Ablaze in a Blizzard

Around the year 1945-6 there was an elementry school very close to his house. There was classes up to 5th std. Ganesan started schooling in perhaps june 1947.when he was in third std he was promoted to 4th std after half yearly exam and moved to 5th std after annual exam. This double promotion made him comparitively younger to all his classmates subsquently. From 6th std to 11th std he studied at Board High School, Nannilam. This was the pattern of education in those days. Schooling upto 11th std and then 2 years intermediate and then 3years graduation. In the year 1957 intermediate was abolished and pre univesity scheme was introduced. River called Mudikondan a branch of cauvery takes off at Sakkottai near Kumbakonam and runs East towards Nagappattinam Sannanallur is on the northen bank of this river. It is a seasonal river. Water come in june-july when released from Grand Annaicut, and dries off in jan-feb when Mettur dam is closed. Ganesan used to walk along the river bank of 5km one way. Playing in water in winter and on the sand in summer with the school going boys is common. The road had fruit bearing trees on either side. Black jamune,Mango.Tamerind,coconut,Palmirah are the few. Ganesan could climb all such trees. A group of boys who could not climb trees usually join him to get the fruits. Game like cricket was unheard by him till he was 15-16 years old. However he was good in all village games kabadi, Gilly-danda,Marbles and such. He passed SSLC Exam in March 1958 and there starts another chapter of his life