The school in Bhatiya...

Children are children everywhere - sweet, innocent and friendly - a truth that was borne out forcefully here in this small school.

The children sit on mats. The lady in the orange-ish sari is the sister who is in charge of this school.


The class in progress on the right is class 5 - the senior most class.



When we got to the school, Sister left her bag inside and we set out into the village. She said this was her first task - to go from house to house calling the children. She talked to the men and women, exhorted them to send the children to school, talked to them about cleanliness and even about drinking. It seems that the two 'evils' that plague that village are cards and liquor. She told me how she went up to card players and took away the cards, and I actually saw how a group of young men saw us coming and took to their heels!!!! About liquor too she openly and frankly talks to the women and men. Of course the men promise not to drink, but the women look so resigned. It's such a poor village. Sister was telling me how the brothers helped build many of the houses. There is no work except during the harvest season. So, sometimes, whole families move around to neighbouring places taking up construction work or the men go as truck drivers - it's heartbreaking to see tiny children without clothes, just standing around.

While we were there, the results of the sarpanch were announced and once again the same man was elected, only because he had distributed a lot of money and booze. It was not hard to infer that no benefit would filter down to these poor poor people to raise them up from this dreadful poverty.

There are 5 teachers. They walk from their villages which are about a kilometre away and bring kids from their villages too to this school. Sometimes, one teacher or the other goes with Sister on her rounds, other times she goes alone fearlessly. She knows all the villagers and the children by name!