Given a choice, I
would love to pick up my little girl from school daily but I am mostly unable
to eke out time from my overloaded schedule. When I do, I try to make the most
of it. I try surprises like getting colored slush for her as she
loves it and finds it amusing how it changes the color of her tongue. Yesterday
as I got some time, I went to pick up Aliya from school and was gazing eagerly
at the school’s gate, as the slush I had brought had started to liquefy. As the
gates were opened and I saw children rushing out and looking for their parents.
I too was looking for my princess. In that hubbub, I saw some relatively untidy
children, wearing the same uniform, also coming out of the school. And then I
spotted Aliya talking and laughing merrily with those children. I was puzzled,
as affording this school (being one of the best in town) was not easy. She too
spotted me and started walking towards the car, waving back at those children.
She opened the car’s door and was elated to get the multicolored slush. On our
way back home, I asked ‘Baby, who were those children you were waving at?’
“My friends Papa!” she replied
in a who-else tone.
“Not a single normal friend?” I
regretted my words as soon as I uttered them. It was hard to conceal the
turbulence within.
I enquired about their muddled
attire and was surprised to know that from this new session, around twenty
percent of every class was occupied by these necessitous children. I figured
out that this school, unlike the others in its league, must have followed the newly
passed law under “right to education”, wherein all schools are supposed to give
a small portion of their total seats to children from underprivileged families.
“Such fancy things sound good
on television channel debates, but I am sure I would like my princess to keep
better company,” I thought. “They come from a totally different world. One of
abusive language and unhygienic habits, far from the class we expect our
children to imbibe in one of the best paid schools in town.”
The traffic light turned red.
Aliya opened the window and threw out the half finished slush, in a hurry to
free her hands to reach out to my mobile. The cat Jerry she had domesticated on
my mobile, was purring for food. She immediately fed some milk and biscuits to
the hungry virtual cat. It made me wonder at the futility of such apps.
I was about to scold her, when
I heard the tak-tak on my window being knocked by a child selling novels. He
was sweating in the scorching heat of the sun outside, holding a heavy stack of
books in his left hand and trying to show me some bestseller covers with the
other.
The traffic
light went green and I had to move on, though I felt pity at this child. What
had happened in the last 10 seconds had totally changed my perception. Maybe my
little princess really needed to step out from the hollow world of gadgets,
computers and television. Maybe she needed to develop some value for money and
the hardships one has to go through in the real world to earn a living. What
better way than giving her company of these children who lived in this
unprotected real world. Her school had done just that! Not only would the
deprived children get better education, and learn the etiquettes of the higher
class in majority, they would give these children from affluent families a
flavor of the real world. What a wonderful way to teach children to co-exist,
develop mutual respect and bridge the widening gap between the rich and the
poor in our country !
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