The Day when I grew up...

It was back in Grade 6, Karachi High School and the new academic year starting in August 1992. We had moved to the Secondary section by crossing over from Class 5. It was a very small school hence it shouldn't have been a big deal if a 20 odd children moved on to secondary section cos nothing "really" changed. Its not like we moved to another location altogether or a different block.

Of course there was the convocation/graduation ceremony...hehe...yeah we used to have a convocation when we moved (graduated) from KG to 1 and 5 to 6 and then from 10 to moving out of school. 3 convocations in my life at School. Our principal was really interested in seeing kids in their gowns and square caps.

Anyway, going off topic. The biggest change from Grade 5 to Grade 6 was the change in uniform. Long Sleeves and Trousers. It was such a big change to wear trousers even in Summers. I was one of the children with a better than average height and it was embarrassing wearing shorts almost all year long.

The even bigger change...was the TIE. Yes people, this post is about the day I learnt how to TIE the TIE. Tie the knot...umm...no that was much later...how do you say this...? Tie the TIE...ok whatever...

See, with the long sleeves and the trousers came the big switch. Its not really a big change from short sleeve to long sleeve because you still wear the shirt the same way. There is also not a big difference in the switch from shorts to trousers because you wear them the same way. The only difference being that your legs come out much earlier in the shorts than the trouser.

The significant change is the switch from the ELASTIC TIE to the Full TIE. The one that needs the knot. No longer some bully pulling on your elastic tie. No more playing elephant by pulling up the tie to the nose. It was the day, I grew up, a little more.

The first day, when I was going to school in the new wardrobe, I didn't know how to do it. Tie the TIE. My mom didn't either and my father wasn't around, well he usually wasn't around for such little yet important stuff. His work was away from home most time of the year. My sweet mom, tried her best to get some kind of a knot through so that at least it is not embarrassing but couldn't manage. Finally, she said go and learn from one of your friends. Somebody would know.

So, little UTP, all sad but in a crisp new uniform reached school with no TIE around his neck. I was assuming there would many other like me and there were. But there were many other unlike me who actually knew how to do it. Some had really nice triangle (samosas...) knots who had jealous people around them. Girls talked to them more on the day just to talk about how they tie their knot. I mean it was the talk of the day. We were the outsiders cos we didn't know how to look smart.

In comes Abid Nisar. I want to write the name of my best friend (from the school days) here. This guy was a genius, one of those all-rounders. Studies, extra curricular, sports etc. He was in everything and...of course he knew how to get the perfection in tie-knotting. I didn't even have to plead. He knew how I was feeling and he left the swarm of girls around him and came and helped me out. He was patient and taught me the single as well as double knot. Then all I needed was practice and I became pretty good at it in a few days.

And that was the day I grew up. That was what was the actual transition to 6th grade. Learning to tie the knot. I mean...TIE the TIE-KNOT. How do you say this?

I am amazed to end this post by saying what a wonderful feeling of achievement that was. At that time, those were the little achievements that made the day. Those were the little happiness moments that I still cherish. Why has all that changed? I wanted to tie my tie every morning then. I now keep my ties all knotted up and while taking them off I don't break the knot. I don't have time in the morning to spend time in making a tie knot. I wonder why? When it was one of the most important things to do back then.

Similar was learning how to tie shoelaces...but I ll keep that story for another day. I ll give you a preview though...I DIDNT learn...heheh. I went for the Velcro shoes almost all through school and still avoid laced shoes. But that will be another day and another story.