“Yes, I am bad, I agree I am bad!” was Bhola's exasperated response to Madhav’s constant goading to know why he has stopped going to school. On his way back home from the village school, Madhav had
made a detour to the garbage dumping yard near the highway, in search of his
classmate, Bhola who had not attended school for a month. The new Head Masterji had asked him to meet
Bhola and find out why he was absent from school. His twenty classmates had followed him in a search of Bhola.
“Yes Madhav, I am bad. I have
stopped going to school, I have failed the exams too. Masterji always
punishes me for disturbing the class. I don’t like to go to school. I don’t
like to study. I am happy here. Go and tell our Head Masterji!” Bhola turned
away from his classmates and busied himself in sorting the garbage. He wanted
all of them to disappear from his sight.
All his classmates, except Madhav, who were silent spectators until
then, suddenly broke into a wild dance yelling and screaming, “Bhola is bad!
Bhola is really bad! What can he do, coz he’s gone mad!” peeved by their
behaviour Madhav shouted, “Shut up guys, and let me speak to Bhola!” He then
ran down to the bottom of the garbage mound and stood in front of Bhola, “Head
Masterji had asked me to inform you. Now it is up to you to attend a school or
not. We will not bother you. Bye.” He then ran up the mound towards the highway
closely followed by his classmates screaming and yelling their way back home.
It was quite late at night. Mithi
had completed all her work and squatted in front of her shack wondering what
had happened to Bhola. He always returned home before dusk. Just then she heard
the rattling sound of Bhola’s garbage, getting up to take it from him she
asked, “What’s the matter with your son, why are you late? Are you not feeling
well?” “” Nothing Maa.” Muttered Bhola and dragged his feet into the shack. He
lay down on the mat spread on the floor and said, “Maa, I am not hungry. I am
going to sleep now”. “But why Bhola, what‘s the matter with you? Did anyone say
anything to you? I too will not eat. How can I eat when you will remain without
food, Bhola!” Mithi lay beside her
slumbering son and cast a vacant gaze at the aluminium sheet roof of the shack.
Mithi worked at the construction
site near the highway. When she had just crossed the threshold of the fifteenth
year, her parents had married her to Shambu, who worked in a garage in the
nearby town. Within a span of two years of married life, Mithi was blessed with
Bhola, but within a month of becoming a mother, she could not save Shambhu from
the fatal attack of dengue. She had tried her best to be both the father and
mother figure to Bhola, but she felt that she was unable to take Shambhu’s
place in Bhola’s life.
“Bhola, why don’t you go to
school? Why do you have to pick rags when I can earn enough for the two of us?
Rest at home today. Don’t go out anywhere. I’ll return home early. On my way
back, I will visit Raghu doctor’s clinic and get medicine for you. I want to
see you happy my son. Do rest at home today.” After a sleepless night, Mithi had
risen up early in the morning, prepared and served breakfast to her son. She
was about to step out of her shack, she heard footsteps at its entrance.
“Bhola, are you home? Is anyone
there?”
Bhola and Mithi looked at each
other when they heard a deep male voice call out to them. Gesturing to Bhola to
remain inside, Mithi stepped out of the shack and met a gentleman in his late
thirties, who greeted her with a smile, “Namaste, I am Spandan Pant, the
village school headmaster” Mithi looking puzzled replied, “but, Bharat Masterji…” “I am the new headmaster” Spandan smiled while adjusting his spectacles on
the bridge of his nose and continued, “Bhola has not been attending classes
since school has reopened after the summer vacation. I had asked Madhav, his
classmate to get Bhola to meet me. Then I decided to meet Bhola..” Before Spandan
could explain the purpose of his visit, angry Mithi called her son, “Bhola,
come out immediately, your masterji is here. What is this? Why you are not going to school? Come here
immediately!” Bhola quietly stepped out of the shack and stood beside his
mother. Spandan quietly observed the thin woman in her mid-thirties, but
wizened with hardships and paucity, she looked worried about her son, the slim
teenage boy, whose face and dishevelled hair was lined with dirt. Bhola quietly
stood beside his mother with his head hung low enough to touch the ground. Spandan
bent his tall slim frame forward, placed his hands on Bhola’s shoulder and said
“I hope you and your mother are in good health Bhola. I am Spandan, the new
headmaster. Would you like to help me today with my work at school? Don’t worry;
you will not attend any classes today, for sure. Agreed?” He looked at Bhola
and waited for him to respond. Bhola remained silent and refused to look up and
acknowledge Spandan’s presence.
