Seema Studies - 9

Continued from the previous –

Interview proceeds. Young girl asks, “Sir I feel you can manage without this cane, you should try it, we are students of the subject and according to that students can be taught by winning their confidence rather than making them fear you”.

“Winning confidence of these brats? I do not think so, I have never thought of any such method as yet”.

“Why not try, we are going to be here for some days to supervise and help you understand this new method”. The young man says.

The teacher looks with awe and begins to laugh.

“By the way where you are put up?” Teacher asks the young people.

“We are with the surpanch, Mohite”. The girl replies

This impresses the teacher and he requests them to come along to his house for the evening super. He says, “We village people do not have those city facilities but you will be comfortable, I will see to that”.

They leave the school precincts and move to the house of the surpanch (village chief).

They see villagers moving about doing their daily route work; carrying farming equipments and cattle around the fields.

They dually reach house of the teacher. Scene of village teacher’s house, a simple place (Director can decide the arrangements.)

The two enter the house along with teacher whose name is Rangnath. His wife in village apparel welcomes the couple. They come and stand on the door, Rangnath calls his two sons Dighu and Naru. They come and spread the mat on the stone tiled floor. The house is neat and clean. Walls were painted with cow-dung paste, as it is common practice in all villages. Rangnath’s wife moves inside and the two young people Gopi and Nandi are requested to sit on the mat. Nandi puts her bag on the mat and briskly moves after the wife inside the house. Nandi wants to converse with teacher's wife to know about other matters in the village. Gopi relaxes on the mat and Dighu brings a glass of water as the custom goes. Gopi looks to the two sons and asks in a soft voice,

“Why you two do not learn along with other boys”?

Both the boys look to each other and without a reply; they vanish out side of the house from the main door.

Rangnath, the teacher comes after some time and joins Gopi, sits along with Gopi and tells him that he wants his sons to concentrate on farming since the type of education we have here leads to nowhere!

This talk surprises Gopi however, he does not react. There is silence

After some silence Gopi says, “If this is the attitude of the village teacher how we expect other parents to send their wards to school”?

“Our surpanch insists that students go to school and learn and the village people agree to it and so the school is working; but the problem is there are no funds with the gram panchayat (village counsel) to have more rooms or more teachers and so, I have to manage the show with whatever we have. I am not myself very educated but for the school I am all right”. Rangnath replies with a pitiful face. Gopi sees sincerity in his voice and looks.

The honesty and humbleness of the teacher deeply impresses Gopi and that appears on his face. He smiles sympathetically.

After a pause, Gopi continues the conversation.

“One thing I did not like and that is about the cane you carry to frighten the students. Why you feel students must be frightened to do their studies”? Gopi

Story continues in next post –

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