My school bag

Do you remember the first bag you carried to school?

I was coming to work today. With school that just started at beginning of September, there are many excited first graders around in the morning. All holding their prized possession, their school bag, wearing the reflective collar were eager to go to school. I watch them every day. However, today, I just noticed this girl with her pink Disney princess bag, and went back to my first school days. Well, actually the first school bag.

In India, children start school 2-3 years before the first grade. The pre-school or nursery school. Though similar to a kindergarten in concept, it is somewhat different. In all these 12 years of school, plus 3 years of pre-school, I possessed many bags in all fancy colors and shapes. However, I really do not remember them. I do not even remember the first day to school. It is a very fuzzy memory overlapped with memories that I suspect are from later days. However, I remember in all details, the simple bag I was carrying the first day to my school. And the water bottle that hung around my neck.

It was the simplest bag I ever had. A little rectangular bag in the strangest shade of grey-brown. I cannot even describe the color. It was not exactly grey. If one imagines grey with a splash of brown thrown in, maybe one would get the color. The borders were in black. There were two black buckles strapping the open flap to the bag. On the flap, on a small black tag was written ‘Duck Back’ in cursive white. The bag’s rectangular shape would stick a bit out of the narrow frame of my body. Inside there were three pockets. The long big one was for my books and exercise books. The other part stitched in the middle formed two smaller pockets. The right one was for my lunch box. The left carried my pencil box and the hardbound school notebook. I remember how I found the plastic buckles interesting. It appeared such a smart mechanism to the three year old me. I liked fastening my bag often.

I remember how my books used to be arranged inside my bag. Bigger ones at the back and the smaller ones in the front. The small exercise books would be made into two neat equal piles and put in front of the books, side by side. I remember one particular incident. I wished some change in the arrangement of the contents of my bag. However, I could not figure out a very distinct variation. Only decided to carry my lunch box and notebook together in the right pocket. However, by the time my teacher asked for the notebook (it was used by teacher to write notes to parents etc), I had forgotten all about it. I told her I had forgotten to bring it. My surprise knew no bound when it appeared from the right pocket along with my lunch box during the lunch break!! Oh, silly me, I had just kept it in the right pocket!

My water bottle was another prized possession of mine. It was transparent, with brown belt, and cap with the nozzle. However, the cap covering the nozzle was not just a cap, but a mini box! No one in my class had a water bottle like that, and I was so proud of it. Ma would often times put something little in that box. A candy, some fruit, some sweet. A little treat in the little box!

I like carrying a backpack. Often I find it very practical and useful. My present one is an indigo blue with black. I am planning to replace it soon. And I am sure, I will not remember this current one for long after I stop using it. But, I know, I will always remember my first bag. I was proud of my bag. Of myself. I can close my eyes and see the color, the brand, the make, everything. I do not know if I have a picture of the bag. Maybe someday I should check my first day school pictures. But I do have the picture in my mind. And there it will forever stay. My bag and the delight of a three year old.