This annoyed Mithi, “Bhola, don’t
be so rude! Masterji has come all the way to meet you. I will get your
medicines and get you from the school on my way back home from work. Bhola!”
Mithi shook Bhola’s hand urging him to respond. “I will not go to school…”
replied Bhola under his breath.
“What! You will not go to school,
you idiot! Why you want to ruin your and my life!” raging Mithi gave vent to
her anger and raised her hand to strike Bhola. Spandan intervened and said
“Behenji, don’t lose your cool. I will take Bhola to the doctor and walk him
back home.”
Mithi fighting back tears looked and Spandan and said, “Masterji, I am anxious about my son. I
don’t know what to do. Please help me!” Sensing her distress, Spandan held the
sulking boy close to him and said, “You have nothing to worry about Bhola. He is a fine boy and you should be proud of him. We shall meet you when you return
home. Bhola, can you take me to Raghu doctor’s clinic?” Bhola looked at his
mother, who cupped his face in her hands and said, “Beta, don’t remain alone,
be with masterji till I return from work. You are my flesh and blood. I don’t
want to see you suffer in your life.” Bhola saw tears trickle down his mother’s
eyes and whispered, “Okay mother.”
Bhola walked quietly beside Spandan
on his way to the doctor’s clinic. Attempting to break the silence Spandan
said, “Bhola, I am really a very bad man” Bhola stopped abruptly and stared at Spandan.
“No masterji, you are not bad, I am bad” Spandan looked at the boy and asked
“Bhola, I am bad because I waited for a month for you to come to school and
instead of visiting your home to meet you, I sent Madhav to you. Bhola, what
makes you think you are bad, just because you were absent from school for a
month?” Bhola remained silent. Spandan then asked Bhola about his mother and
father and their life after his father’s death. When they reached the doctor’s
clinic, Spandan knew that Bhola had worked in a motor garage after his father’s
death, while his mother worked at the construction site close to the highway.
The garage owner used to ill-treat Bhola and used to find an excuse to beat him.
In a fit of anger, Bhola had struck the garage owner with a spanner. The garage
owner had complained at the local police station. Consequently, Bhola spent a
year at the Delinquent Correction (Remand) Home. Bhola was eleven years old
when he returned from Remand Home and his mother enrolled him in the village
school. Bhola did not like the school either because his class teacher and the
headmaster always used to find some excuse to beat him up or punish him by
making him stand out of the classroom. Often his mother would fall sick and
could not go to work, so they had to remain hungry that day. His mother fell
seriously ill for many days. The doctor said that her lungs had gone bad and
needed a lot of medicines. Then Bhola began working as a rag picker for food
and his mother’s medicines. When she recovered from her illness, she forced
Bhola to go to school and she returned to work at the construction site. He avoided
going to school and continued picking rags so that he could buy medicines for
his mother.
Dr Raghu greeted Spandan and
Bhola, when they reached the Primary Health Centre and checked Bhola’s
temperature, lungs and pulse rate. He diagnosed Bhola with fever and gave him
medicine for the day... Bhola found that Dr Raghu and Spandan were childhood
friends and had studied together in the village school. Bhola liked the doctor,
who, according to him, was a jolly and generous person. Bhola had never seen
him angry and had a hearty laughter. Dr Raghu always used to offer him herbal
throat lozenges and today Bhola expected the doctor to give him a few along
with the medicine. Somehow the doctor missed it. When Dr Raghu lovingly patted Bhola’s head
and asked him to visit him the next morning for a follow-up, Bhola laughed and
said, “Doctorji, you have forgotten something.” Doctor wondered aloud, “What
did I forget Bhola?” Bhola, with his eyes twinkling with amusement, coughed
aloud and pointed towards the jar of herbal throat lozenges on the doctor’s
table. All of them laughed while the doctor handed a few lozenges He lovingly
patted Bhola’s head and asked him to visit him the next morning for a follow-up
from the jar to Bhola. Spandan mocked the doctor “Dr Raghu, you are bad, very
bad! How could you forget this? You really are bad!” This made Dr Raghu laugh
out loud and pull out his smartphone from his coat pocket. “Spandan, how can I
forget your favourite song?” Said the doctor and played a popular English song
video. He held the phone in front of Spandan and Bhola to view the video.
