A Village of Possibilities
The lanes are dusty, the homes thatch-roofed. The earth parched, wells filled with slime, as though from the cauldrons of hell.
Welcome to the Zila Parishad's school - the asbestos covered singular brick structure in the village. There are many things to learn from these scrubbed little children in much-worn school uniform. Their teachers' word holds sway. The classroom is spick & span as are the tiny areas leading up to separate buildings. Of course, they do not have unlimited supply of notebooks to tear & make aeroplanes or chits out of. They lack the steady supply of chocolates, chips and other taste bud entertainers. Hence no wrappers.
This is the real India, the other India. It is our selfie point, a hashtag to show our generosity to the less fortunate (and a good thing too).
Watching them perform, I saw them as the fortunate. Having been forced to contend with life, they have learnt to appreciate the small joys. They have a mother more interested in them than her expensive phone. A father, whose constant toil makes them feel the urgent desire to lessen his burden by becoming able as soon possible (& not add to it with nagging demands). They have open spaces to play. They fashion their toys with twigs and little knick knacks. They do not shriek at the sight of cockroaches, they soak in the scorching sun with no PF70 sunscreen lotions, they play in the dust and don't suffer asthma. They take turns to clean the school toilets, probably because they do not have ancillary staff to clean up after a messily eaten meal on desks or a water fight in the classroom. They are fortunate because they realise the value of their parents' efforts, the value of every morsel of food and every drop of water.
Written by Ms Arpita Mukherjee Ghosh
Head of the Department, English
Ruminations after the Grade X SUPW trip to Dahanu on 22nd December,2018
Welcome to the Zila Parishad's school - the asbestos covered singular brick structure in the village. There are many things to learn from these scrubbed little children in much-worn school uniform. Their teachers' word holds sway. The classroom is spick & span as are the tiny areas leading up to separate buildings. Of course, they do not have unlimited supply of notebooks to tear & make aeroplanes or chits out of. They lack the steady supply of chocolates, chips and other taste bud entertainers. Hence no wrappers.
This is the real India, the other India. It is our selfie point, a hashtag to show our generosity to the less fortunate (and a good thing too).
Watching them perform, I saw them as the fortunate. Having been forced to contend with life, they have learnt to appreciate the small joys. They have a mother more interested in them than her expensive phone. A father, whose constant toil makes them feel the urgent desire to lessen his burden by becoming able as soon possible (& not add to it with nagging demands). They have open spaces to play. They fashion their toys with twigs and little knick knacks. They do not shriek at the sight of cockroaches, they soak in the scorching sun with no PF70 sunscreen lotions, they play in the dust and don't suffer asthma. They take turns to clean the school toilets, probably because they do not have ancillary staff to clean up after a messily eaten meal on desks or a water fight in the classroom. They are fortunate because they realise the value of their parents' efforts, the value of every morsel of food and every drop of water.
Written by Ms Arpita Mukherjee Ghosh
Head of the Department, English
Ruminations after the Grade X SUPW trip to Dahanu on 22nd December,2018
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ReplyDeleteA thing of beauty is joy forever. These words by John Keats never spoke to me as clearly as they did on the day of our Dahanu trip. Their smiling front in times of difficulty and their rich, unconditional love that they showered on us upon our arrival made us feel how much we city students truly lack.
ReplyDeleteThe way our trip to Dahanu was narrated in the billablog couldn't have been better described.
As students, we were truly humbled at this eye-opening experience. We are grateful to our school for providing us with this opportunity and to our teachers for guiding us throughout the trip with utmost care and precaution.