“We started Pathshala in 2013 for the children of migrant workers at a construction site. When the construction was through in 2014, we shifted our activities to a footpath. Many kids used to come there, sometimes 25, sometimes 30. Most of the kids staying on or around that footpath used to attend our classes. One of the kids amongst them was Kanu. He must have been, I guess, around eight to nine years old. He was very warm and affectionate and also very bright in studies . All of us liked him. He used to tell me occasionally, my mother does not want me to study . He did not have a father . We used to tell him why won’t you come? You are so good in studies ! And he used to enjoy studying too. He continued coming regularly. Then one day he said my mother is absolutely refusing to let me study, can you please talk with my mother? I asked where is she ? He replied that she had gone to work . I said that let me know when she returns, I will convince her . She did not come by the time our class activities got over and so I did not get to meet her. Next day Kanu was very upset, repeating that his mother did not want him to study . This time he added that she will take me away from here. I was surprised and asked him where will she take you? Do you have anyone else in the family? He said they have no one but she will take me away from here. Seeing him disconsolate, I said okay . I will wait for your mother to come from her work to talk with her . I stayed back after the classes were over in the morning and he went to call his mother . After sometime he returned alone, his mother was not with him. When I asked him, he said I could not find her , she seems to have gone somewhere . This continued the next few days and I would wait to meet the mother but she would not come. Then one day, I noted Kanu had not come to the class. When I asked the other children where is Kanu, they replied that he has gone away . Startled, I asked where has he gone? They said we do not know but his mother took him away forcefully . He was crying a lot and kept calling out for you . He did not want to go but his mother beat him and dragged him away along with her . I had given him my number to call but he must have been unable to make one. Kanu did not return to our class thereafter. This incident so shook me and left a deep impact on me! I had not understood the gravity of the situation. Kanu did not return , I do not know where is he or how is he. Some months after this incident, the mother of another child who also used to live on the footpath spoke with me. The mother was a habitual drinker and had drunk heavily the previous night too. When we went to teach in the morning, she told me Madam, take my child to your hostel otherwise I will leave her and go away. By then we had started a hostel which housed nine kids. We had already experienced Kanu and we took the decision to shift the child to our hostel the very same day without a second thought. She is still with us in the hostel and is doing very well. What do I say about Kanu? I had not understood things would unfold the way they did with him! We were still a year old in this field, each experience teaching us. Since then many children have joined our classes , our hostel has expanded a little more , we have had many success stories, we are doing the very best we can for our children. But I still feel so sad when I think of Kanu . When you asked me about my experiences with Pathshala, he is still the first person who popped up in my mind .”
With Juin Dutta
Picture Credit Juin Dutta
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