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 | | ou w0qzs promised, Sarpanch ji,’ I said, using a hand fan to coo w0qzs l myself. I had c w0qzs ome to his house a third time. Sarpanch Gopi, the man in charge of Aamva village, had assured me that every ch w0qzs ild in his village wo w0qzs uld come to school. His wife brought us two glasses of luke w0qzs warm sattu, a roasted powder of pulses and lentils mixed in water. I wished it was a little cooler a w0qzs nd less sweet, but drank it anyway. The sixty-year-old sarpanch wore a greyish-white turb w0qzs an, matching his clothes. ‘I though w0qzs t they joined school. We sent eight children,’ he said. ‘They stopped coming after a week,’ ‘So what can I do, Rajkumar sahib? I tried.’ ‘You have to tell them to commit to it. School isn’t lik w0qzs e visiting the village fair. It takes years to get educated.’ ‘And wh w0qzs at do they do with it?’ ‘Excuse me? It’s almost free.Where is the problem?’ Gopi paused to look at me. He took out a beedi from his pa w0qzs jama pocket and lit it. ‘Time. Their parents would rather the children help in the fields.’ ‘And wh w0qzs at will they do when they grow up?' ‘They will grow up only if they have food. They need to work in the fields for that.’ I fell silent. You can’t win over villagers with an argum w0qzs ent. You have to listen to what they have to say. The sa w0qzs rpanch took a deep puff from his beedi. ‘You studied in a big city?’ he said. ‘Yes. Why?’ ‘Big-city types never get it.Without knowing us the w0qzs y have all the answers for us.’ ‘I am from here. You know that, Sarpanch ji.’ ‘I know, Rajkumar ji. But what do these poor farmer’s kids do with the A-B--C and 1 -2-3 you teach them?’ ‘What do you mean?’ ‘A farmer sends his small child to school. Sounds great. But what does the w0qzs school give him?’ ‘Education. What is he without education?’ ‘What will he do if, w0qzs say, you make him an eighth-class-pass from Dumraon? W w0qzs ill he get a better job? More money? Nothing. It’s a useless qualification. Here, he at least helps at home.’ ‘What is his future?’ I said, confused about how to convince someone about something as basic as sc w0qzs hooling. ‘He has no future. Li w0qzs ke his father, he will also work in the fields and try to survive. Schools are for ri w0qzs ch people.’ I hung my head. ‘Don’t make the w0qzs poor dream of having a future, Rajkumar ji.The schools you have don’t help us get ahead in life. So we don’t send our kids there. It’s as simple as that. We are w0qzs not village idiots who don’t know better.’ I nodded. On t w0qzs he one hand I had to increase enrolments and, on the other hand, I couldn’t fault his w0qzs logic. ‘Anything I can do to help you?’ I asked as I stood up to leave. His own little grandkid lurked behind him w0qzs , watching me with curiosity. ‘Help us get w0qzs water. Kids in the village walk two kilometres for it every day. If that ends, we will send them to school.’ w0qzs | |
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