Std 7

The main thing I remember about 7th standard was that I found out what were my likes and dislikes as far as academics was concerned. I realised how much I hated hindi. Hindi was a struggle for me in 6th, but it was the basics, so I scrapped through. In 7th, I could not stand it. Coupled with a stern teacher who generously gave 5 black marks as if shes distributing prasad, it became a nuisance. I was ok with the language as such but I was horrible in grammar.

I also found out the things I was strong in, including Geography and English. The geography teacher was really nice, soft and polite and it was a boost, especially after the my hindi classes. My english teacher, Mrs. Lalitha Chandrasekhar was the foundation for my poetry skills. She introduced us to poetry and it was really nice. I loved William Wordsworth's daffodils poem. Simple english but strong message, keeping reader's interest all through. I wanted to write something like that sometime. Also, there was one comic incident in Tamil. I am known for my tamil writing skills. I rote "bharathiyar ettaiyapurathil paranthaar" instead of "piranthaar" and also "dharithiram" instead of "sarithiram". My tamil teacher started laughing and in the test that followed, I got a 100 in tamil for the first and last time. Now, that IS irony!

I got to play my first and last matches for my school cricket team in 7th. I was a decent medium pacer (along with vikram and sriram - who is now playing for tamil nadu), I was also a good fielder, though I realised that I did not have the power in my shoulders while batting. So, I was more of a nudger. My school team had a pretty strong batting line up and so, I did not have much of a role as a batsman. I remember that the coach was impressed with me, but I left cricket after my father coaxed me to concentrate on my studies in 8th std promising me that I will get my chance in 9th. I knew that was not going to happen, but I had to concede. Out of my brief cricketting career in school, I remember two things. Once when I was selected in the playing XI for what would have been my first match, to be played in the MCC B ground (which was very famous). I was all eager, only to find out at the last minute that someone else has replaced me. That hurt a lot. I came back to class and it was painful sitting in all whites all day with all teh students' and teachers' glares on me.

In our flat, we used to have nice New Year celebrations, with lots of games and things to eat and performances in the night. It was going on for the past 3 years. This year was grand as we invited people from the surrounding streets also. It was all out fun and enjoyment. I had to dance and sing a song. As for the last 3 years, right on the evening of 31st dec, I got injured in my knee when I fell down. I had to get some 9 stitches done and was fully bandaged. Twice previously I was injured and once, I was down with high fever. I was sad I could not perform.
Also, we have yearly games in our flat. I used to be proficient in almost all the games I played. Though in some, I was not the favorite to win, I usually give a very good fight and try to win everything. Usually in head-to-head games, I come atleast 2nd. I was the champion for the last 2 years, but this year, I faced a stiff competition from my dad's colleague's son, Dilip Kumar. He was also equally passionate about winning everything he entered into. So, it was a tough fight. It was always 1-2 between us in all the games, either way. But finally, I got the championship by some 2-3 points and was pretty happy about that. I was probably the youngest guy out of people from my age group. The others were either too small or all older than me. I always feel happy fighting against older or better guys as it improves my game. Along the way, there were a lot of emotional moments, but I remember one clearly. During the finals of Badminton, I was playing with Gopi, who had played more competitive levels and has never lost before. I was rated only fourth. But I was in a winning position that evening and he appealed for bad light on the advice of the referee, Vijay, who lost the previous round to me. They voted for a re-match the next day, though I thought it was unfair. I felt cheated and started crying. To my surprise, my sister cajoled me. I realised later that she had been supporting me against the stronger player all the while too. For once, I felt that she really cares for me. She kept talking me up and saying that I can win against him. The next day, I was a stronger person (I hate to admit it but her words were responsible for that) and I beat Gopi comprehensibly. And there was another first too, I thanked my sis whole-heartedly.