I had the good fortune to have studied at such a top quality institution like Paranjape school, NEERI branch, Nagpur.(This branch has now been acquired by Modern school since the last decade or so.)
After completing my junior kindergarten from a different school(which didn’t have the higher classes), our family tried for admission at various top schools in the city like Somalwar, Hadas, Mount Carmel etc. But since we started this process late, admissions were closed for most of these coveted schools. Coincidentally, one of our relative was on the management body of Paranjape school and so I fortunately got admission to this school. I skipped Senior KG and got directly admitted to first standard(class one or grade one) at the age of 5 years and two months. Those were the days!
Anyway. Throughout my ten years at Paranjape school from 1984 to 1994, i-e, standard I to standard X, I was blessed to have very high quality teaching staff for all subjects. All the teachers were very good-natured, friendly and from highly educated, upper middle class backgrounds. In fact one teacher who taught us English and History for a couple of years was actually a Ph.D.! Imagine having a Ph.D. teacher for standard VIII at a time when even the top engineering colleges in India had most professors/lecturers having just a bachelor’s degree!
But it is not just about formal academic credentials. From all angles the teachers were fantastic. They didn’t just teach for ‘money’ or prestige, but used to put their heart and soul in teaching us with lot of enthusiasm and passion as if they were on a divine mission. The satisfaction of imparting high quality education was more important to them.
All of them would always speak in English and hardly used Marathi or Hindi(unless it was a Marathi or Hindi language subject being taught respectively), and also encourage all the students to speak in English only during school hours including lunch times and breaks. This helped us to develop fantastic communication skills since a young age. They also used to organize elocution competitions, debate competitions, speech competitions, essay writing competitions etc. and encourage us to participate in all extra-curricular activities. The English teacher also encouraged us to write a diary everyday. I don’t know about others, but I being a very obedient and sincere student, followed this advice religiously and got fabulous results of this habit. My essays used to be read aloud not only in my class but even other classes including’the higher standards’ as ‘model’ essays.
When I was in standard VII, the English and Maths teachers took extra classes for us after the school hours for High School Scholarship exam. I was quite fascinated by the pattern of this exam and it was at that time that I enthusiastically pursued self-study of Maths and English as if I was on a man on mission. Thanks to these extra classes(which were free of cost, of course), I made huge improvements in these two subjects and started being a topper in these areas. Since then I have always been a great fan of competitive examinations and their pattern.
Paranjape School had a huge play-ground where we used to play cricket, football and many other sports almost daily. I also used to participate in drawing/painting competitions, drama, social gathering etc. This institute had a magnificent, spacious, beautiful building with nice landscaping. Most of the students were from upper middle class, well-to-do families. The overall ambiance was really great. All the teachers, Principal and even students of other classes knew me due to my participation in various extra-curricular activities as well as through prize distribution ceremonies, and I always felt like a superstar.
I feel fortunate that I was in such a high quality such as Paranjape School, NEERI, Nagpur. Thank you very much for the great, world-class education, and also for all the love and blessings!