Back to 90s classrooms: White shoes, rasna bottles and that annoying class monitor

There was always one class monitor who never let you escape a surprise test

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Lunchboxes carried paratha rolls, not quinoa wraps

Slam books were passed around like secrets waiting to be spilled

It was always a race against the clock.

In a modest Indian home of the 90s, mornings began with the hiss of the pressure cooker, the clinking of steel tiffin boxes, and a mother calling out names while tying shoelaces, braiding hair, and packing lunches : all at once. The uniform, ironed stiff the previous evening, was laid out neatly on the bed. A bottle filled with Rasna or water was pushed into one hand, and a stainless-steel dabba, still warm, into the other.

White PT shoes, chalked to near perfection on Sunday afternoon, sat by the door like soldiers ready for parade. The scent of coconut oil still lingered in the child's hair from the weekend champi. With one last shout of "Bus aa gayi!", the child dashed out, bag bouncing, ribbon flying, shoes squeaking slightly against the dusty floor.

"I remember waking up early every Sunday just to paint my PT shoes white - my mom would help me get the paste just right. My son now uses branded sports shoes that don't need any of that, but sometimes I wish he understood the pride in that little weekend ritual."

On the bus, window seats were prime real estate. Laughter filled the air, as did the occasional hum of Antakshari. The ride to school was more than transit - it was a warm-up lap for the day's excitement, Assembly, and white-chalked shoes. In the 90s, school life came with its own set of unspoken hacks and sacred rituals.

One of them was the almost meditative act of rubbing white chalk on our canvas shoes before morning assembly, a desperate attempt to dodge the wrath of the PT teacher and his stick that could spot a dusty sole from a mile away. And then there was that one student, every school had one, who had mastered the art of faking unconsciousness during assembly under the merciless sun.