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The Gong !

The "Gong" brought back so many memories ! Of my school bell which "Teju" used to ring with such vigor that it vibrated through the entire school ! You hardly see these anymore , there are the automatic buzzers now to replace these mighty "school -bells" or "Ghonta " as we used to call them . The bells were a welcome when a tyrant was taking a class - it meant the torture was over ! And in game classes ..sigh the 40 minutes just flew by ......! And during examination time they meant the frantic last 15 minutes scribble...the finishing line ..the last word before it rang to say times up!
In  Army Public school I always associated the Gong with Tribhuvanji ...though there were others who would ring the bell ! He kept it shiny and bright - the brass brassso-ed to a shine and rang so that it reached the far corners of the school !

 At our Lansdowne Road house we had a smaller version - belonged to my grandmother , who would religiously ring the "ghonta" at meal times ! It was her way of telling us that she is hungry! And the meal was laid out and she proceeded with or without the family !

The gong also means bringing to close another TESOL at Kochi !

A fun batch really -
Shana- neat , dependable and always knew about
the best eateries  around  Kochi 
Subu , Menaka and Apeaksha !
A mixed kettle of fish :) who shaped up well in the end ! Vipin the flighty one focused and made me proud in the end , the quiet Daliya opened up and reached out by the end of the course . Menaka  and Shana were the balanced one - always a pleasure to work with ! Gorgeous Apeaksha the eye-candy , Simple Subu , my sweetie!  Joshua , quiet and suave and an accurate psychic (eerie)!
The Coffo-holics ! 

And then there was the charming and handsome David, who was the cynosure of all eyes during our practice teaching - and he too showed his true mettle and enjoyed himself doing what he does best - interacting with kids ! And I can actually picture him in remote Ladakh having whale of a time with the little Buddhist Lamas!


And the final moments of TESOL fun and laughter till all went away in their own world with memories in their hearts ! Cheers to a new beginning !

We posed -finally !
The last day fun with Shana's baby !
Josh machine and Daliya 

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