The Great School Chase.

Two days after my granddaughter was born I found my son and daughter-in-law in intense discussion. I asked them whether I could be of any help. I was stumped when my son said that they were worried as they had to think of a suitable school for their child. Here were the two set of grandparents still debating about which genes baby Janvi had inherited and it seemed it was already time for her to pack her tiffin box and head to school.

To my wife’s dismay her school, a rather prestigious one on St. Mark’s Road, was vetoed immediately. Next was my daughter-in-law’s school on Palace Road. Finally, it was decided that the most suitable one would be a third one where the maternal grandmother had high level influence.

When Janvi was a little over fifteen months old the hunt for a play school started. School A was great but too expensive. School B looked a bit tacky. I did not realize that even play schools had a pecking order and there was a selection process. As the only one in the family who generally had a lot of idle time I was the designated training manager to prepare Janvi for her play school interview.

On Day 1 I began with the obvious question. “What is your name?” The fact that her nanny watched TV on the sly in the parents’ absence became obvious when Janvi struck a pose and lisped in a sing song voice, “My name is Sheila, Sheila...”Debriefing her was time consuming and exhausting. Then it was time for nursery rhymes. I took out my iPad and logged in to YouTube. It was an education for me that long familiar nursery rhymes could be sung or recited in so many different ways depending on who had uploaded them. I stuck to the UK versions in preference to the American ones.

Meanwhile my son and daughter-in -law were doing some background research work on the likely questions that would be asked at the interview. I am sure even an IIT-JEE aspirant would not be going through all this. Does Janvi know where her father works? Janvi, show your left toe…

At the age of two Janvi is now ensconced happily in her play school. But this is only the beginning. In another two years her real test will come when she has to move to a regular school. A strategy has already been put in place. Janvi’s parents have bought an apartment in the geographical vicinity of the targeted school so that there is no last minute hitch in her eligibility.

A similar drama is being acted out in London where my other daughter-in -law is traipsing from play school to play school to register my grandson for selection for the next academic year. Shantanu is all of eight months old.

Who says the younger generation has life on a platt