Thankyou, Ahlcon!

My mom tells me that during my Nursery admissions, we had filled forms of 3 different schools. But the moment she set one step here, she had made her mind that this is the place she wants to admit me into.

It has been 14 years since, and I get this feeling every time I step in here. Despite not being as large in area as several schools do, the small confined building brings in a sense of closeness and attachment. Your pre-primary teacher sees you grow in front of her eyes, as the day slowly comes when you finally bid the real goodbye.

I got my school leaving certificate today, and it brought in a lot of feelings. 14 years here have been nothing less than magical. From walking in a long chain of students, following the white line, we grew up enough to be the ones managing discipline in the corridors. From the small kid’s pool to the one with 6 feet depth, from swings to basketball, from basement to top, from served lunch to canteen, from ABC to αβγ, and from love to care, this building has given me a lifetime of memories to cherish, which is making it only harder to bid farewell to everything about this place.

I came as a 3 year old kid, and starting from Pre-Primary, to Primary, Middle, and then Senior section, not only I grew up, had my adolescence, but am also entering my adulthood here only. That’s all stages of active life! And, I can say, the school has prepared me well for the long life ahead, not only in academics but all kinds of skills, including public speaking, leadership, teamwork, and achieving basic Sustainable Development Goals in day to day life.

There’s no hesitation in saying that, it is Ahlcon and it’s faculty who’s made me whatever I am today. They’ve shaped me since the very beginning, teaching me values and culture, and at the same time to take a stand for my own. It’s a difficult job which everyone here at Ahlcon pulled off perfectly, and I can not thank them enough for that.

---

• 

• 

Going back the memory lane, I used to be Sucheta Mam’s Apple, the cute little boy in the class. She made us all have so much fun in the first two years of our school that we none of us 30 felt that we were away from home in those 5 hours. And, whenever I pass by the pre-primary section, it’s beautiful to see children much younger then me beginning their journey with the same beautiful teacher I began mine, knowing the seed is being planted very carefully.

Primary Section wasn’t much different. We were still kids, except we were starting to learn fractions. And, teachers like Pooja Mam, Shipra Mam, Kavita Shah Mam, and Bindu Mam made sure that we don’t get scared off from numbers, or molecules, or the Hindi Phonetics. While I shared my birthday with one of them, another teacher gave the whole class a treat on her birthday. One had the best examples to make us understand life processes, while another had a good dose of sarcasm, which mostly went above our young heads.

Every year in primary section, we matured a little more, and started having more interactions and laughs in the classroom with one another. To boost the laughters, Bhatt Sir, Thapa Sir, Bipin Jha Sir and Brij Mohan Sir, Sangita Mam kept us healthy and cheerful by giving us lessons on various forms of Music and Physical Exercises.

Primary Section also took away few friends from us, when their parents got transferred. Luckily, we are still in partial touch with each other through Social Media. And, I am sure that they still wish that they had spent the rest of their school life here, at Ahlcon.

---

Vandana Mam

As we moved into Middle Section, we grew up little, and reached adolescence. And, teen years don’t come alone. They come with a little immature behaviour plus with infatuations. In a co-ed school, you can imagine all sorts of scenarios that took place in the next three years, with there being couples in the class, unnecessary fist fights in the corridors and the new excitement of some of us to use the R rated words we had newly learnt, unaware of their meanings. Luckily, we had amazing teachers like Vandana Awasthi Mam, Ginni Mam, Harpreet Mam, Komal Mam and several others, who kept things in check, and gave us a little common sense we required at that age. It was middle school when we started realising how our classmates have become an important part of our daily lives, and basically like a family.

---

Middle School also brought another beautiful person in my life, who till date is my mentor, and much like my second mother. Sunita Rajiv Mam started off our first English lesson in 6th Grade by making us write the Hindi Alphabets, because it’s important for us to know our mother tongue before we learn another language. The 1.5 years in her classroom were transforming. If I speak for myself, the 1.5 years improved my reading skills, writing skills, speaking skills, handwriting, and made me a better learner and a better human being. She had her own magic in the classroom, something no one can ever forget. Till date, I visit her frequently, to discuss anything that I have in mind, and everytime I come out smiling. It’s like I never left her classroom, because I’m always going to be her student.