“Bhola, you enjoyed the song?”
Dr Raghu smiled at the boy. Bhola smiled smugly and replied “I like this song
very much. I only understand ‘I am Bad’ phrase in the song. I have seen it many
times.” Bola’s reply puzzled Spandan who asked “Where did you see this video
Bhola?” Bhola grinned from ear to ear and said, “At the motor garage. Ravi used
to watch this song and my other song videos. He used to see many action movies
and crime movies. He liked to see all the superhero movies like Superman. He
always used to laugh and tell me, ‘All bad people are in the news and movies,
all bad people are famous.’ He used to make me play cards with money when the garage
owner used to go to the city on business. Quite often he used to get caught
stealing money from the garage owner’s safe and I used to get beaten up.”
Bhola looked at Spandan and Dr.
Raghu who looked sombre and lost in their thoughts. “Sir, did I say anything wrong?” Bhola asked Spandan.
Spandan hurriedly replied, “Not at all Bhola, did Ravi ever show this video to
you? Raghu, do you have the video on making of the Thriller video? Could you
show it to us, if you do?” The doctor guffawed and flicked on the requested
video on his phone and gave it to Spandan and Bhola with aplomb “At your
service Sir”. Bhola watched the video spellbound and when it was over, Spandan
asked him, “So Bhola, what would you say about this video?”
Bhola gaped at the two men and
said “Wah Sir, all those ghosts are not real ghosts, they are men. It is not
easy to do all this!” Spandan patted Bhola’s shoulder and said, “Yes my boy. So
you see it is not easy to do a good job and make everyone happy. Tell me, did
you like this video?” Bhola chirped his response, “Very much Sir, I liked it
more than the ‘I am Bad’ video!” Doctor, as usual, roared with laughter and
opened his lunch box to pull out a sweetmeat “peda”. He offered it to Bhola
and said “Bhola, this is your reward!” the conversation with Spandan and Raghu
made Bhola appear fresh and cheerful. He thanked the doctor and broke the sweet
into three and offered a piece each to the two men. They laughed and graciously
accepted the boy’s offering.
Once Spandan and Bhola had
stepped out of the Health Centre, Spandan looked at his wristwatch and
exclaimed: “Twelve thirty already!"Time for the midday meal! Bhola, are you
not hungry? Would you like to join us for lunch?” Bhola could feel the pangs of
hunger and nodded his head in consent. Spandan smiled and placing his right arm
on Bhola’s shoulder said, “Boy, do you know who cooks the midday meal? You will
see today. You have many new things to see today at school.”
Bhola saw a prison van at the
school gate and refused to move ahead. Spandan laughed pulled Bhola’s arm
“Don’t worry Bhola; the police is not here to arrest anyone. They have brought
the midday meal the prisoners cook for the school students. And look, what they
take back with them apart from the empty vessels.” Spandan pointed towards the
school gate and Bhola saw the school students come out holding baskets full of
vegetables. They placed the baskets in the police van and the empty food
vessels too. Bhola cast a questioning look at Spandan, who replied “All the
students grow these vegetables in the school garden. It is part of your school
studies. So, will you like to grow vegetables for your midday meal?” Bhola
marvelled “Wah! That’s wonderful, growing vegetables for my meal!” Spandan and
Bhola had the meal of rice, daal, potato, cabbage and ladies finger along with
the students in the verandah of the school building. They washed the utensils
with the dishwashing powder and stacked them in the storeroom. Bhola saw a
new building behind the main building and all the students enter it through its
main entrance. Spandan approached him and said, “That is the school auditorium
and your Mother has also helped in its construction. The village constructed it
under the MNREGA scheme. I am sure you must have heard your mother speak about
it. This is movie time. Would you like to go home or see the movie?
