Illiteracy with a mission

SHYAMLAL, Montu, Dhiren and the other village lads bawl out lustily, with more gusto than melody, exhorting the audience to fill the schools and help the nation progress. No one seems to mind the tuneless ditty, and everyone taps their feet and nods their head, and all agree, of course, that "education" is a "good thing".

The drama that follows has the crowd in peals of laughter as the village idiot - an illiterate chap - gets cheated by the money lender - a smart, educated fellow - and loses his land. In real life though, the "money lender" comes in many guises. Shankar Manjhi lost his land when he had to return a loan - with interest - for a pump set he never used. The local government staff, in their eagerness to help the nation progress, convinced Shankar that he wouldn't need to return the loan. And Mahadev Mahato sold his land when he had to shell out a few thousand rupees to the "bara babu" of the police station who threatened to arrest him for beating up Sahdev Hembrom. While Sahdev had to sell his land to pay for the medical treatment, since the "big" doctor in town ordered several bottles of intravenous fluids for a few cuts and bruises, Shankar, Mahadev and Sahdev now laugh heartily at the play - and at themselves.

In one scene, Montu, a 10-year-old lad, is doing his homework.

"Ka, kha, ga, gha, gna," he recites with difficulty from his book.

"Stop wasting your time, son," shouts his "father", "Get out and mind the goats! Will all this study fill your stomach?"

The crowd all agree with the "father" that study, indeed, does not fill the stomach. And goats are, of course, much more important than books. In real life, too, Montu has no time for schooling. By day he minds the goats and cows, and by night he joins his mates singing and rehearsing the drama. Whilst "reading" from his book he holds it upside down, for he, like most of the team, are illiterate themselves.

The team is an offshoot of the literacy mission, which was decided to totally eradicate illiteracy from these backward villages. A couple of village lads switched from organising kirtan sessions to mobilising boys to sing in praise of education rather than in praise of the Almighty.

Fortunately, few are convinced to seek "education" by Montu's team. For, the literate minority are too busy championing literacy to spend time actually teaching the illiterate masses. District, block, panchayat and village level education committees have to be set up, elections to positions of eminence have to be undertaken and surveys carried out to assess the extent of illiteracy. The eradication of illiteracy necessitates much planning, innumerable meetings and careful attention to that most important matter: money.

Ghosh babu, being a locally significant educated sympathiser, reluctantly got caught up in one such meeting. The "big" leaders of the literacy mission had just left in their Ambassadors, after appealing to the gathering to work with missionary zeal to attack the menace of illiteracy without considering material gain. Instead of inspiring the literate crowd, many were much deflated by the speech. Archana Devi, a leader without a party at present, is visibly dejected. "Is it true," she asks Ghosh babu, "that there's really no money in all this? Nothing for us at all?"

"Ah, don't listen to all that stuff!" answers Pradip Choudhury, a local agent for all things governmental, and an aspiring contractor. "That's what they all say in speeches. Didn't they say the same about the adult education programme, and Sanjoy Pandey made a few lakhs from the training of teachers. Hundreds of suckers have given him Rs. 500 thinking they'd get government jobs! And Motilal Mahato made a packet for himself by blackmarketing the kerosene oil meant for the night schools."

"I've heard that they're not even giving kerosene oil this time," added another local notable, obviously much in the know. "But apparently they're giving contracts to the literacy-wallahs. Don't worry Pradip, you'll do allright."

Meanwhile Montu and his mates enjoy themselves thoroughly singing themselves hoarse and cracking jokes at the expense of poor, ignorant, illiterate villagers - like themselves. And the poor, ignorant, illiterate villagers in the audience laughingly agree that they are, indeed, cheated by politicians, government touts and agents. In fact not unlike the missionaries of literacy?

LINDSAY BARNES

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