It was back to school for us hitchhikers literally. We were invited to interact with the students of Govt. Higher Secondary School – the largest school of Mizoram. When we were produced with this opportunity, we grabbed with both hands as this would gives a great chance to learn what the next generation Mizos aspire to be in their life. Considering our background of quitting our jobs and being jobless, we were apprehensive initially as we could be the worst examples the kids can have. Nevertheless, we went ahead.
When we entered the school amidst all the regular school noise, it was deja-vu for us. For once we felt we went back in time and entering our own school. What do you do when you go to a new school? Yeah, go meet the Principal. For the couple of minutes I waited in his room to speak to him, I felt the same fear that I had when I used to meet my School Principal. After the incident even Ajay confessed the same feeling. But, the experience from the meeting the Principal is the best we could get. He was so supportive in what we are doing and when he said that he was envious of what we are doing, we were over the clouds. When we told him that we are heading to Arunachal Pradesh next, he became nostalgic and shared with us that he studied there and he still has friends near Itanagar. What’s more, he gave 1000 Rupees as pocket money to us.
After this, we went to the next powerhouse of a school – the staffroom. When the teachers learnt what we are up to, they were puzzled and curious at the same time. They had so many questions and we loved to answer them. When they learned that we are not supposed to spend more than 150 rupees a day per person, they insisted that they would treat us the lunch and we had a great lunch with all the staff of the school.
Next was the Main part. We were 3 classes back to back. Two 11th classes and one 12th Class. The first class was a 11th class having an English class. We were forewarned that the students would be shy and we have to make an effort to start a conversation with them. But, they were good, after initial ice breaking where I asked how could they manage such stylish hair styles and asked one to tell the name of the shop where he gets one, the laughter did the trick. We asked what they wanted to become after they grow up. We got some unusual answers – like Teachers, Civil Servants and Fashion Designers. Considering they were students from 11th Standard, the career choices came as a pleasant surprise to us.
Next was an all girls class and I was a bit scared to get in and be the center of all girls attention. The reason for no boys is that it was a Home Science Class and the boys feel shy to sign up for it. Here we got some return questions such as how did we find Mizoram. We also gave them what we think they should do after in their Career decisions.
Surprisingly, the 12th standard students were shyer than the 11th standard ones. After the classes it was time for a photo session and we got a chance to get a picture with the cute girls
