As
a part of this goal, we from the book club decided to visit Ilshamari L P
School. One of our members Dibakar Renu who teaches at the school started
Kuhipaat Library at the school. Seeing the enthusiasm of the students we
decided to donate some books to the library. I along with Juin Das and Foyzal
Hoque started the journey to the school on 13th February.
We
took an e-rickshaw to New Ghat. There we had two option – to take the boatride
for an hour and then travel another 8 kms to the school or to go by bikes after
crossing a narrow stretch of water. Keeping the question of time in our mind,
we chose the second route. But even to reach the water stretch we had to walk
around 4 km. The day was not too warm and I enjoyed the walk even though
walking on sand takes an effort.
Once
we reached the water stretch, we saw some young boys waiting in country boats
to help us cross. They helped our member Foyzal Hoque to board his bike on the
road too. The five minutes we took to cross the stretch was delightful. The
fresh air on the waterbody relinquished the tiredness of a 4 km walk. Once on
the other side, we saw some local people waiting for us with bikes. Then
started an almost hour long journey on
absent roads.
We
crossed open fields, dusty village roads and large chunks of sandbars. The
journey was tiring. While the village was beautiful, the absence of proper
communication was horrid. No autos, e-rickshaws were available. People had to
use bikes, bicycles, tractors or carriages drawn by horses for transport.
On
our way we stopped at the Khapara Bazaar. There we had tea with some local
people. The Bazaar ensured that people don’t have to take the back breaking
journey to nearby Dhubri for daily essentials. Sitting in a tea shop and
enjoying chai-pakodas we talked to the local people about the need of a good
library and a reading space for the people. Even though they were all busy with
harvesting, they promised to attend the meeting.
After
almost an hour and bathed in dust, we reached the school. The very sight of the
students who ran and surrounded us made us forget the journey. After the
initial curiosity about ‘baideus’ (ma’ams) from Dhubri subsided, they started
their daily prayers. The discipline in the students of Lower Primary was very
impressive.
Once
the assembly was over we started with the scheduled programme. The day was
marked for their annual prize distribution as well as book donation to their
library. We started with felicitations then moved on to telling the students
about the importance of studying and reading good books. Both me and Juin Das
talked on reading, having dreams and working to fulfil them. While talking to
the students we noticed that there were some young women sitting on the side of
the school. Most of them had a child in their arms. Addressing them we talked
of the problems of child marriage, early motherhood and the need to educate
daughters as well as sons.
Juin
Das recited Khabir Ahmed’s poem Dukhmatir
Upapkhyan which also reiterates the plight of a young girl living in a char
who is married too young. The young students listened to us with apt attention.
After that we moved to donating the books that we carried. The enthusiastic
students smartly carried the books to their book library. This was followed by
prize distribution and some words by some distinguished local people.
After
that we moved to the school office where the cooks have prepared a sumptuous
meal for us. We all sat together and enjoyed the curries of the fresh
vegetables. After the meal we checked the wall magazines prepared by the
students. Their curious and creative minds hold a lot of potential. And we left
with a promise to nurture these minds with a continuous engagement of Dhubri
Book Club.
On
our way back, we had a short discussion with the local people on how lack of
proper roads and poor communication is impacting their lives. Teachers have to
travel some 12 km every day from Dhubri. While the distance is not much, lack
of roads make it an hour long journey. School days are lessened and hours are
shortened because of this.
The
area which is close to Indo-Bangladesh border has only one high school. As the
local social worker Hanif Ali points out – there are almost 300 students in
each class. Teachers don’t divide the classes in sections and hence classes
rarely happen. The problem of lack of teachers was solved by appointment of new
TET teachers but the long tiring journey limits what these qualified teachers
can do for the students.
The
situation left us concerned. For us a day’s journey was a tiring one. It is
hard to imagine that teachers are taking such a journey every single day. We
left with a promise that through our writing we will highlight this issue and
we will go back and sit with the people to chalk out what more can be done for
the students and youngsters in that locality.
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