I landed on the mother earth on 18th March, 1959. I was youngest of my siblings and very late issue of my parents. My elder brother was 21 years senior to me and we had two sisters in between us. My elder brother and elder sister are no more. I can recall my first childhood memory about guests on the occasion of brother's marriage, when I was just four-year old. I cannot even recall the rituals and other activities during that marriage. We stayed at Kalighat near Ujjwala Cinema Hall then. I have a faint
memory of an accident on cycle (my baby leg got stuck in the spoke of
the wheel) near Hazra crossing. We had changed housing accommodation about three times by then after my
birth, which I have heard from my family members. I also came to know
that I had been to my native place in Haryana and maternal home in
Rajasthan before that, though I have no memory of any incidence during
those period other than one faint memory of my toe injured due to fall
of a pulley at Chetla residence.
My Pre-schooling was done at home guided by a tutor and my younger sister. We shifted to Swinhoe Street, now Anil Maitra Road in Ballygunge, when I was about six and half year old. My formal Schooling started thereafter and I was admitted to a local Hindi medium school in Standard V at the age of seven. After a year, I cleared the admission test of M G Rungta Academy for Standard VI, a fairly standard school of South Calcutta then. South Point was just at an early stage and our school had an edge over them. Though I was weak in drawing, my mathematical skill was good. My scores in grammar used to be low as I didn't believe in rote learning and seldom worked hard for studies. After Class VIII, I opted Science stream and I had to switch to English medium from Class IX, as there was no option. Though I faced some difficulty in taking lessons initially for English Medium, but was able to cope up after some time. I had to take some private tuition for Chemistry in Class X. Finally, I appeared for HS in 1973 at the age of 14 years. Our school verified from the Board Authorities, who confirmed that there is no minimum age prescribed for appearing in HS. I cleared the exam with High Second Division, which was above average in times, where top-scorer from my school got 75% and was among top 100 HS qualifiers in the State. I cannot still understand, it is due to my easy-going tendency or immaturity due to age, I could not heed the advise from my teachers and fellow students including the school topper that I underutilized my potential. I even did not try IITJEE due to sheer ignorance.
My Pre-schooling was done at home guided by a tutor and my younger sister. We shifted to Swinhoe Street, now Anil Maitra Road in Ballygunge, when I was about six and half year old. My formal Schooling started thereafter and I was admitted to a local Hindi medium school in Standard V at the age of seven. After a year, I cleared the admission test of M G Rungta Academy for Standard VI, a fairly standard school of South Calcutta then. South Point was just at an early stage and our school had an edge over them. Though I was weak in drawing, my mathematical skill was good. My scores in grammar used to be low as I didn't believe in rote learning and seldom worked hard for studies. After Class VIII, I opted Science stream and I had to switch to English medium from Class IX, as there was no option. Though I faced some difficulty in taking lessons initially for English Medium, but was able to cope up after some time. I had to take some private tuition for Chemistry in Class X. Finally, I appeared for HS in 1973 at the age of 14 years. Our school verified from the Board Authorities, who confirmed that there is no minimum age prescribed for appearing in HS. I cleared the exam with High Second Division, which was above average in times, where top-scorer from my school got 75% and was among top 100 HS qualifiers in the State. I cannot still understand, it is due to my easy-going tendency or immaturity due to age, I could not heed the advise from my teachers and fellow students including the school topper that I underutilized my potential. I even did not try IITJEE due to sheer ignorance.
My success and qualifying HS, though not commendable one, at that age prove some important things.
One, you should be well-prepared in advance for opportunities available after you cross one hurdle.
Two, you do not need too much time to be spent on pre-schooling.
Three, our syllabus from Class I to Class X is restructured for completion of Madhyamik course much earlier for deserving students.
Four, the fear of switching the medium from Hindi or Bengali to English is useless.
