Ann and I

10.Education

I can see him right from here. He is sitting very still. Looking at me. He must have followed. He is out because the day is cold and cloudy. But still it is unusual.....He knows that I have noticed him. Now he hangs upside down closing his bloodshot eyes. I so much want to be near that tree. My thoughts hault with a jerk when I see the toad eyes fixed on me, scrutinizing. I forget to breathe. Mercy is babbling "Madam, she is a distant cousin of mine. Lives in a village in distant mountain. No school there. Parents died so I brought her here and now I am taking good care of her. Want her to become good in life so I want her to read". She was acting so well, that for one second, I believed her too. She was so good in lying that right now she seems perfect for fighting elections. The Buffalo in the chair stuffed some beetle leaves in her mouth and gave a disapproving grunt. She perhaps felt that speaking with her mouth full must be a religious ritual with her. " you!" she beckoned me to come close. I felt my feet stuck to a place. Mercy pushed me near to her. She spoke in a heavy voice " How old are you??" twelve years eleven months twenty five days and fourteen hours I wanted to blurt out but my tongue stuck to my mouth and I just stared at the ground. " she is sort of slow". Mercy grinned pathetically. Buffalo shows no reaction. She speaks with apathetic calm" This school is not an orphanage. Just because we are kind, give food to the begging litter that comes here doesn't mean that any one can dupe us just like that."
we????? That is a government policy to provide food and money in backward areas like this.. So who are we??????. Mercy starts prattling again Something about being poor... My attention drifts to the tree. He is not there now. Gone perhaps. "Thawk!!!!" A burning sensation on my arm brings me back to the room. The Buffalo has a cane in the hand and she has used it on me. I should rub my arm to ease the pain but the trauma for the whole day has made me numb perhaps. "Dis-ci-pline!!!!!" she spits each syllable separately " you need discipline to stop your brain from wandering and to make a human being out of you!!!! ." she brings her huge face near me. I can see the warts of her neck very clearly. Repulsed, I close my eyes. She stinks too. She walks back to her chair and sits back. " leave her" she spits out and with a gesture of a hand dismissed us . Mercy looks quite contented to wash her hands off me. She growls menacingly at me " you will get food to stuff your mouth here and return straight at home." You must have seen the route to home" she says " I won't mind if you get lost though" and with that she flees off. It is quite cold but I am sweating.I am left standing there for a while. Then the peon is called in and perhaps asked to whisk me to a class. He asks me to follow him. He points at a class and leaves me standing there . I am stuck with the dilemma to run away from there or to stand until the ordeal of this school gets over. someone from the back calls me up. " Don't stand here, get inside the class" . A teacher. I take a breath to calm my frayed nerves and entered. The room has fifteen girls in all ranges of shabbiness. Some in faded blue uniform. All sitting on jute bag mats. The light is quite dim for the two windows that are open. The place where the blackboard should have been is having a wall with lumps of black paint and cement. As soon as I entered the class, all started looking at me. Snickering, nudging and giggling. I am asked to sit on the cold floor. Too tired to cry. Here it comes, the light of education to brighten my life. The reedy thin teacher turns to the almost invisible blackboard and writes " jeograpy"!????? I am sure till now it was called Geography!!!!!!!! Well! Well well! Education is all about new things!!!!. Suddenly I am interested." Chheeelllldrrrrnnnn" she means children " Todd aaye we would do jographeeee". ( means today we would learn Geography.) I steal a glance around and find that nobody has a clue of what she is talking about. I hang my head down but I am really curious to know what jographhee is all about. And my concentration pays. In the minutes that follow, this woman opens a threadbare world map and slowly but steadily destroyed all the concepts, discoveries and facts pertaining to geography. The Atlantic Ocean became Sahara desert. The Indian continent reached Russia The little town that we are living in, becomes a part of himalayas almost colliding in china. After a long time, have I actually smiled and forgotten the callous world that waits outside .By the time Africa started hugging Greenland, I was thoroughly enjoying myself. I must have forgotten where I was cause she shot an angry glance at me. I quitened down and the teacher continued the murder of geography. None of the other twenty seem to grasp even a little of the pearls of knowledge she is casting before us. After a long time, I have this time to sit and relax . The dark clouds have gathered outside.... and this is how it remains in my village. Up away in the lap of Great Himalayas. Hidden from the defiling feet of modernity, paradise of peace Grandma, the forest and the canopy of clouds. Always there to provide a cosy comfort from the world outside. Then,... What made those villagers come silently that night to burn our cottage???? Why would they want us dead??? For twelve years that I was born, we lived peacefully sustaining ourselves on little we had. Vegetables, corn and fruits that we grew around, medicines that grandma sold to the village medicine man and bare necessities like clothes that we bought from the village weekly market. The villagers too kept a respectful distance from us. What made them so vicious???? With a pain in my heart I remembered the calm and determined look on my grama face when she handed me over to the strange old man. Is she alive???? Had they killed her. Tears of longing filled my eyes.I close my eyes. The It has started raining again. "Ann..." I jerk up as I hear my name. A strong tingling sensation. I look around. "Jographhee" is still on. I must have dozed off. Relaxed, I look back thinking about leaning against the wall behind me. With his hair dripping wet and eyes all bruised and purple. Ken is sitting right behind me. "Ann..." he whispers.

Glossary..
Beetle leaves. Heart shaped leaves called 'paan' . Chewed they produce red juice.