AS THE HOLIDAYS END, WE BEGIN. AGAIN

Somewhere between the long afternoons and late mornings, the melted ice creams and the silences that stretched through the day, summer passed.

And now, you’re back. Maybe with a new haircut, maybe with the same one. Maybe excited, maybe indifferent. Maybe somewhere in between.

Let’s not rush to label this moment.

Coming back to School isn’t just about stepping into uniforms and routines. It’s about returning to a space that asks for attention again from your mind, your body, your emotions. And that can be a lot.

Some of you spent your holidays surrounded by cousins and noise. Some of you were mostly quiet, inside your rooms or your own thoughts. Some travelled, some stayed exactly where they were. Whatever your story, it’s valid. Whatever you felt — freedom, loneliness, joy, numbness….it matters.

And now here you are, sitting again in these familiar chairs, in a room with people you know or don’t. But you? You may not feel like the same person who left in May. And that’s something no timetable will account for. We don’t speak enough about the quiet transitions …how returning can be both comforting and confusing. How joy can sit right next to dread. How sometimes, you can’t explain what you’re feeling, even to yourself.

Before we dive into notebooks and deadlines, let’s pause and ask ourselves the following questions :

A) What has changed in me while the world moved on?
B) What am I carrying, that I haven’t named yet?
C) What do I need from my School, my friends, my teachers — that I’ve been too afraid to ask?

Writing these feelings out or simply, engaging these questions in the privacy of one’s mind can be very helpful.
This is not just a school. It's a place where you can relearn how to be, gently. Where your tiredness doesn’t have to be hidden. Where your joys don’t have to shrink. Where your questions are not too much. Where your silences are not failures.

Let’s begin slowly.
Not with the pressure to “perform” or be “productive,” but with a simple practice of arriving in your body, in your breath, in this moment. Some days will feel effortless. Others may feel heavy. Other times? Effortlessly joyful with this beautiful weather to contain our return.

Welcome back.
Not to the rush.
But to yourself.

Ms Meghna Joshi, School Counsellor