I have spent 14 years of my life treading the path that leads to The Mother’s International School – my alma mater, my temple, and the tradition that shaped the person I am today.

As an individual, the one quality that sets me apart from others is the spirituality that I imbibed from the school’s atmosphere. In a world full of chaos, the importance of remaining calm from within was taught to us from the start and this has given me the edge over others all my life so far.

I have faint memories of being in ‘Mira Nursery’, and at that time it was a separate entity from the main school. I remember the soft muddy grounds, the playground full of swings, one of the teachers Sushma ma’am, the apparatus room with the ever ethereal Shukla Haldar ma’am, and some laughing and crying of that time.

I have memories of wearing the school uniform for the first time, feeling so grown up, and finding one of my most favourite teachers to date, Sarita Singh ma’am who still wishes me on my birthday, 20 years after leaving her class. I can go on remembering all my teachers because all of them have been so special, their mere thought brings a smile to my face.

A very distinct chapter of schooling, which warms my heart to date, is the last day of class 8. Back when we were at school we were largely sorted into sections based on our birthdays, so the sections that were allotted to us in class 1, continued till we reached class 8, after which we were shuffled. So I was in section A, and we had most of our birthdays falling from January to February end (mine included); with the culture of wearing casual clothes on birthdays back then, February was a colourful month for our section. Now when the time came for us to step over to class 9, it was a profoundly emotional moment to realize that these 30 odd faces that we’ve seen every single school day are going to change. It was a mini farewell of sorts, which taught me the importance of familiarity.

Senior classes were very occupying academically, but somehow every student manages to create beautiful memories alongside immersing themselves into studies. The school also gave us ample opportunities to get a break in the form of extracurricular activities which we always looked forward to.

Another aspect worth mentioning is the rapport we shared with our senior school teachers – as young adults on the brink of discovering ourselves, all our teachers were kind, supportive, and encouraging always! Notably, for me, Tarang ma’am, Rajalakshmi ma’am, Geeta ma’am, and honestly all the others as well have contributed in different ways in shaping my present.

The biggest homage I could pay to my school was by the way of wishing for my child to study here, and the universe granted my desire. Life has come a full circle for me to be able to see my daughter wear my uniform and walk the road that takes her to the Mother’s International School, reveling in the knowledge that she’s learning from the best.

Pranaam to Shri Aurobindo, The Mother, and My Alma Mater.

With love and gratitude,

Priyanka Aggarwal

Batch of 2003