My First School
In the 1960s, Sylhet was a quaint town with bungalow-style homes and plenty of greenery and ponds. Our house was filled with trees, rose gardens, lemon bushes, as well as cows, chickens and ducks – enough nature to captivate the imagination of a curious child.
When I was five, my parents enrolled me in Blue Bird School. Until then, I had led a blissful life enjoying my home territory. When I was informed about my enrolment, I was too absorbed in my world to realize my carefree days were ending. Instead, I was delighted at my new school uniform: white short-sleeve shirt and blue shorts.
On that first day it was Ammu who took me to school. It was about three miles from our house - twenty minutes by rickshaw - on top of a hill across from Manik Pirer Tilla. The rickshaw dropped us at the bottom of the hill and we walked to the top where an L-shaped bungalow – the schoolhouse - stood alone.
Reaching there, I suddenly had the sinking feeling I was about to be left with strangers. Unnerved, I pleaded with Ammu to stay at the school the entire day. She did this the first day. From the next day a household staffer took me there. He too waited for me the whole day, every day, for several days. I often peeked outside class to ensure his presence.
Then one day he left after classes started.
When I peeked outside the classroom and noticed him missing, I started howling. The other children were amused. The teacher tried to calm me down. I cried for a good half hour before settling down.
At day's end, Ammu came to pick me up. She had brought treats – candies, books – to make up for my distress.
But when I was left alone the next day I did not complain. Instead, I quickly made friends, playing with them outdoors during breaks.
My days at the hilltop ended soon. The school had outgrown the bungalow and needed larger space. It moved to a two-storied building in Noya Sharak where I spent Class 3. There was no outdoor space to play. But the indoor space was large, including an attractive new library. I spent long hours there poring over the pictures and photographs in large hardbound books.
The following year I was double-promoted from Class 3 to Class 5. The school moved to a new location in Subid Bazar. The following year we moved to Dhaka.
Blue Bird School was a warm and nurturing place to spend my early school years. The teachers taught us without overload. Even though it was an English medium school, we could converse with them in Bangla. Just like the town, everyone knew everyone else at the school. Today, as Sylhet has graduated from small town to large city, so has Blue Bird become a much larger institution.
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