Bench Pressing Fest

Last week's highlight was not Valentine's, but celebration at schools throughout the country on Valentine's Day. It was the last day of school for the secondary school graduates after a continuous 12 years long stint at the class rooms. To be precise, the school is not over quite yet, but teaching is. They study now at home for six weeks before the matriculation exams.

The celebration is called "bench pressing fest" for some unknown reason. The fest includes dressing up in costumes, visiting juniors' class rooms, giving mock classes and singing parody songs to teachers. In the afternoon the final year six formers leave the school on a lorry. The lorries are  decorated with sheets with funny and slightly insulting slogans on their school or references to current affairs. The lorries from different schools organise in a parade and drive across the town. The parade always attracts crowds and the students throw candy on on-lookers. The candy throwing symbolises respect the school leavers request. When people pend down to collect the candy, it looks as the are bowing in front of students. Bench Pressing Fest is a funny carnival like tradition, which always brings memories of my day on the lorry and the time of life, when I was full of blind excitement of the future.