Last year same time in the month of November I was frantically visiting as many schools as possible for my younger son’s admission into Nursery/ Lower Kg.

I had become a tourist with food packed and water bottles stacked in the car with my younger son tied up in his car seat on the rear side of my Scorpio. 🙂

My hubby would tease me that I looked more like a rani jhansi on an election campaign!:)  I tell you men can at times imagine things that will leave you gaping…

Since the whole world around me knew of my school hunting spree, lots of friends provided me with valuable information and advice. A friend’s wife called to tell me about her story.

When she mentioned about the school her kids were going to, I was literally drooling :P. My preference being Co-ed and CBSE, I quickly set off to the school called Gurukul Express, Ashok Nagar.

I have very poor sense of direction. In my engg days, every day I would get down the bus and wonder if I should turn left or right to take the next bus :D. But thanks to my driving I am better off now. So my hubby made a detailed map for me on a sheet of paper. Now I download google map and use it on my mobile.

So I drove down   E Square, near University. Just before the ESquare, is a lane on the left side which goes to range hills. It’s a bad road patch but becomes ok after 2 min drive. Do take your car or auto right inside till you reach the school gate of Gurukul Express, else you will have to walk a lot.

I parked the Scorpio near a boundary wall. It’s the last plot of the area. The watchman was nice, especially when I spoke to him in his Bihari tone. 🙂 Having lived all over the country has given me this edge, that I can converse in 6 languages though not fluently. He told me a lot about the admission process and dates and the fact that on the day the form is distributed, people line up as early as 4 am!

I got excited. Went inside and was facing a real train boogie! All the seat were removed and replaced with low height tables. Kids were either kneeling down or sitting on the floor. There were normal train windows with bars. There wasn’t good light inside the boogies. But the kids seemed happy and enjoying. That’s what is important.

Since the classes were going on I could not talk to the teachers. There were water can’s out of the door, just like the ones in which the tea is carried around in Indian Railways. There was not enough room inside each boogie for the kids to move around. I think for bigger kids it’s rather claustrophobic!.

I met a parent who was going out. She seemed very pleased with the school, studies and overall management. She had come as a volunteer for some project. Her younger son was in the juinor wing located at Law college premises. I was trying to locate good playground, but did not find any!

A little later, a class was out on a tiny patch of ground infront of the main gate playing games with the sports teacher. There were no football or basketball ground. Though I did see a patch of unruly land cordoned right in the midst of the school. May be that was suppose to be their playground but due to some reason not done yet.

There older students too were sitting in the bogies. There is one section for one class. There were two labs which were thankfully inside a concrete structure and well lighted.

The teachers’ staff room was also in a boogie. Teacher were eating yummy upma :). I could count around 15 teachers inside. I went and met one Mr Prasad, who was very happy to hear someone speak Kannada. So I enquired about the admissions and timings etc. The school admissions will be in the first week of Dec. Normally it’s first Saturday of the December months that the forms are distributed.

Only first come first basis applies.

Mostly there are working parents interested there as the school is a day board.

The school timing is 9:00 am to 5:00pm. Breakfast is served soon after the kids arrive in. Milk with upma/ poha/ toast/etc. At lunch time again, healthy lunch is cooked and served by the maids withing the school premises. The cook allowed me a peek into the kitchen too, which was not too bad and not too clean.

I checked the bathroom too which was pretty clean. Kids are made to sleep for two hours. They wake up, eat biscuits or a fruit and then sent off to their respective buses. So when kids arrive home they are fed and fresh to play or study or interact with other kids. Mr Prasad told me about the school at Law college road, which was meant only for Playschool, LKg and UKg kids. The timings are same there too. Admission is open only for Playgroup and LKg. There are only 20-25 seats. Preference given to people living close by.

I knew my chance was diluted here.

First Sat of Dec last year, my hubby went off to Gurukul School to get two admission form. While filling up the form, he developed cold feet. Reason being that by the time my baby  would be back home, it will be 6:00pm! I tried to put off the discussion by saying we will discuss that after he get’s through.

Now, I too started thinking if it was sending my tiny baby so far, till 6:00 pm, when my other kid would be home at 1:00pm. The carrots of getting so much time when both kids were away in the school was too much to see anything else. We were called for the interview a week later. We were given a time slot and bang on time we were let into the principal’s office. There were two ladies who were very cordial. They wanted to know why I was keen on a day boarding school. Without hiding the truth, I told her I will get loads of time to myself!

But I think it was the distance which was against us all the time. Looking at the traffic at 5:00 pm in the university area, the bus could not come earlier than 5:50pm to kalyaninagar. They were not too happy about it and rejected the admission right there.

My hubby tried to argue with them looking at my disappointed face but of no avail.:( But now I am very glad about that decision. Some times and with me all the times, when something goes against my wishes, it’s for the best. (Khatte hain angoor :)) The parents of kids going to this school are very happy with the studies. One parent mentioned that they do not have much writing work till 3rd std. So now they are introducing more writing assignments within the class so that the writing speed of these kids in good when they have to start writing loads of question answers in the later classes. There is no homework given to the kids. The study part is taken care by the teachers in the class. I checked for the board results of the school but could not find anything.

The success of any school depends on the board results and later on the kind of citizens produced by it.

The school fee is quite tempting too considering the food and timing incorporated within it. Rs 2900/- month. Bus is extra. The school website is a rare thing as it only pops up when you give exact search word. http://www.gurkulses.org