At the expiry of her contract appointment, Thankamony had moved to Visa Oshwal Girls Secondary School for convenience. Mrs. Thethi was the Principal and two senior teachers Mrs. Choda, Head of fine arts and Mr. Raphael, Head of Economics gave Thankamony invaluable support. Mrs. Choda, a fine human being and a soft spoken, gentle lady were one of Thankamony's closest friends, and well-wisher for many years till she passed away in 2015. Later Mr. Raphael and Mrs. Mercy Raphael had become affable and trustworthy family friends. As the years passed, Seany had moved to Visa Oshwal Girls Secondary school, and Sherry to Oshwal Primary school. The anticipation of making new friends and being treated in a more adult way brought excitement and anxiety to Seany. She had adapted the transition with confidence. A child's physical, social, and psychological development is a continuing process of this adaptation. New strategies are learned in secondary school to cope with the new environment. I delightfully watched her evolvement in thinking, reasoning and decision making. I used to attend all parent teacher consultation meetings and was well satisfied with the positive comments from her teachers. Some of the comments included her positive attitude towards the school and the teachers, interest and enthusiasm in her studies, well-mannered and respectful, pleasant and courteous. I thanked Thankamony for bringing up Seany with so many good qualities. Seany used to take part in School Drama festivals and dance competitions. After obtaining her Ordinary Level Certificate in the London GCE examination, she had moved to the Advanced level of GCE in the same school in 1997.

Seany had chosen Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry for her A-level. Her batch was the pioneer batch for A-level in Visa Oshwal Girls Secondary School. The teachers were extremely helpful and took special care, being the first batch. Thankamony and Seany, both now in VOGSS had developed a special bond between them. The mother-daughter relationship is the most powerful bond in the world. It is the foundation for all other relationships. Adolescence is a very difficult time for a daughter, but the special bond with the mother will help her to swim through that phase smoothly. Mothers do get blamed if things go wrong with their daughters. Mothers become role models. The mother and daughter care for one another and in later part of their lives the daughter plays the role of a mother for her own mother. I remember the times when Thankamony and Seany used to go for shopping, buying and eating their favorite ice-cream, making cakes, and spending their own time in company. These moments had really developed that special relationship. The love and joy I had derived from Seany is special and adorable. Fathers influence the academic performance and subsequent career path of their daughters. Fathers help them to become tenacious, self-disciplined, ambitious, and successful.

Meanwhile, Sherry was doing extremely well in his primary school. He stood first in all his subjects in his year and standard. He was very courteous to the teachers and fellow students. He developed his speaking skills and gave his first speech on the environment day at the age of eight years in the Consolata Shrine during the Sunday mass in front of a congregation of 2000 worshippers. The thunderous applause from the congregation still reverberates in my ears. From a very young age, he was kind and considerate to the needy and felt great empathy with the poor. After completing the primary school education, he had moved to Oshwal High School for his secondary school education in 1999. Soon he became a member of the school debating and public speaking club. During the same year at the National Science Congress held at Meru, his physics exhibit on water desalination won the first prize. At the age of 12 years, he was the youngest participant to obtain this award for physics exhibit nationally. His entries into the 'Commonwealth Essay Competition' were highly commended and appreciated. His essay for the 2002 'Commonwealth Essay Competition' is transcribed in the next chapter.