I don’t precisely remember how I joined Ramakrishna Mission School (RKMS), Aalo in 1966, but I do remember trudging 3 kilometres, one way, alongwith my elder sibling late Jarbom Gamlin – yes, the one who was in ‘politics' and became the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh in 2011 - to attend school.

I was born with six toes in my right leg – so, could never wear a pair of shoes until I got the extra toe surgically removed in January 1974 for my entry to Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun (which I have spoken about in my previous ‘piece’), and perforce, I used to wear slippers to school. It was always an exercise in futility to keep the slippers from flapping and slinging mud on to my back while walking to school in the rain. During this period of learning under the thatched huts of our tiny school on the bank of Sipu river, the most sought after class used to be the story-telling sessions by our beloved ‘Doley sir’ wherein he would narrate the stories of Mahabharata or Ramayana in parts, in his inimitable style by dramatising every sequence or act, miming and enacting the characters. The bouts between Bhima and Duryodhana stand out in my RAM (random access memory!). Giniki gindang....giniki gindang... - that’s the background score ‘Doley sir’ had ‘composed’ for a fight sequence (!!) - and the see-saw battles between the ‘maharathis’ Arjuna and Karna, Bhima and Duryodhana and the likes of Bhisma, Abhimanyu etc would keep us glued to his miming acts, and we would literally be sitting on the edge of our benches, picking our noses (yuck!), awaiting the final outcome with wide-eyed anticipation. But then, he would have us wait for the climax till the next session of story-telling amidst our groans of protest. And what a great story-teller he was...that we remember the characters of both the epics - Ramayana and Mahabharata - quite vividly even today. Giniki gindang.....giniki gindang...what nostalgia...!!
Circa 1969....I wanted to become a ‘hosteller’. My mother Gamde, who is all of 88 today, was an ‘atypical’ mother with amazing mental and physical strength, blessed with immense practical wisdom and vision, with a no-nonsense approach when it came to disciplining her children. For an illiterate woman, she was quite progressive in her thinking and believed in the power of education. Now, when I told her about my desire to be a hosteller, she was more than willing to finance my request. My father late Sokjar Gamlin, a Political Interpreter in the civil administration, was often away on postings to remote areas such as Tato, Mechuka etc - away from Aalo - through most of our growing up years; therefore, obviously, it was for my mother to take the call. One fine morning, when we were leaving for school, she gave me fifty rupees as fees for hostel admission and asked me to request the Swamiji on her behalf. The first headmaster of RKMS Aalo, Swami Nageshanandaji was often referred to as ‘Bada Swamiji’ while Swami Pramanandaji was the ‘Chhota Swamiji’ who took care of the affairs of the hostel. Interestingly, I was also called ‘Chhota Gamlin’; my elder brother, Jarbom, obviously bearing the sobriquet of ‘Bada Gamlin’. So, when ‘Chhota Gamlin’ approached ‘Bada Swamiji’ he understandably had little time for a little boy and waved me off, absent-mindedly, and asked me to get in touch with ‘Chhota Swamiji’ instead. When I informed ‘Chhota Swamiji’ about my desire to be a hosteller and narrated my brief encounter with ‘Bada Swamiji’, he probably took it as a tacit concurrence by ‘Bada Swamiji’ and to my mind, unwittingly, owing to an unintended misunderstanding, he accepted the hostel fees and my admission was facilitated - just like that!
I distinctly remember ‘Chhota Swamiji’ as a very versatile personality who, we learnt, was related to Ashok and Kishore Kumar brothers, the famous Bollywood actors/singers of yesteryears. No wonder, he too could sing, and over a period of time, taught us many patriotic songs which we remember by heart even today. His tales about the exploits of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and the sacrifices made by other freedom fighters such as Bhagat Singh, Chandrasekhar Azad etc had lasting impressions on our young minds. He taught us the art of ‘hand writing’ and initiated us to various disciplines of sports such as football, athletics and badminton. He also had a knack for telling ghost stories; and each time he ‘cooked up’ a ‘bhoot’, he had us cowering in a huddle and scream in fear sporadically, in the eerie twilights under a few lanterns (we had no electricity those days) flickering weakly to reinforce the presence of the dark spirits! To us, he was a walking encyclopaedia and we truly believed he could teach us anything under the sun. The hostel was almost an ‘ashram’ wherein the basic approach was to make us self reliant and hence, one learnt to wash clothes, sweep and mop dormitories and toilets, and even learnt to cook ‘idlis’ and ‘dosas’. I truly believe that this period of growth within the confines of RKMS provided us a firm foundation to explore the world with confidence and self-belief. 

 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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