---

Mayank Sir

Mayank Sir has been an important, and unknown part of my life beyond middle school. A really friendly teacher, he still helps me with the issues I have in any of my subjects. A great human being, I’ve been lucky to learn the basics of geometry and algebra in his classroom. Whenever the tensed vibe in the senior section puts me off, I climb up the stairs and locate him. 5 minutes of the young children learning 1 km = 1000 m in his classes make my day.

---

Middle School also had another important role to play. It introduced us to projects, which we had to do in teams. Marvellous Minds worked on several projects together throughout the three years, including Role Plays, Models, to the day we penned down two compilations of our poems. Reading those books now, my writings seem kiddish, but it was that and Sunita Mam’s support that today I find writing one of the most enjoyable things to do, and hence my blog. Thanks to this group, I got to know Principal Sir in person, who is the most motivating and most approachable authority figure a school can wish to have.

Over the years, I got to interact with him more in various fronts. He’s been a great mentor, and is always approachable for any kind of advice we may need. He has always believed in my capabilities, and it was because of him that I got to represent not only my school but South Asia in a German Camp in Indonesia in January 2018, along with 3 more students. I also owe it to him that I got to be the Literary Secretary of the Student Council for the last session. The magnitude of respect I and my fellow batchmates hold for him is hard to find in any other school. All of us, and where the school stands internationally, it is all because of the hard work he has put in the betterment of the school for over 15 years!

---

Coming to senior section, where things got more twisted. The classes were shuffled, we all got to know many more of our batchmates, the couples got more serious, the peer pressure increased, and all of a sudden our image started mattering. The last 4 years had many reality checks of friendships, opportunities for self-assessment, and time for working on ourselves. Puberty was hitting everyone hard, with all the mood swings, things even got ugly at times. Friends were lost, new friends were made. Mistakes were made, many were forgiven.

Kavita Girdhar mam, Arti mam, Shivali mam, Raina mam, Seemien Mam, Navleen Mam, Ashutosh Sir & Nidhi Mam, made our 9th and 10th memorable by their unique phraseology, so did Urvashi Mam, Vikram Sir, Karuna Mam, Neenu Mam and Gunjan Mam in 11th and 12th grade.

Gunjan Mam

At the mention of Gunjan Mam, she’s a gem. The most friendliest teacher in town, also has the best advices for you at the best time. Quirky and loving, each time I worked with her, be it School Magazine, or TEDx, it was absolute fun. There are inside jokes, common fandoms, and absolutely amazing answer sheets. I’m glad that I got to be close to her, and be able to have a conversation about anything I wanted to with her. She believes in my talent, and is always there for any kind of help we need!

---

The last 2 years, with Urvashi mam as the class teacher, not only she helped us with all our doubts in Computer Science as many times as we wanted, she kept us all motivated to try harder and be a step ahead.

• 

• 

• 

• 

---

Before that, Kavita Mam made us have a lot of fun, but equally motivated us to follow our passion. She was one of her kind. She mended many friendships, and helped build new best ones.

I got to serve the last session of the school as the Literary Activities Secretary of the Student Council, which gave me the opportunity to exploit my leadership skills, and to learn responsibility. I’m thankful to Rajiv Sir and senior section HM, Puneet sir for the same.

Asgard is not a place, its a people

This school, apart from beautiful teachers, also gave me a very loving family. The many field trips and school trips we had over the course of these many years brought us all closer to each other.

I still missed out on a lot of things I had to say, but regardless how much I write, it’ll never be enough for a place as beautiful as Ahlcon International School. I’m eternally grateful for this school and the time I spent here. I could not have wished for a better school life.

My CBSE Board results were really good, by scoring a 93% aggregate/ 95% Best of 4. The credit goes to all the teachers who’ve worked for us tirelessly throughout day & night to help us achieve these scores.

Thankyou, Ahlcon! Thankyou for everything. Thankyou for much more things than my words can contain.

Advertisement