Posted by On request, Bimal Rajasekhar (2004 ISC) wrote a poem about Loyola. He’s studying at the National Law School in Bangalore, and runs a blog Rabble Rabble Rabble, where you can catch more of his creative writing.
ON BECOMING A FOUR-YEAR OLD BOY
‘Sabse aage ladke kaun..’
You remember those words, don’t you?
And how they fell from your lips,
With the passion of a kiss.
The sweet nectar of a fervent chant
In it we found reassurance.
Something to believe in,
Lapped up by generations of us.
From a baby to a boy,
Not much to ask
Boy to man,
A difficult task.
Your school performed the feat,
You yell to all you meet.
“It moulded me,
It breathed life into me.
The perfect creature I am now
Is because of my school.”
And your eyes slyly ask of theirs,
“Whither your little school?”
But just pause, and wonder.
The others; the boys and the girls.
Study in your school they did not,
Yet there they are, in your office.
At the desk next to yours.
Men and women, doing just what you do.
Look at them; like you they are.
The only thing that defines you,
The ID card around your neck.
The number that you are.
If for you, Loyola was your sun
For them, their school was their moon.
So, ask of yourself this,
How can the sun be better than the moon?
For long years, proudly,
With faith unwavering
You have worn Loyola.
But repulsive the accumulated dirt of condescension,
And perhaps the time has come,
To take your skin for a wash.
The sun’s always better than the moon… and in this case…far far better.
Oh! I miss the encore!! I am ready to do anything to shout out “SABSE AAGE LADKE LADKE KAUN?!!…” once again! Oh! I really miss it!! 🙁
It was really THE SCHOOL, wasn’t it?
Bimal Chetta, you rock!!
Beautiful poem, Bimal. Real talent you got here. What you have written is so true and so hard for most of us to digest. I have also been guilty of this condescension to people from other schools until I began to look at myself and began wondering tepidly along the same lines you have so brilliantly versified.
I join Bimal in asking what makes an ex-loyolite better than or different from a st.thomas, sarvodaya,hac alumnus? Maybe the answer is in us…and not in the school…what we can do with our lives.
Cheer Loyola’s Sons!
danks 🙂
most of us have been, I think, guilty of it.
well, whatever gives us our kicks!!
I loved that bit about taking the skin for a wash. Here’s riffing on it:
And perhaps the time has come,
To take a bath.