With its humble building, the paint peeling off the walls
and blackened by rains; NEEV Public School comes across as a totally
unpretentious place. Its architecture doesn’t overwhelm the self; you are not
left feeling like a cog in a machine or a product in an assembly line. Because
of its simplicity, sparseness and worn out look, one has the chance to feel
oneself, perhaps a little superior. Without an exterior to preen upon, the
facade, we rely on the interior: the software – mind, heart and soul. What
makes NEEV Public School instead, are stories of passion, struggle and
sacrifice; the laughter and banter of children and the pride of teachers.
I love to sit under the huge peepal tree around which a
raised circular platform has been made of cement, by a soul who perhaps shared
my passion. In the morning it is the haunt of children, running around the
tree, scampering up its branches while the elder ones huddle around it to catch
on some scandalous gossip. As the school ends, the tree is privy to the tumultuous
inner lives of elders; existential issues of loss and pain, the silent tear and
the solemn resolution. Standing under the tree I have been able to nurture
children and teachers through innumerable conversations. It’s the peepal tree
in the school from which I draw my spiritual strength; lessons to remain rooted
in changing weather, to stand tall and spread your branches, to renew one self
with shiny green leaves each year so that birds can build their nests, nurture
their young who later fly out into the vast blue sky. Watching my children
ready to leave their nests, I probe myself with a mother’s anxiety; have I
given them enough? Did I adequately equip them to survive the scorching sun,
hails and storm? Of course, questions like these never have ready answers. One
only hopes that lessons they drew from school, tides them over this ocean of
samsara.
A Very Happy Children’s Day to all my beloved children.
