There’s a certain uniqueness to Kasaragod’s topography, what with the hills, plains, and beaches straddle the region in close proximity.
Zahira Rahman, teaching English at S.S. College in Malappuram under the University of Calicut, has been to the place several times over along with her husband, M.A. Rahman, social activist who leads the endosulfan-affected People’s Front, to look up the victims of the chemical disaster in the district. Sometime ago, she made a few landscape paintings on the region for the Information and Public Relations Department.
Now, at the instance of her friends, the Sunday painter is wielding the brush again to do 100 acrylic landscape paintings, the proceeds from their sale will be used for the welfare of victims of endosulfan.
'Nature a problem-solver'
“I’ve often felt that nature offers a solution to all ills and have liked doing impressionistic landscape images of Kasaragod,” says the teacher, an avid traveller who nurses a dream of setting up a student-friendly school post-retirement next year.
Friends and well-wishers of Dr. Zahira who are part of the social collective Kasaragod Koottayma are roping in philanthropists and art patrons to purchase the works.
“Besides several activities undertaken for the welfare of endosulfan victims, architect A.K. Mundol and Rahman are working together to construct houses for them,” she says.
While Dr. Zahira aims to wrap up the project by May, the teacher, an exponent of theatre in education, is gearing up to be more active in the social sphere in the years to come.
“Besides travelling a lot, I would love to set up a school where education would not involve a ‘power play’. There’s hardly any communication between teachers and students in our educational institutions these days.
It’s all instructional in nature. Since attendance is mandatory and counts for grades, students make themselves available in classrooms no matter the quality of teaching,” she laments.
The system, she argues, leaves a lot to be desired. While nobody really cares about the aptitude of students, ‘discipline’ is strictly enforced to rein in their creativity and freedom.
“For instance, instead of teaching English the way we do, if we introduce them to phonetic sounds and get them to read early on, they would not require any additional help to pick up the language,” she argues.
