite over rated.Especially, if you intend to bully the kids into learning it.I have heard that you are extremely picky about queues and other stuff.But, seriously it did be much better if you are able to instill in the kids other values like the ability to speak up for their beliefs and the ability to help one another.That really is much more important.

Yes, you would have initiated other reforms, some of which might benefit Sarvodaya a lot.I might have got the wrong information about you.It does not matter.Sarvodaya is just another job for you.It's much more for me.We are talking about the place where I got a bunch of people who would probably stand up for me all throughout my life.It's where me and the same bunch of people created chaos, landed up into all sorts of shit and had a lot of fun.It's where I had my first crush and then another one and then yet another one.All of which probably wouldn't make sense to you, eh?

We built that school brick by brick.The place is filled up with the legends we created and the graffiti we engraved.

Treat it with respect.Be careful with my school.I do not care how much older or how much well respected you are.

You'll end up facing the wrath of a lot of us out here.

From,

A Damn Proud and Probably Arrogant SV-ite