1379) How I bagged the Class X Biology Prize - 1973 in La Martiniere College, Lucknow: Mr. Alphonse joins the College as a Botany Teacher in the same year: A Recollection:
The year was 1973, when I was studying in Class X at La Martiniere College, Lucknow.
A new Botany teacher - Mr. Alphonse had joined the College Faculty. He was nicknamed "Alphonso" after the sweet mango which is the speciality of Ratnagiri, Maharashtra.
Contrary to his nickname, Mr. Alphonse was very strict and wanted all of us to remember and write the exact botanical names for the plant species. Hithertobefore, "Sab Chalta Tha" (meaning "anything goes"). We could write the common name of the plant species and get away with it without bothering about botanical names. Not only that, Mr. Alphonse would not award a mark, if the botanical name spelling was wrong. The caveat - Next year was our Indian School Certificate Exam (ISC), so everyone had to get into the groove or get a "failed" remark.
I set down to the task at hand. At this time, I was a boarder of Second Dormitory for Juniors. With compulsory games et al, it was going to be a tough task. I got one of the day scholars to buy me the non-abridged Botany book of S.K.Dutta and got down to "mugging up" botanical names in right earnest.
At meals, everyone from the College Prefects to House Captains to spoons, knives and forks, plates, buns, rice plates etc was assigned a botanical name. Not only that, while playing football games for Lyons House, the opposition were given the botanical names for "Poison Ivy", "Cactus", "Lantana" etc. I played in the Full Back position and would not let any of my "botanical" opponents get past me. In one instance, they went past me and an easy goal was saved by our alert goalie. I yelled "How Dare You!!!". I was pleased to learn that a teenage girl had used my phrase while addressing the UNGA (United Nations General Assembly), on the subject of "Climate Change" - almost five decades later.
On the penultimate day before the Botany exam, all of us were very nervous and did not know how we would fare in Mr. Alphonse's test. Everyone was expecting a tough one. A lot of us spent the night studying in the section in the Second Dormitory meant for late night preparations (read: "All night preparations").
I must have dozed off for around 2.30 AM I felt an insistent tap on my shoulder waking me up instantly. I turned around, but there was no one there. Around 4.30 AM, again the same sequence of events happened. I could have sworn that it was one of the 'ghosts" that roamed the corridors of Mart, which I wrote about in my previous post, who are caught in an eternal time warp trying to help present day students catch up with their studies/exam preparations, but I had no time left for "investigations".
I had a breakfast of weird botanical names (not slices of bread, butter, fried egg etc.) and I went for my Botany Test. This was also the final Exam for Class X. Like I said before, everyone was extremely nervous. No one had asked me for my customary pencil boxes in which I used to write Answer clues and which circulated around the class room for the "lesser mortals" to write something they were clueless about, while escaping the eyes of the invigilators, in return for standing me a treat later at the College Canteen.
Mr. Alphonse trooped into the class and started handing the Question Papers to everyone. I saw faces droop as they read the questions. As soon as I received the Question Paper, I got down to answering the first question itself, without bothering to read the whole Question Paper - I was like a short distance sprinter, had no time to lose.
Within no time at all, I asked Mr. Alphonse for an extra Answer Sheet and then another. He was absolutely intrigued. I looked around after about one and a half hours, and saw very few students were left. Mr. Alphonse started reading my main answer book, standing next to me. He had a very pleased look on his face. I gathered from his expression that my hard work was paying off. I was the only student left, by the time I had finished. I suspect that Mr. Alphonse had given me an extra ten minutes, so pleased was he with my commitment to Botanical names.
A week later, the checked answer sheets were given back to us. I had got a cool 92 marks out of 100. The next best was 44. Mr Alphonse called me after class and congratulated me. It transpired that he was more than pleased with my answers, which he was not expecting from anyone.
Outside, my classmates were waiting and I was "kidnapped" to the College Canteen for a celebration". Considering that the pocket money was Rs.3/- only for two weeks in those days. for which we had to stano in line if front of our House Master Mr. Rayner's house, and vegetable bun tacks cost 20 paise and Bun kebabs 25 Paise, the treat totally "cleaned my pockets".
The Biology Prize was already a foregone conclusion. Of the 11 prizes which I was awarded for being the outstanding student in a particular subject, during my 5 years in Mart, this "Biology Prize" was the most valuable one.
My wife Sumita gave away my collection of over 1100 marbles, blank exercise copies (with variously coloured covers) with the College Emblem on them and 10 of these prizes to an orphanage, when she opened the Indira Nagar Lucknow, State Bank of India Branch. Fortunately my most coveted prize was kept in a stack of my reference books, which still comes in handy for writing posts on my blog and got saved as a result.
I am appending the cover and citation received for the 1973 Biology Prize here:
Links to posts on my Alma Mater - La Martiniere College, Lucknow:
I think this is an informative post and it is very useful and knowledgeable. therefore, I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. Please keep sharing! Best ISC Board School In Lucknow
ReplyDeleteI think this is an informative post and it is very useful and knowledgeable. therefore, I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. Please keep sharing! ISC Board School In Lucknow
ReplyDelete