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The buzz is back

Photo: Nagara Gopal

A new high Flaunting their fancy school bags, water bottles and lunch boxes elevates them

It is difficult to differ with American novelist and newspaper and magazine editor Edgar Watson Howe who said that if there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with mothers.

To the great relief of mothers, vacations are over and its time for the kids to be back in school. The morning traffic snarls are back, the yellow school buses, auto-rickshaws jam-packed with kids, rickshaws plodding along and parents on two-wheelers balancing the kids with their humungous bags is once again a familiar sight .

The pitter patter of hundreds of feet and the voices of cherubic little ones reverberate through the school corridors after a long silence. “It feels good to attend school after such a long break,” said an excited Shreya, a class VII student of NSM Public School. Her brother Harshit’s is a different story altogether. “Holidays were fun as we could play all day through. Going to school now is not bad either,” he quickly adds. For boys like Pavan, a class IX student, an extended week would have set things right as the monsoons would bring the much-needed respite from the overbearing heat.

“A new academic year is about a new classroom, new books, bags, water bottles, lunchboxes and uniforms besides new apprehensions and anticipations,” sighs Rama, a mother of two hyper-active kids.

The market is flooded with paraphernalia of students needs. Brooks, the high-end kids store on Bandar Road has set up a special counter for all the needs of a student. Fancy pencil boxes with fancier accessories, lunch and snack boxes, water bottles and sippers and bags ranging from Rs.250 to Rs.1000 and more. Bata’s ad-line -- Back to school with Bata, speaks volumes about its shrewd business tactics aimed at enticing customers. The Modern Super Market at Benz Circle is mostly crowded thanks to its offer of a discount on school bags and notebooks. “I bought a pencil box that slides open and it also has a game on it. I won’t share it with anyone. Its mine,” lisps four-year-old Abhi.

Sahaj, a class VI student, rubs his hands in glee and says: “I am dying to experiment with the many pranks I have up my sleeve with my classmates” Being with friends is fun but the heavy workload that awaits us will barely get us to enjoy,” Anukriti lets out a deep sigh. On the flip side, Ankush, a topper through school, says,” My teachers are more like friends and guides and I am going to miss them all when I leave school. I was waiting impatiently to be back to school

With children back to school after the holidays, the harrowing period for parents is over and life is back to the normal routine Mini, a working mom, cannot stop grinning: “Holidays are finally over. Good that my little devils are back to the routine. ” Although summer camps that popped up at almost every street corner helped harried mothers rid themselves of the extra strain to a large extent, but the end of vacations apparently was the most awaited thing to happen.

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