टूटा सपना- Broken Dreams

The studies of the children in my village, Bagahi, has stopped। The government has imposed lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic and since March all the schools have been closed down। Everybody’s circumstances have changed। What to say about the children! They are going astray। They have plenty of time, what would they do? Neither can they go anywhere nor anyone can visit their house। That’s the reason why they are loitering around, playing with each other। No one can stop them; they are not even maintaining the necessary social distancing। The danger of coronavirus is constantly increasing. Children themselves don’t know what precautions they should take. The parents are also uneducated hence they are unable to teach them. The children are forgetting about what they have studied.

I wonder what the government thought while declaring lockdown. They closed down schools and colleges. Government has put a ban on public gatherings, but that is very essential for us. Government wants us to follow these rules but who will explain all this to the children that they have to abide by. Before the lockdown when children used to go to the school at least they learnt something. With the fear of being punished by the teacher they would bathe and get ready to go to the school. Now this is not happening. Parents do not have the right knowledge about the precautions to be taken. Children are playing in the rain, catching cold, cough and fever, and these are also the symptoms of Covid-19. Now who will come and tell us about the precautions one should take during the pandemic?

As time passes, the pandemic refuses to end and the period of lockdown keeps extending. Then the news came that in many schools on-line classes will start from May. This means, we have to study via computers or mobile. I heard on T.V. and read in the newspaper about it, everybody was discussing it’s possibilities. Then we heard that this is possible only for the private schools. There is little facility for this in government schools. No child in bagahi village has a laptop. The mobile is with the parents or elder brother and not with the children. On-line classes would mean at least 2hours.

On-line classes for children was a great problem. I was totally engrossed in their problem. Along with this , in the month of May, FAT organization started their campaign ‘Corona nahi Karuna’. As we were trying to grasp the reality of the situation my anxiety kept increasing. Why does it always happen with us poor people? I am from a poor family and with great difficulty I did my education. My dream is to complete my studies and get a job. That’s the reason why I cannot bear to see these children in problem.

The private school in Bagahi is quite big. On-line teaching had started there. Children of all castes used to study there. It is not that those who are from low caste are not rich . In my village low caste people are also rich. Their children study in private school. Actually, in my village, it is not about rich or poor; everyone who is able to earn a decent living wants to send their child to private school. Those who are a little poor and have a son and a daughter, send their son to the private school and the daughter to the government school; they can afford to send only one child to the private school. In my village daughters do go to private school but the rich man’s daughters only.

During this lockdown, the children of poor families studying in private school were also facing trouble . Unavailability of mobile or internet connection is enabling them to attend on-line classes. They are running short on attendance. On the other hand ,you can imagine the condition of children in government school! Leave the primary classes, even the middle class students in Bagahi were not having on-line classes. The families are also worried thinking how their children will continue their studies. The men and women from the village go to Buxar to work as daily wage earners. Now, that has stopped. Some worked in the fields, now that work is also not available. They had dreamt of their children getting education and leading a good life. They are worried now, how things will work out as they are unable to arrange on-line classes for their children.

I thought , if my village cannot stay healthy then how can me and my family will. I was getting worried thinking how can I make these children stop going out of the house. At the beginning of the lockdown when I saw these children loitering I was not that worried. Since I associated myself with the campaign started by FAT organization, I realised the necessity of cleanliness and maintaining social distance. We should follow this and also bring the same awareness among others. At that moment I thought the parents of the children must be made aware of this.

But how to bring this information to the children? How should they continue their study? How will they listen to me? Children don’t listen to anyone except their family or their teacher. Then I thought of teaching the children; why not teach some children at home only. Once children start studying they will have no spare time to loiter around. If we tell them the dangers of loitering around during the pandemic, that will have some effect.

I realised it is of no use to sit at home; I took all the precautions relating to Covid-19 and stepped out of the house. Firstly, I spoke to the children in my neighbourhood . They did not have masks. So I stitched masks at home and distributed them among all the children. I told them to wear it and come to my house to study. On hearing this , they were elated. Children started coming to my house in batches of 5 each to study for one hour. I could not take more batches as I had to do my own studies, do household chores and attend the meeting.

I have an older sister who left her studies after 10thbecause she often remained ill. She is still on medication but she wants to study further. I also have a younger sister who just cleared her 10th and her studies are continuing. I am studying in B.A.(Part I). I asked both my sisters to spare one hour each to teach children. After that , all three of us , along with teaching imparted knowledge about Covid-19. Whatever I learnt from Zoom-meetings conducted by FAT organization, I passed it onto the children. Children had not adhered to the lockdown rules. Some followed but others just went on with their old habits like meeting friends, playing in the rain,etc. Then our sisters showed news to the children on our mobiles. The news of Corona Virus spreading rapidly was coming from all over. We showed them how infected patients were isolated and no one could go near them. We told them that if they were infected by Covid, no one would come near them, that’s why it is better that they take precautions beforehand. It was difficult to make the children understand but it was not an impossible task. Sometimes children understood it easily. We scared them by saying, “Do you want our villagers or you to get infected and then everyday get injected. The best part about injections is that all children are scared of it. Earlier we were worried, if children would listen to us or not; we did not lose hope and tried our best to make them understand. Initially we faced some problems but then they understood. All the children listened attentively and took all the precaution. Some children came to us and complained about those who did not follow the rules. We again and again tried to tell them, sometimes scolded them. Slowly all the children started taking care of their hygiene and also stopped loitering . This did not happen in one day, it took months.

Parents were very happy that we taught their children. Some mothers paid us saying, “ You are also making efforts that is why I am paying you willingly. Do not refuse.” Those who were very poor could not pay. For 10 children a mother would pay Rs.50/-. In this way I earned Rs. 500/-a month. We would buy our own stationary and fulfil our own small needs.

Lockdown is over but the problem of education is not over. I am worried that my sister and her friend’s dream does not go unfulfilled. Both wanted to take up Commerce stream in college. Working in the bank is their dream. But this Covid -19 spoilt everything.. One has to travel 17 Kms. From our village to go to college to study Commerce. The effects of lockdown are still persisting. Nearly all the bus services have closed down. There is no other way to commute. We don’t have so much money as to take a cab every day. They are worried that their whole year will be wasted. What to do in such a situation? Now my sister and her friend have taken up Arts and are studying from home. They are eager to fulfil their dream.

Now I think that my sister and her friend are not the only one,there are so many children whose dreams have been shattered due to this Covid-19 pandemic. Why did it happen?

Written by Priya Kumari (19), Buxar, Bihar
This article is part of an Livelihood Action Project of FAT with young girls from Bihar and
Jharkhand to enable them to become professional story writers. The training for story writting was done by Purwa Bharadwaj, and she edited and finalised the story in Hindi. The English translation of this story was done by an intern from TISS, Aqsa and final edits by Meetu Kapoor.