My family and our times: 01/01/2010

Our Relationship:

We treat each other as most cordial friends. He will like to instantly churn out all happenings during his day in School as I pick him and walk him to the parking lot.

Makes me Special:

Being the first in hierarchy of my next generation, he is the Star of my eyes. I like him to be naughty & graceful.

Enjoy About:
I would like to enjoy and be with him all the times playing numerous games which he exclusively plays with me.

Do Together:
Enjoy more with outdoor /indoor Activities

I wish him to grow a great human being to serve the human race in any field.

About my Childhood.

I am Preetmohan Singh Kapoor and being the father of Gobind’s dad, a really proud one.

With six decades removed, I grew up a toddler to witness a mass immigration in the history of human race from one place to another on grounds of religious demographics when about 25Million people were displaced.

Photo of a Railway Station in Punjab, India. Many people abandoned their fixed assets and crossed newly formed borders.

Life as a Child

Under the circumstances, my Mom started teaching me at home, while my Dad had to look out to earn for bread for the family. I had to wait to be five years of age to get admission into a Government run Primary School in a small and uprooted city of Panipat in the outskirts of Delhi the capital of the Country. But my Mom had already taught me good enough to be in the Second grade, so my Dad had to bribe Rs 1 to the Head Master Mr Sat Pal who allowed me get entry into the school even with a younger age.My First School

Our school was at a stone’s throw from our house. I shall start from the house only after listening the school bell. We had to squatter on a cotton carpet full of filth and sand along with our Slate for writing on with a Chalk, a small 8-page book and a wooden hand board for using the same again and again with black ink and a bamboo pen. (for reusing the wooden board again it had to be washed and given a fresh coat of a fuller’s earth every evening so that the same board would get dry and ready for use next morning).

The small book would contain the Alphabets, numbers, and one story at the last page with a hand drawn picture of a cat acting as Judge holding a two pan balance for equally dividing a piece of loaf between two monkeys. She continued eating the extra on either side till the loaf piece was completely consumed by her. Moral: do not fight and decide it between yourself, otherwise some body greedy like the Cat would grab the share of both.

The teacher had a portable Black Board only for the 3rd grade and above class. There was only one section of 30-40 student in the class. There was only one examination for promoting to the next class at the end of the year culminating in March of each year and the result was announced on First of April. All the kids would line up with a Marigold Flowers garland in their hands and would place the same around the neck of their respective teacher as the result of being successful was announced. Yes, a few were unlucky who could not be promoted.

Games I Played

We had two months of summer holidays, but usually they got prolonged as in our area it rained for Four months in a year and the roofs of the school were not able to handle the heavy and prolonged rains and the rain water continuously leaked through them all the times. All of us were extremely happy to get a school day off on such occasions. That was the funniest thing to happen. This will give us a chance to hang around and play marbles, Gulli Danda ( a local famous game played in south Asia). My dad got a good Job in the city Rationing Department and was paid reasonably well. He got me a rubber Ball which would attract many friends of mine who remained glued to play with me. In fact a small vacant place surrounded by row of houses came to be known as a play ground after my name.

I wish I could have my old time back, that would not happen. But while seeing Gobind passing a similar time in better environments and conditions, I feel so much elated and contented.

Here is how he sings the 'Mool Mantra'

Memo.m4a (1060KB)

July 10, 2009

Drop Off and Pick Up From school

Gobind gets badge for 'Walk To School' from an officer of San Ramon Police Department on the Black Top

Gobind school starts at 8.00 AM, while Jania's Pre School Learning Center admits her at 8.15. So it works really well. We fill them up with lunch packs in their backpacks for Gobind & Jania and start the morning journey at 7.45. That is also the start of first fight. She would like to go to her school first, and would strongly argue as to why to go to Gobind School first. Neither me nor the grandma has been able to convince that hers starts late. As I, being on the passenger seat, am spared the onslaught from her.

Any way, Gobind and me get down from the car by 7.55. I carry his bag on my shoulder, walk him to the Row Number 27 marked in white on the Black Top. There are 40 rows meaning the number of sections for grade 1 to grade 5 in the Live Oak Elementary School in San Ramon, Ca. Black Top is a huge tar suface of about 5-6 Acres meant for games like tennis, soft ball, Basketball courts, and lots of swings in one corner. It is a treat to see the hustle and bustle both at the time of drop off and pick up of kids on the Black top. Mostly kids are accompanied by one adult member of the kids family usually by one of the grand parents or non-working mothers.

You will see a diversified section of folks of all color and creed in the True America style here. There are Cacaseans, blacks, Chinese, Vietnames, Phillipinos, South Asians, and Africans mingling with each other due to the necessity of imparting best education in the best environments. Being a practicing sikh, Gobind has four more co -Sikhs to his advantage.

As the bell rings, various teachers of all the classes will come forward and lead their sudents in each row to their respective class rooms. It is interesting to see Gobind holding a big size back pack and walking in a disciplined line, following his teacher Mrs Boreman through hoard of mates. At times he lags in his walk feeling still sleepy.

Mrs.Boreman's Gobind Teacher in the First Grade introduces herself

My name is Jennifer Boreman. I am a newlywed living in San Ramon with my husband of 11 months and our two dogs. I am originally from New York which is where I obtained my Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education and Psychology. I have been living in California for six years and have had the opportunity to obtain my Masters Degree from St. Mary’s College. I have been in the education field for eight years teaching in New York, San Francisco, and Pittsburg, California. I am very excited to be part of the Live Oak family.