During our short stint in Singapore, the children had their Sports Day at school. I was awed by the arrangements, the huge stadium and the specially trained squad of cheerleaders. Having studied in a government-aided school where the classes were packed with children and any event was just limited to a few special invitees among the children. I never got to witness any large scale sports event in my school days.
Now, in Mumbai, my girls urge me to come and enjoy their Sports Day. But I could not make it in the past few years. This year, being the last year at school for my elder daughter, she wanted me to come. But the last minute preparations drove me crazy. Since my daughter was the flag bearer for all the three branches of her school in the march past, she had to be impeccably dressed, with shining white cap and gloves. All the instructions were given to her at the last minute since she was busy with her Preliminary Exams. Ultimately, we ended up finding the gloves and caps, just one night before. And all of those caps and gloves were stark grey- not even close to white. Late into the night, we had to scrub them, wash them with whiteners and due to lack of time, had to dry them fast with hair dryers and table fans. Last minute ironing of the uniform and running around for a suitable coat had pushed me to the limits and I decided that I needed a break. But the thought of missing out on my daughter's last year at Sports Day gave me the impetus to attend it.
And what an eye opener it was! The stadium was as huge as the Singapore one and cheering squad was so colourful and enthusiastic . Each winner was cheered heartily by their school and booed by other schools. For the first time ever, I thought that there is some good in the brimming population of India-such school events are made so colourful because the stadium is full of noise and cute little kids. Comparatively, the event at Singapore downright boring - it was not as noisy and the stadium not as filled as it was here. It was an event of fun and frolic for the kids. I noticed that the parents too were joining the celebrations and cheering.
Truly a memorable day.
