After the holidays, some of my friends would come to school wearing new clothes, some in new slippers. But not everyone had the means to buy and wear new clothes. Once, I collected 150 handfuls of rice stalks in the field. It was awkward to go to school wearing the new shirt I had bought.
What you should know
When it comes to school, many people think of a large playground and well-organized classrooms, desks, benches, and blackboards. But I don't remember any of these things. That said, I'm not someone who hasn't gone to school. There was a school in my village in Ward No. 9 of Gadhimai Rural Municipality in Rautahat. The school didn't have its own building. So we used to study in the moneylender's hut. That hut was long. Exactly like a commercial chicken coop.
There was a classroom, but there were no desks or benches. There was no blackboard. We used to carry sacks from home. We would sleep on the floor and study. In the scorching heat, we were taught under a large tree nearby. This was when I finished grade 1. Mahajan gave us land. A somewhat organized school was built there. After grade 2, I was able to study sitting on a bench.
The school was about 15 minutes away from my house. In winter, we used to go to school, kicking up dust on the dusty road and getting stuck in mud in the rain. We children used to go to school barefoot. When I reached grade 2, I started wearing slippers. But those slippers were stolen when I was in grade 3. After that, I used to go to school barefoot like my other friends for a few years. When I reached grade 5, my father bought me slippers.
When I reached grade 6, I lost those slippers too. Then I had to go to grade 8 to wear slippers. At that time, most parents could not afford to buy slippers due to poverty. But we were taught to go barefoot in school because slippers would get lost or stolen.
There were many Yadavs in my village. They were landowners. Others were Pachpauniyas, or potters, and other Dalits. The Pachpauniyas were dependent on the Mahajan's farming. We also worked in the Mahajan's fields. And we worked in the Mahajan's fields all day long. From 6 am to 12 pm or 11 am to 4 pm, it was customary to pay 5 kg of paddy. I also used to go to the Mahajan's fields from time to time to help my parents. I had five children including an elder sister, two younger sisters, a younger brother, and me. I never saw my grandfather. My grandmother was at home.
Our village was steeped in traditional beliefs. The practice of believing in fate and using witchcraft without treatment was widespread. Although there have been changes, some things have remained the same. Even if you had diarrhea or fever, you would go to the witch doctor. Even if someone had infertility problems, you would go to the witch doctor.
A friend of mine had an older brother in our school. He had asthma. But everyone said, ‘He is a living ghost.’ That older brother passed away without receiving treatment. Old women were accused of being ‘witches’, and if someone’s children in the village fell seriously ill or died, they were blamed, and in some cases, they were called ‘witches’ and fed with feces. I still feel sick remembering those scenes.
After passing 5th grade, I changed schools. I joined Saraswati Mavi, which was about half an hour away from home. There were competitions like quizzes and spoon races in the school. I used to represent the school in various schools to participate in the quizzes. There were about 150 students in my class. There were three of us from the Dalit community. I don't have any bad memories of being ostracized as Dalits in school.
There was a teacher in our school. He would never let go of a stick. He would beat a student who didn't listen to him or didn't like him with a stick. The beating would continue until the stick fell to the ground. We wouldn't even get close to him. Whenever there was a scuffle in school, everyone would calm down after he stood in front. It was as if nothing had happened a moment ago.
There was another teacher – after entering the class, he would make the students stand up and sit down. Sometimes, by doing that in turn, his class time would end. We wouldn't even be sad if the class ended without reading a single letter.
Another teacher was an amazing music lover. Every Friday, he would make us take turns singing songs in class. I used to sing Bhojpuri songs. Perhaps because I had a good voice, he would sometimes take me to other classes and say, "Let's sing Ramji songs." It was very fun to sing and listen to songs.
I also did a lot of mischief in my school days. I used to insert a dot pen into the hair of a friend with long hair, slowly twist it, and pull it along with the hair, causing pain and enjoying myself. I would disturb my friend by touching the dot pen to his ear. I would run away from school or even refuse to go to school. Sometimes food at home would not be cooked on time. I would refuse to go to school because it was late. But my father would insist, "Go as quickly as possible." At such times, I would leave the house but would not go to school. Instead, I would spend the whole day climbing a tree near a nearby canal. I would sit on the tree and do my homework. I would see how far the sun had gone and then, assuming that it was time for school to end, I would go home.
In our village, time was not measured by looking at the clock. I could see the clock on my wrist. I could already guess what time the shadow of the roof of the house would fall on the yard, how far it would move, and by looking at it, I could guess what time it was. When I returned home, I would look at where the shadow had reached in the yard and calculate whether I had returned home on time or not. Sometimes we would run away from school and go to the fair.
It was not customary to take lunch to school. Instead, sometimes we would run away from school and go to the nearby river, fish. Sometimes we would kill birds. And we would eat the fish or birds roasted. When the mangoes were ripe, we would eat raw mangoes with salt and pepper.
The long holidays during festivals were very enjoyable. Homework made the holidays miserable. The teacher of ‘Optional Math’ once made me finish all the trigonometry calculations. Other teachers would burden me with the same burden of homework. I used to wander around during the holidays and end up doing homework day and night. Father's concern was whether the children would be able to do their homework by the end of the holidays.
We used to spread straw on the floor. There would be a straw mat on top of it. One day I told my father, ‘Wake me up at 3 am. I will do all my homework.’
I woke up at 3 am and started doing my homework. I don't know when I fell asleep while doing my homework. The kerosene lamp caught fire and the straw caught fire. My hair also caught fire. Thankfully, my father got up quickly and put out the fire and the house was saved from burning down.
I used to go to the houses of friends who had a roof so that I could cover myself with a roof and do my homework all night. I used to tell my friends, ‘I don't have a roof at my house, I'll come to yours.’ Sometimes we would make a small house out of straw. I used to sit there and do my homework. We used to sleep there at night too. My father had bought a radio. During my SLC exams, there was a program on the radio that taught me how to teach.
We used to go to fairs and watch many dances. I used to go to my uncle's house, which was about an hour and a half walk away. I used to stay there for three or four days and have fun.
After the long vacation, some of my friends would come to school wearing new clothes. Some would come in new slippers. But not everyone had the means to buy and wear new clothes. Those who could not buy new clothes would wash and wear their old clothes properly. Once, I collected paddy husks from the field and sold them at the fair and earned 150 rupees. I bought a new shirt with that money. That year, an NGO had also given a pen and a pencil to a diligent student from the Dalit community. It was awkward to go to school with a new pen and a new shirt, but it was fun and unique.
Many of us didn't have many clothes. Even when I went to the fair, I would wear my school uniform. Even when I went to my uncle's house, I wore the same uniform. Even during festivals. Sometimes the clothes washed the previous day would not be dry by the time I went to school in the morning. At such times, I would say, 'The dress is not dry. I won't go to school today.' But my mother would suddenly light a fire and dry my clothes in its heat. Sometimes, when I dried them in the heat of the fire, the sparks would make holes. Sometimes, my mother would force me to wear clothes that were not dry. My mother would say, 'It is almost dry. It will be dry by the time I go to school.' And that would happen without saying anything.
