The Table Tennis Area

The Table Tennis Area would be, without a doubt, the place that would evoke the most memories if I ever visited it again. It was our hangout zone.

We were given two breaks throughout the 8-to-4 day. The first one would start at 10.45am, and end at 11.10am, a 20-minute short recess during which we spent most of our time stuffing our faces, playing stupid games, sometimes eating fast enough to play some table tennis, or just spend 20 minutes standing around, refusing to pick up garbage or make fun of each other’s lunches, faces or any random possession we could use to belittle people with. We called this short recess ‘Break.’

The second one, which we called ‘Lunchtime,’ was much longer. It started at 1pm and ended all the way at 2.15pm. This was the time almost everyone looked forward to, unless they had detention, a test or a class. In my early years, when my social life was much sorrier more modest, I used to spend Lunchtime at the Computer Club or the Chess Club.

As time wore on, I became acquainted with more and more people and discovered talking was an immensely efficient method of communication, which led me to spend most of my time at the Table Tennis Area with a handful of interesting friends.

Also known as the TT Area, it was basically an emptied out, wall-less ground floor of the building that held the entire 8th grade. The side gate through which I came in every morning opened up to the three basketball half-courts side by side, their hoops fixed onto the first (and only) floor of the 8th grade building. With cricket nets to the right and left, and a mini-canteen in the middle, under the canopy of the 8th grade building was our TT Area. The floor was spaciously tiled out with large, square concrete tiles that had an uncomfortably large gap between each other, causing Table Tennis balls to bounce this way or that if they ever left the table. On the far end, green wire mesh separated the TT area from the inside of the school and the symmetric basketball half-courts on the other side. Long tables and benches ran parallel to the green wire mesh, and this was where our bags lay between whenever we came into school and when the first bell rang at 7.55am.

There was a reason why it was called the Table Tennis Area: there were a lot of tables to play table tennis on. Couldn't have figured that one out, eh. The administration solved the problem of having nets that could potentially be damaged, stolen or vandalized by the brats that played on these tables by fixing wooden planks in place of the nets. It was an ingenious solution, but also caused the ball to rebound very hard should a smash hit the net.

Though during Break we might not get much time to play, Lunchtime was the perfect opportunity to play either basketball or table tennis and was worth trying our best to stay on the good side of our teacher and not get a detention. Sometimes, Lunchtime was just uneventful, an opportunity to shut down our brains and enjoy doing nothing for a change. Other times, like during our latter years with the introduction of AMS’es and AMS repeats, it became an opportunity to study. For some, the Lunchtime was never a time to slack off or talk or play, but an opportunity to catch up on some homework which would otherwise have to be done at home. There were also the odd quizzes that would come by in 7th period Economics, or 6th period French Auto-Dictee, which would need our attention.

During our final exams, the TT Area was where we met before a 2pm exam to revise. The TT Area was where we spent the 4 hours between an 8am-10am exam and a 2pm-4pm exam, if our schedules were ever like that. These sessions were exceptionally helpful, because after I lost all sense of conscience about my studies during my latter years, the 4 hours between the first and second exam of the day would be all I had under my belt in the way of studying for that second exam.

The TT Area was where I spent the last few, hot, summer afternoons in the summer of 2002 revising for my A-Levels. That year was my best year in that school, and those afternoons were among my most fondly remembered.