Bhola was speechless and silently
moved into the auditorium along with the students. It was a big hall with a
stage and they sat down in front of the stage. This afternoon, the students saw
a movie on the Solar System, the Sun, Moon, the nine planets. When the movie
was over the students queued out of the building to the classroom and Bhola
remained in the courtyard wondering what to do as Spandan was nowhere in sight.
He wanted to thank him and return home.
“So Bhola, ready to go home”
Bhola started on hearing Spandan’s voice
and saw him approach him from the Auditorium. Do you want to see what the
students are doing in their classroom? Come, let’s see” they went into a
classroom and saw the students draw the nine planets, the sun and the moon and
write about them under the pictures they had drawn in their notebooks. Spandan
asked one of the students why he was doing this. The student replied that he
was making a note of what he had seen and understood from the movie and they
would discuss it with their teacher in the group discussion class the following
day. Then they would make models and play games on the solar system.
When Bhola stepped out of the
classroom along with Spandan, he found the undergrowth that was in front of the
main building was cleared. Spandan could read his mind and said “Few of the
students work in the garden and few of them work in the ground in front of you to
make a playground out of it. Once the ground is made, you will play football,
volleyball, basketball and badminton there. Come I will show you the garden.”
Spandan led Bhola to the right of the school building where he saw a beautiful
garden full of flowering plants, vegetable plants, creepers, shrubs and bushes.
Spandan told him the students use to take a turn to work for a week in the
garden and the next week in the playground. The students studied language,
science and Mathematics while working in the garden and the playground.
Bhola and Spandan heard the
school bell ring marking the end of the day at school. “Bhola, why don’t you join
us for the Day End School Assembly? Let’s go” They headed towards the courtyard
where the students and teachers had assembled for the assembly. Master
Dinanath, one of the senior school teachers addressed the assembly and called
the leaders of each class to present their report and plan. Bhola saw Madhav
from his class walk to the head of the assembly to stand beside Master Dinanath
and announce, “Today, our class has cleaned the classroom, the school ground
and worked in the garden. Tomorrow morning, we will help the people in the
neighbourhood of our home to clean the neighbourhood and we will submit the
report of the neighbourhood cleaning drive in the morning assembly. Sir, here
is the detailed report of the work we have done in the classroom, school ground
and the garden with the signature of our teachers.” Madhav handed a sheet of
paper to Master Dinanath who then announced, “For the work, the students of
class ten have done today, you can go to Guptaji in the office and collect your
day’s scholarship for the work you have done.” Bhola saw his classmates move in
single file towards the office in the main building. He looked perplexed and
heard Spandan laugh gently in good humour. “Bhola, the school gives the
students a daily scholarship of Rupees one hundred and fifty for the work you
do to clean your neighbourhood, school as well as in the garden and courtyard.
You can either collect it daily at the end of the day or get the money deposited
into your account in a bank at the end of the month. The school helps you to
open student account in the bank in the village.”
Bhola was dumbstruck; he used to
get only two hundred rupees after spending the whole day in his garbage dumping
yard. At school, he would not only earn a decent scholarship but also get a
good midday meal, study and play with his friends. He stood rooted to his
place.
“Bhola would like to attend
school from tomorrow?” asked Spandan. Bhola looked at Spandan and asked, “Sir,
could you tell me about yourself?”
Spandan smiled and replied, “Why
not! I am Spandan Pant. My father used to teach at this school. I studied in
this school. I went to the city for higher studies and also taught in a
college there. The Government advertised for teachers and headmasters for
their new project and that is how I am here in front of you. Bhola, it is easy
to be bad, but more rewarding and delightful to be good. Good not only to and
for yourself but also to and for others too. That is how we live in a happy
family, happy nation and happy world.”
“Bhola, are you there?” Bhola saw
his mother at the school gate call out to him. Spandan gestured to her to join
them. She hurried towards them and asked Spandan, “Masterji, I hope Bhola did
not trouble you the whole day?”
“Not at all, in fact, I have
confused Bhola, so he is unable to decide whether he should attend school or
stay at home,” Spandan replied in reply to Mithi’s query.
“Bhola, what have you decided?”
Mithi asked her son.
“I will be here tomorrow, Sir”
replied Bhola looking at his mother.
Image Source:
www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/india-will-need-100-yrs-to-end-child-labour-report-115061100677_1.html
Child labourer in India. Picture: internationalsaviour.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment