Nostalgia: Code word tuti-on

Tuti-on: Pronounce it right

This was way back in 2001. I was in my VIth standard and one of the toppers in my class.

I was good at Science, Social and English. I could manage Hindi but Sanskrit gave me nightmares. I got a B in Sanskrit in Vth (which was P3 - Pathetically Poor Performance going by my standards back then).

I did not want the entire class to know that the topper was attending tuition classes.

So, I always referred to it as tuti-on. That made me feel better.

Ka, Kha, Ga, ... then what?

Matadeen sir stressed the importance of having our fundamentals strong. From the very beginning, we were told to improve our handwriting and revise our shabd/dhatu roops.

However, to his horror, he discovered that we did not know the Devanagari script. We knew a few alphabets in order - the rest was all mayhem.

We were made to go through our very basics. It increased our confidence level tremendously.

'Does she live down there?'

From the day, sir discovered that our English teacher Anita Abraham was living below Siddhesh (we had our classes in his house), he became reluctant to come to the same place to teach.

After some deliberation, it was decided that the venue for the tuitions would shift base to my house. The onus was now on me.

Paan + Chai: Sandhi Banao

Matadeen sir (almost always) had a paan/supari in his mouth. As a result, he had this strange high pitched voice that is typical of Paan eaters.

The three of us would stare with disgust when he would start drinking the tea and say 'Sandhi Banao: ___ + ___'. Most disgusting.

Rest assured, he was a top-notch Sanskrit teacher. Though, I always wondered why

• He never taught in the school (He would come in - give some high-funda lecture and fly off)
• He never recommended those Rs 3 Kunjis in class (the ones he procured from Banaras)

His were the only tuition class I ever attended. I never had any problems in Sanskrit from then on (or was it so? Matadeen sir taught me in Guwahati. In Bangalore, the syllabus of VIIth was repeated for our class VIIIth course. I have always wondered whether I was just lucky).

I did not pursue Sanskrit after VIIIth even though it was supposed to be a 'scoring subject'. I took Hindi instead.

Nostalgia: Football Focus

I was in Bangalore for 3 years - 2002 to 2005. I have always loved the city. More than the climate or the posh malls, it is the people who make Bangalore what it is.

I miss my friends at Bangalore a lot. The friendships that we forged were unadulterated. No pretensions. No Maggu, Ghissu, Stud or Pro. Just the names or the nicknames. Nothing else.

In my school at K.V. Jalahalli No-1, all of us understood each other. Or at least we thought we did. When we played football, not a single soul stayed back at the class - at least not among the boys.

We tried to utilise our 'break' to the fullest. We would have our tiffin in 5 minutes and rush to the football ground. Teams were fixed so that we did not waste our time in deciding the team.

The Rules

The rules of the game were simple.

No corner. No offside. Fouls allowed to the point of not causing an injury. The area of play was not defined. The player closest to the goal was the goalkeeper by default.

The rest was all common sense.

Structure of an Average Game

The games were played with a lot of passion. We did not play for 'time-pass'. We played to win.

An average game lasted 20-25 minutes. It comprised of vicious crosses (Arun was particularly good at them), long distance shots but no header. It is no mean task to head a Cosco ball flying past you.

We played in the hockey ground. So our goal posts were the hockey goal posts. Roles were preassigned. I, for instance, always defended the goal.

The end was usually quiet abrupt. The bell would ring followed by sharp whistles from the P.T. teacher - which meant we had to empty the ground immediately. But that is how it was - Time Management at its very best.

Variations

It wasn't always intra-section. At times, we played against the other sections. We would then club together the best players of both the teams and give our best.

On one occasion, 2 or 3 good players from our team defected to the opposition. But more than the players, it was about the chemistry within the team. If the team members gelled well, the team won. Otherwise it lost.

When we were short of Cosco balls, we switched over to mineral water bottles. Those games were very rough though. At other times, we would shift over to American Football. But that was 'once in a while'.

Playing Gear

Since we had limited time, as a rule we stuck to our school uniform. As a consequence, my leather shoes never lasted more than 4 to 5 months.

We never played with any protective gear. Apart from a few sprains, I was never injured very seriously. Nobody ever was.

I never played with my spectacles. Shinto did. Arun didn't. It was a personal choice. We had a two minute allowance to tuck our shirts in before going into the class. K.V.s are very particular about the uniform.

What I learnt during those contests was more than just the nuances of football. Time management, Teamwork and Resource Management was our daily bread and butter - though we seldom realised it back then.

Football changed us.
It made us better individuals.

And better team players.