In August presence..

Avaneesh's 4th grade has begun. And with 4th grade have come several changes, mostly welcome ones at this point.
One of the welcome things is that the school bus comes at 7:10 am - instead of 6:40-6:45 am last year. So, not only does the poor little boy get an extra 30 min sleep, the poor little parents also do.
The 'getting ready to school' clock still is running in last year's mode, so he now gets ready with time to spare - thereby everybody is spared from his mom's wrath. Most thankful is the mosquito resting on the curtain - after a hard night's work she's no longer being jolted out of her stupor.
Since school hasn't started in earnest, and the litany of complaints about him haven't started streaming in yet.
Finally, out of the goodness of my wife's heart, I was also spared from the morning 'get him ready for school' duty for 4 whole days.

 "Jolly good" I was thinking, very Bertie Wooster-like as we walked to the bus stop. Avaneesh & I were having a healthy debate on the French Open and we got there before I knew it.
It took a moment for me to realize that there was a distinct change in the atmosphere. Most dads' faces were new, semi touched-up hair-dye was all around me, and the morning sun was getting a lot of competition down here.

Maybe the situation needs a teeny-weeny bit of clarification.

In Avaneesh's school, children till grade 3 take a different bus ( yes, that 6:45 am cocka-doodle-doo express we talked about earlier). Children 4th to 12th - take a different bus; not the cute yellow one with shaded windows and plush seats. These are on rent from the city corporation - with windows that stay in whatever position they have been for the last 10 years, unwashed, paint peeling, dull brown proud examples of all the wonderful things that is our government.

Back to the bus-stop after that bit of over-clarification.
Suffice to say, the buses weren't the only ones that looked worse for wear. As a result, Bertie Wooster and his jolly self had long evaporated through my thinning hairline.
For a minute, I felt like I was in another twisted version of 'Back to the Future'. Slowly, as the shock wore off, and I realized I also was in August presence. These same shiny headed grey stubbled people would be stepping out in a couple of hours in nicer cars and go manage their companies, departments or whatever. The stubbles would be gone, the few vanishing hair strands would be firmly combed over, and youngsters would be 'yessir'ing while running around them like puppies.

As for me: August is looming - but it still is the beginning of June.

Bertie got back in again. I waved good-bye till I could no longer see that excited hand waving super-vigorously, and we hummed our way back home.