My 10 Years in SPA

The School

Disclaimer: 10 is just not a number, it’s a decade of my life.
Year: 2013, Month: December, Venue: St. Joseph Academy, Dehradun
In the Principal’s Office:
A panel of three to interview me for their upcoming school- St. Patrick’s Academy in Clement Town, Dehradun.

I returned from Canada to India, after almost 10 years of teaching pre-schoolers/ kindergarteners in June 2013. Extremely confident and overly passionate about my work, I had failed wherever I had applied in Dehradun till then. I had warned my husband clearly that if I didn’t get decent work by the end of the year, I would return to Canada.
This was my last resort…
I took extra care to dress well that day, took my Portfolio, which represented my work over the years and even straightened my hair to look younger. In India, companies/ work places prefer to hire the young lot, and I was well beyond forty that time.
Reality Check: No one, among prospective employers was interested in going through my portfolio.
The questions began to befall:
What’s your Indian experience?
I hardly had any.
So, what can you teach besides the academics?
I didn’t get that….?🤔
What does your husband do?
For me, the feminist to the core, the question was irrelevant…
I was out from the office in five minutes.
March 2014:
I was still in India and still without work…yes, that threat to my husband was, well, just a threat by a woman having a midlife existential crisis…
I got a call from the office of Saint Joseph Academy…
Are you still looking for a job?
Yes, I am.
Can you come for a ‘demo’, tomorrow?
Sure!
Well, come prepared with two teaching activities for KG kids.
Excited and nervous at the same time, I spent the rest of my day in planning and preparing.
The Following Day:
When I reached the school, I was told that since the KG Classes were yet to begin, I was supposed to go for the demo in Class 1, with 50 children in it, three teachers sitting with paper and pencils, ready to assess me.
I had taken one of my favourite books: Chicka, Chicka Boom Boom, containing a story of English letters A-Z, to read to children. The Grade 1 students, at much advanced stage, were hardly interested in learning the alphabet; rather they were having a party, and were at their rowdy best. When I looked desperately at one of the teachers, she told me not to mind them. The teacher, in question was Mrs Geeta Thapliyal, who, later on became one of my best cheerleaders and a friend.
Surprisingly, I got a job! The school must have needed a teacher badly…
12th April, 2014 was my first day at St. Patrick’s Academy, aka SPA.
The school is run by Patrician Brothers, who have been working in India since 1875, providing value based education besides helping the marginalised and less privileged lot- they do much more than we see on the surface.
So, being chosen to work in one of their schools, I felt ‘être dans la lune’ ( in the moon).
My story, runs along the story of SPA, and…
SPA will complete 10 years of its journey on the 22nd April, and surprise!!!!!
I am still here😀

10 years in pictures

Ten years is a long time to stay in the same place, teaching the same age-group, following the same routine for someone like me, who had attention deficit issues, hence how did I manage?
One of the most compelling aspects that has tethered me to this place is the fluidity of the work— it’s malleable and pliable, like clay, which, children love to play with, because of what they can create just by squeezing or spreading or steering according to their will.
When I joined, I was a little apprehensive whether my experience in Canada would be a hindrance, rather I was in surprise when I found out that both the Principal- Bro. Sebastian and my Coordinator- Ms. Sheetal, were as open to new ideas as I.
Brother Sebastian was ahead of the times- During that period, he pioneered the Open Books Tests, an idea that the CBSE board has only recently begun to consider.
And Sheetal was just like me- I told her once that both of us were different models of iPhone,. I, maybe iPhone 4 and she- the latest one.
Completely comfortable in her skin, without even subatomic-sized insecurity, she became my mentor and later, a friend…She involved me in most of the ‘Firsts’ we embarked upon in the school.
Yet, she was still my senior-taking leaves wasn’t easy, she negotiated for them like the warring nations do for releasing the prisoners of war.🫡
Thus, missing the school was a no, no affair; once, in spite of being terribly sick, I went to school, only to faint in the corridor of the school for the first time in my life. The school principal, Bro. Benedict, accompanied me to the nearby hospital and remained by my side throughout until the doctor examined and relieved me.
Bro. Benedict was like a father to the teachers and Santa Claus to the students, with sweets in his one pocket and a magical balm in another…he used to walk around in school, distributing the both as per the need. The one to help him was Bro. Earnest, the name defines him, (I have yet to meet a person, more dedicated to his/ her work) I need not say anymore- except that he left the school too soon.
Bro. Johnson was one of the most confident and assured individuals, possessing a split-second ability to make decisions. He was the teachers’ champion, and during his tenure, we were pleasantly surprised with treats and lunches.
He made me the pre-primary coordinator of the school in 2017.
The position enabled me to pursue endeavours that were beyond my reach as a teacher. I tried to blend the fresh experiences of the West with the timeless wisdom of the East and hopefully, I say this without any modesty, I have succeeded somewhat. I take pride in the fact that along with the KG teachers, I sat down to write the text books for our kindergarteners, among multiple other feats we achieved.
Bro. Solomon came with his fabulous plans and ideas, and encouraged me to spread my wings further, but he left soon, making way for Bro. Joseph, who was a silent one, but noticed everything. He allowed me to soar, but not like Icarus- for he made me stay grounded too:)
2020 was the year, which we had not even envisaged in our wildest dreams or nightmares, in this case. We became prisoners in our homes. Human beings, inherently social creatures, grew distant from one another, prompting the onset of remote learning. Bro. Joseph emerged as a genuine leader during that time, navigating through tough decisions with grace and compassionately tending to the needs of both staff and students.
Patrician Brothers came and left… letting go of everything they controlled or ran so easily and calmly, after putting their piece of flesh in the school… This, I have learnt the hard way- more so, in the recent years, but certainly required for the overall growth. While the school kept on expanding, necessitating to make a way for the others- seniors teachers, the nomenclature division done according to the classes we teach, I reconciled with this fact- for such titles are just classifications to describe the hierarchy.
I, being a pre-primary teacher, believe in multiverse growth, not linear or vertical.
My 10 years journey has finished in a blink, except my hair have turned grey, ( as long as I don’t colour them) .. my skin has sagged, I have witnessed pre-menopause and post-menopause periods, and the first LKG lot I taught, is in Class 9 this year.

It hasn’t been easy all the time… I have pulled my hair, raised my voice ( shouted) and relied on headache medications, frequently all these years. Yet all worth the efforts…
Recently, while taking the children for the interactions, I was handling a little one, crying for his mom, by distracting him.
One of the parents present there, asked the teacher on duty: Is she Manjari Ma’am?
On getting the affirmative answer, the parent smiled and nodded approvingly…and I received my reward- there and then.
My co-workers have been amazing; I always tell the teachers that we are not here to make friends, but to be honest- I have made many friends here, so, I believe…from the different age-groups- Aprajita, I must mention, for she stood with me through the good, the bad, the ugly and the best, if I may add? 🙂
So, when I was asked in my interview, what else I could do besides teaching, I didn’t understand the question that time. But over the last 10 years, after working in St. Patrick’s Academy, I have many options to offer now and one of the most unbelievable is:
I can even choreograph dances, with my two left feet, hmmm…not very confident, in fact not confident at all, but if the need arises…( hope not).
This is what one can do in the schools, run by the Patrician Brothers- The Unbelievable!
But, choreograph dances? Really??? Not for me…nah!!!