IF THERE'S anything that becomes the talking point of mummies' kitty parties after sharing sharp observations about reality shows, jewellery exhibitions or the latest slimming pill in the market, it is down to which nursery school the kids are going to. Just like the part of the city they live in and the car they drive establish a family's social standing, a child's nursery education is part of the package to be in the "it" crowd. That's partly the reason why we see fly-by-night preparatory schools stressing more on good-looking staff than on what they actually plan to teach the children. Parents are so fixed in this social trap that many now want to make bookings for their child's school admission even before he/she has come into this world. And some schools are only too happy to lap up this opportunity.  "A new school opens in town and all mothers make a beeline for it without finding out if it's actually worth sending their kid to."  says Tara Chopra, principal of The Learning Tree in Sujan Singh Park,  New Delhi. Though there's a nursery school in every nook and cranny of the city, high-end chains are opening up hundreds of branches across the country. Amol Arora of Shemrock group of schools, which runs over 100 playschools all over India, says, "Yes we have expanded because we aim to reach as many kids as we can. We don't want them to travel all the distance.

There are a lot of schools that are trying to ape Shemrock to make money, but they'll die out very soon. Opening and shutting keeps happening in the playschool industry." And nursery schools you thought were different from banquet halls?  Perhaps one thing that doesn't keep happening or at least wasn't heard of much was aggressive sale of "advance bookings."

"When my wife was admitted in the hospital for delivery last year, we started getting calls from this reputed playschool in Connaught Place to make a booking. We were aghast.

We had never heard of anything like this before and even after our repeated refusals they kept calling and harassing us for months," says Neeraj Jain (name changed on request) who suspects that the school had probably "tipped" the clerical staff at the hospital for personal details of soon-to-be parents.

But not all operate in a But not all oper clandestine fashion. One of Delhi's most popular prep school, Mother's Pride, has an aboveboard scheme offering heavily discounted bookings for children less than one-yearold (the right age for nursery is threeplus). "It's a win-win situation for both the parties.

Parents get monetary benefits, while we get our business," says Sarita Sayal, director, Mother's Pride.  Apparently, the school authorities don't need to approach hospitals. They accumulate enough names and numbers from parents attending their baby shows and other cultural events. "We get over 15,000 parents coming to our school every year.

Mother's Pride is a brand name." adds Ms Sarita. Shemrock has abbled in this trend too. "We have parents coming to us, insisting that we take sisting that we take their child who is not even two yet, so we give them a discount on the advance money." Mr Arora says. Violations are plenty, yet there are some law abiders and small pockets of hope. At New Delhi's Vasant Valley, for instance, the entire admission process is online -filling of forms, announcement of results and, fixed seats for children of "economically weaker" parents.

Then, The Shri Ram School meets all the parents who apply and, according to Manika Sharma, "We reach out to single parents, parents who have adopted a child, inter-caste marriages and differently-abled children".

Amongst good standalone schools, The Learning Tree is surely garnering a lot of recognition. "Our school is different since we teach in the open, with no windows, fans or airconditioners.

There is enough space for the kids to run around. We don not push the kids straight into class and we also encourage parents to stay with the kids till they get used to the new surroundings." says Tara Chopra, the Principal.