The Prelude To The Summer Break !

Whoa ! The thrill of the approaching summer break could be felt all over the school premises. The excitement of the new session had quite worn off by now  after just over a month of schooling. Though the Gabrielites were far from being tired, (one never tires of school), there still lingered the thrill of the new session of the academic year 20X-20XI. 
Towards the end of April, the news had spread through the Famous Gabriel Grapewine (FGG) that the holidays were to start from the 2nd Saturday of  May. Well, no sooner was this heard, all were in a perpetual state of anxiety.(like the ever moving molecules). 
For the High School kids it was a very exciting time as they were the starters of a new system of education. The stress-free mode of education. They were told about the new formative assessment that would take place. After confirming what was to be done from all the subject teachers. . . . . then began all the fun and games. . . . . .caution was thrown to the winds.The kids visited the taps ( inherited habits die hard )but in groups and in 2z and 3z.
From second floor of the west wing, the scene was quite something ! The kids were all scattered, the younger  more active than their older counterparts who stood in groups, their knapsacks causing them to hunch; they trudged across the fields, to Peters (canteenwala); moved to their favourite hauntings of the school grounds, but there seemed to be less eagerness, tinge of soberness. The other side of the campus (across-the-road-cricket field) was also not empty. Kids in white interspersed with the grey and white were making the most of the last day before the summer break.

While within, there was no mood to study. The last day chatter, thrill and exchange of programs and stuff  took centre stage. None was eager to study. As for myself, I had nothing more to give than advice. A phrase was coined which thrilled these kids. Study Well ! Play Well ! Be Naughty ! The naughty part they understood well. 
On the first day of my holidays, I happened to travel through a rural part of the region and intermixed with the modern structures are these quaint reminders of  yesteryears, the scenes common in the 60s and 70s. These days it is a disappearing scene. However, Prabhat of X-A has doodled (sketching, really) one such rural scene through his steady hand and a photographic mind. Smooth, controlled  strokes of  lead ! Admire !