The famous Madras Choir competition!

1oth std..at the pinnacle of the school..the choir has been chosen to represent our school at an inter school competition in Madras. Oh..the excitement! What should we sing, how are we going to get there..what are we going to do there..will we win..is there any doubt..we're the BEST! Practices for Doctor Foster went to Gloucester..and the Lion Tamer..lyrics include "crack the whip"..the rest is buried in my mind and cannot be dynamited out. Positions and postures are painstakingly planned..uniforms pressed, blazers and shoes cleaned. The day arrives, we board the train to Madras with MS. SUARES AND HER FAMOUS WHISTLE. (we don't know what we're in store for!) Lots of singing in the train..Pleas from Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Joseph to conserve our voices for the singing competition. The calmer ones go to sleep, the more rambunctious of us (read Raj, Shobha, Pervin, me and others) ride the rails sitting at the edge of the train door. We reach the famous Mount Road and the Church of South India. Find some hall or other to sleep in, with a graveyard in the back..Beautiful angels of stone..scary at night..Next day we line up to go to breakfast at the Kamath hotel..everyone is clamouring to give the waiter their order...OUT COMES THE FAMOUS WHISTLE..girls, girls, show some decorum..now how many of you want dosas, raise your hands, how many want idlis? Oh no..cringe, the height of embarrassment at that age..(have no clue that embarrassment is sticking your legs in stirrups and showing your privates to the world)..every one's looking at us..even the waiters are laughing..oh MS. Suares, how could you? We eat and get out of there as quick as possible. Go to the place of the competition..practice, practice, practice. Back to lunch at CSI..very hospitable, delicious..except for Shobha(Chachie) gagging from finding a lizard in the pickle..off for showers...sweating outside, sweating during and sweating when we come out...why is Madras so hot! The day of the competition dawns, nerves there but hidden..lots of reassurances that we can do it. On stage, Mrs. Thomas so put together looks absolutely beautiful in her brand new dress..we are so polished and put together, hit every mark, voices soar like angels..Pervin, Sandra and Jill hit every high note perfectly..Raj and I hit every note correctly, Shobha was an alto or tenor..can't remember..we can't lose, WE'RE THE BEST! Come back to the church..time for fun..its late, but there's always time for a walk. OUT COMES THE FAMOUS WHISTLE..line up girls..various states of dress and undress, some of us still in our uniforms, some in regular clothes..ART SIR in his "pyjamas"..blue, black and white striped, with polished black shoes..walk down Mount Road! Yup..we're representin..now! We're cool, we're hip, We're THE BISHOP COTTON'S GIRLS SCHOOL CHOIR..oh excuse the man in the pj's, he's with us, but not with us! We walk to the beach, check out all the stall around it..WHISTLE..Girls, stay away from the water..no, no buying any kachra from the stalls.." WHISTLE..line up time to walk back to the church..Next day we make our way back to the orderly life at school, bragging about the competition, holding it up as a badge of honour, rubbing it in other girl's faces. DID YOU WIN? OF COURSE WE'RE THE BEST! No..we were not, NOT in Madras..we cam 3RD..oh the mortification..we were robbed..they said our singing was too refined..what do they know about songs and choirs..partiality I tell you..all the other competitors were from Madras, of course they're not going to let someone from Bangalore win..

So came to the close one of my finest trips down memory lane...the highlight wasn't the competition or the songs..(of course I break out into Dr. Foster went to Gloucester for my kids now and then) but it was MS. SUARES'S WHISTLE and ART SIR in his Pj's. Now, you tell if the kids of today are not deprived of a well rounded education!