AIMS, DREAMS, AND ASPIRATIONS (Memoir series – Story 9)

Hoping for the best!

I wake up all of a sudden, sweating and wide-eyed. Where am I? How did I get here? 

The grandfather clock’s TICK-tock, TICK-tock fills the room. Oh, I remember now, I’m in Granny’s home!

I sit up on the mattress. And the rumble and funny noises of the grumpy monster in my tummy are loud enough to wake up the whole house. But everyone is still sleeping, except for the noisy grandfather clock. 

Ouch! My tummy hurts a lot. 

I gently poke my cousin on the shoulder. I try again, a little harder this time. Finally, he wakes up with eyes as big as balloons. 

“I don’t feel well,” I tell him.

In no time, Granny magically appears from the next room.

She soothes and calms me, leading the way to the kitchen with the dogs following, keeping their sneaky distance. 

After a few minutes, a plate with small slices of raw papaya arrives. I chomp on them slowly. They aren’t sweet, but they don’t taste bad either.

Granny’s super-duper magic touch saves me. Soon, I fall asleep feeling much better. 

The next morning, Mummy smiles at me. She’s surprised that my tummy was upset. I’m not. Neither is my cousin. Thank God, our secret attic adventure stays hidden from everyone.

Later in the day, Mummy says Daddy found us a new house in Ernakulam. We are going there soon. 

Wow! I’m going to a new school. And I can’t wait to buy books, a school bag, and make lots of new friends.

But things don’t go exactly as we planned. Most schools don’t have any more openings for new students.

Finally, we manage admission to SRV School. It is a good school, but the classes are in Malayalam, not English. 

I can already speak Malayalam. But I must now learn to read and write in Malayalam too. 

So, Mummy gets me some storybooks in Malayalam. Reading them isn’t too bad, but I must put my English storybooks aside for now. I have to focus on learning Malayalam first.

My new house in Ernakulam isn’t far from my school. I make new friends. And just as I’m beginning to feel like a local Malayali, Mummy brings back my old storybooks in English along with some super-duper new ones. And our evenings are back to the fun world of stories and poems.

Now I’m getting better at juggling between two languages. In the mornings, I embrace Malayalam with its wacky words and funny sayings from school. And in the evenings, I speak proper English. It’s like having double the fun, right?

One evening, as Mummy hands me a glass of milk, she tells me we may change schools again.

“A new school?” I exclaim in wonder.

She explains that the new school is amazing but mainly for kids whose parents work for the government. But they also accept a few smart kids who do well in special exams each year. And guess what? I have a chance to get in if I do really well in the exams.

It’s called The Central School. Mummy says we don’t know how the exams will be or what the questions will be. And all I need to do is keep practicing my reading and writing and hope for the best. 

She explains that it will be God who will decide if I should get in or not. Well, that makes perfect sense as always when Mummy says it. 

I don’t get to see Daddy much now. He goes to his shop before I leave for School and comes back only when I am already snuggled up in bed. Sometimes he leaves on Sundays too. And Mummy says he is working hard to grow his new business. 

I understand what it is like to be dedicated. Because my commitment to collecting his empty Berkeley cigarette packets is going strong. The stack is getting so big, it’s now taking over the complete window sill.

On our way back from School one day, Mummy says that the entrance exams to the new school are the next day. There’s nothing to worry about. Daddy and Mummy will take me there. All I have to do is answer the questions well. 

The next morning, we all hop into Daddy’s cool car with the number plate KLA 320.

Daddy drives well, but he doesn’t overtake as many cars as I want him to. When I grow up, I’m going to drive this car super-fast because I already know everything about gears, steering wheels, accelerators, and brakes. I can’t wait to be a big kid!

But first things first, I need to pass this special exam. So we arrive at this gigantic hall. I’m sure this is the biggest hall in the whole world. 

Wow! So many kids. And so many parents. And everyone looks serious. And now I’m starting to feel a bit scared.

But you know what? Mummy knows me so well! She gives me her biggest, warmest hug and reminds me that I’m the smartest boy and I can do it. She says that she’ll get me a cup of my favourite Joy Ice cream as soon as we are done with these exams.

Then a bell rings, and Mummy and the other parents leave the hall. The girl sitting next to me gives me a friendly smile, and I smile back. But wait! Mummy told me not to look around or talk to anyone. Oops! I better listen to her. I have to focus on the exams and only listen to the supervisors.

After going through all the exams one by one, I walk out of the hall feeling like a sleepy zombie​ ​with the rest of the kids. 

I walk into Mummy’s hug while she eyes me anxiously to see how I feel.

All I can think is that I need that ice cream right now.