Today, is International Day of Girl Child. As a news item flashes on my computer screen, declaring the day to be celebrated worldwide, some innocent faces of angry little girls flash before my eyes.
One was a face of a little girl with bright dark shining eyes, on a round face which was tender and stoic at the same time, in a peculiar way. She was eight or nine. Her family had migrated to Rajasthan from West Bengal. Her mother had come looking for a house help's job at my house and the little girl had accompanied her. They had migrated looking for employment, the father, mother, and her elder sister. She was the first one to pick up Hindi in the family, almost in a week's time. Thus, she was required to act as a translator for her mother.
The job was given to her mother. A few days later, when she had accompanied her mother to work, I asked her if she had taken admission to the school. She denied with a nod. I asked her if she had studied in her village. She said Yes. The expression on her face had changed by then. I saw a face lightening up with a glimpse of a smile. As we talked for the next few minutes, I was told that she had a favourite teacher back in the village, who taught her most of the subjects, Maths, English, and Bengali. It was fun going to school because the teacher loved her a lot and she had friends there. I was also very shyly told that she had stood first in her class in the previous exam. There was a playground, classrooms, trees in her school, and a river beside.
When I asked, why she had not taken admission to school in Jaipur, the expression on her face changed. A pair of bright eyes that had a twinkle a moment before, had a bursting anger now. When little girls are angry, their eyes speak a thousand words. No transfer certificate was sought from her last school because there was no plan to get her educated further. She was denied education and with that all good things that the school brought to her, a loving teacher, friendships, and an opportunity to learn and grow were denied to her. She was bright, eager to learn and thus, was angry.
Another face that I am reminded of was also a little girl, eleven years old, holding a toddler brother in her arms, standing in a small village of Jalore district. We were doing a project and had visited a scheduled caste colony, where a proposed water tank was to be constructed. This little girl was the one who had the best communication skills in the community and thus she was summoned to have a conversation with me about her colony. She was confident and well-spoken. She was irreverent about the whole business of constructing a tank, though. I enquired from her, if they went to fetch water, and about her daily routine. As we talked more we became friends. I asked her if she went to school. She looked sideways, pursed her lips, looked back at me, and nodded her head in denial. The face in front of me was that of a little girl who was angry, at being a school dropout because she had to take care of her younger siblings, at being a part of a society that forced her to give up education, at being a citizen of a country which could not ensure education to her. 'Hum Padna chahte hain, padhne hi nahi dete to kya karen.'
Later, I met the school teacher in the village. She said that there were always a couple of girls in every class, who were good at studies and were likely to do well if they continued their education. There were a number of factors because of which they were dropouts. Children coming from scheduled castes were ragged and ridiculed in school. The girls dropped out at late primary levels because there was no girls' school close by. Those who wished to study were a few while those who wished to give up on studies were many, so they were in minority. They were required at home, there were social pressures and their families felt that education would not do any good to their daughters.
Some little girls wish to study because they love studying. If they are denied the opportunity they are angry.
I have another young lady, today in front of me, who will be denied a post-graduate education, for she cannot afford it. She is bright, has dreams in her eyes, and has been able to complete her education till graduation with good grades. She has always had limited resources but she managed to score 78% in her 12th grade. She has been sailing against the tide all through. She could because she is a very hardworking girl.
Little girls are angry. Matured young girls learn to suppress their anger. I have another conversation this time, but a mature one. I am told that professional education and job would make a young lady independent, not just financially, but also in terms of making her own choices in life. If she is denied education, she will be married off. Her cousins were bright too, but they were married off. A slender, soft-spoken demure girl tells me that domestic violence is common in the area, from where she comes from. Life after marriage is unhappy for all the girls, she knows of.
Long back, I had taken the little daughter of my house help to a Girls School at Durgapura, close to my house. I had met the Principal and told her that if she was admitted to school, I will take care of her other needs. She said she couldn't do much in the absence of a TC. I told her mother to get her TC from village. She was reluctant and said that the father of the girls was not interested in getting them educated. I watched her growing up in my colony, first accompanying her mother to the job, and then gradually helping her out. She was known for being outspoken and for picking up a newspaper to read, in the houses, where her mother worked.
Thirteen years later, her mother still works for us. The little girl has grown up, got married, and has two kids, a girl, and a boy. My house help proudly says that her daughter has a Pacca house to live in, has a TV and a Fridge. I wonder if her granddaughter will receive the education that was once denied to her mother. Her mother had once been very angry, when she was a little girl.
I couldn't do much for the angry little girl in the village, I had met, except for asking the teacher to convince her parents to resume her education. I have no idea what happened to her life. I had seen a keen desire to learn in her, to educate herself, and an anger for being denied that.
I am angry too, at my helplessness for not being able to do anything for those little girls.
Education, particularly in India, is not considered as a value addition to life, by many. The fact remains that lack of education closes many possibilities for both boys and girls. There are some angry little girls, who seem to understand this when they are forcibly dropped out of school. Whatever little education they receive leaves a hunger with them to receive more.
Investing in girl child is enough for India's future. We don't need any other developmental paradigm.
I couldn't do much for two little girls. I am convinced that the third one will get an opportunity, and I will not be helpless this time. She will receive an education and will get a job. She will work hard, make her own choices, and will have a happy life. She will educate her daughter too.
I have something in common with all three of them - the love for learning, for studying, for exploring the world, the new dimensions of life......................
