After primary school, I went to a middle school which was till eighth standard. Then I went to another school for eighth onwards. That was ten miles away from my village. It was actually located at a place where my maternal grandparents lived. This was a small township called Kumbanad in the same Pathanamthitta district. So, I started living with my grandparents.

It had motorable roads with good transport service. We also had a clock there so no more spider gazing. I lived with them for 2-3 years till I completed SSLC (Secondary School Leaving Certificate), and enjoyed my stay there.

This was actually the 11th class. It was really an interesting kind of an education system. After that, we would go to college for our 12th. This was called pre-university with a duration of one year. This was basically an entry point to college life. Then we had a degree course for three years.

This was about 3-4 miles from my place. By the time I reached college, bus service had started in our village and we also had motorable roads now. But there were only a few buses plying on that route. Sometimes we would walk up to the college. I had some good friends and we would chat throughout till we reached our college.

By now, we also had umbrellas and slippers (chappals). I used to walk barefoot to school but now had the pleasure of walking in chappals. This was a wonderful experience.

To be continued………….

The picture is of Noel Memorial High School, Kumbanad, Kerala.