St. Mary's High School, Shillong, India
I've been enjoying some comments that take me back to my past. A recent one said, "Joan, if I remember correctly your hair length was below the waistline. Sometimes it nearly reached the knees. And do you remember the schoolgirl whose hairline nearly touched her ankles?"
I do remember her. She was a classmate and good friend. Her name was Phimklet. Phimklet means "you won't forget," so of course, I never did.
We hiked from Mawlai on the outskirts of town, three miles to St. Mary's High School and back each day. No wonder I still walk everywhere.
Another reader who found me online some years ago sent me these pictures of my class. I had such good friends (Rani, Mala, Madhumita Roy, Neeta, Poonam) and although I wasn't famous for academics I knew every way in and out of that school. We were always playing pranks and practical jokes. I my fill of Italian nuns poking hard fingers in my chest demanding to know why I "wasn't more like my sisters." Heheh.
I am in the center of the top picture with my hair pulled back, big grin and dorky glasses. Fun days.
Googling around I found this poem about Mawlai.
