Growing Up(part 4) First stay in Shimla

We were supposed to move to shimla, and boy was i delighted. Although it was my second stay at a hill station, wellington was no match for it. Shimla was beautiful. Surrounded by mountains on every side, it is never too hot there. A piece of information, there are no fans in the houses there. They aren't needed.

So we moved to shimla and I was supposed to go to a school called the Chapslee School(I know, sounds funny). I was admitted to the 4th standard having completed my 3rd in nasirabad. The school was weirdly constructed. It had small classrooms with students swarming them. It had one basketball court which served as the assembly ground. The school was up to class 6th. The senior school was located somewhat far from the place.

At first i didn't like the school much. Our class teacher Mrs Anita was a nice person. Always smiling and making us smile, but when she was furious, there was no stopping her. My class had three sections and i was in the 'B' section. The class was full of people with diverse attitude.

The topper of the class Swati was a quiet person. She seldom talked and she smiled like once a year. Well as i learned later, her mother had passed away a few years ago. It was reason enough to be such a reserved person. I always tried to beat her at academics, but was always second.

Then there were my friends, Sumeet, Navneet, Aditya etc. All had different and unique accents. Aditya was the clown of the class. Always troubling the teacher. Sumeet and Navneet were serious students, and close frnds of mine. Then there was the ghost of the class, Abida Shah. She was beautiful frm her looks. But the prob with the lady was that she couldnt speak much. Whenever asked a question, she would just give the teacher a troubled look, as if saying "Why the heck did you choose me to answer?!". Then there was Bhawna. She was plump and had a sweet smile. She used to go red very easily.

Our first house was a temporary one. We then were alloted a house nearer to my school and nearer to the city. I then started walking to school instead of taking the bus. It was then that I got a book for standing 2nd in class. It was a story book, probably my first. I have loved fantasy ever since.

Shimla was full of monkeys. Wherever you go, you'll definitely find monkeys to trouble you. At our second house, the scenario was so "monkifficult" that the monkeys used to come inside through the open balcony sometimes and take there favorite food and go! i was afraid of them. I thought they were mindless creatures who'd bite if we looked at them. Our neighbors at the new house were a touch more difficult than the monkeys. The problem was that the houses were located one below the other, and we were at the top floor. The aunt who lived below us claimed that the noises of our footsteps disturbed her!! It was the most outrageous allegation I'd ever heard. She used to hit her ceiling whenever she wanted us to quiet down. In reply we used to stomp the floor harder and make her mad(hahaha).

A year passed by. I was to go to class 5th and we were told that mixing of sections was to take place. I was taken aback. That meant I had to make frnds all over again. That wasn't a problem for me, but i'd miss my old companions.