Unforgettable events in life are the collections of pages of the book called memories. While leafing through my past, I was struck by the page titled “Migratory birds”, reflecting my memories of some minorities who migrate from one place to another not due to seasonal change but hunger.
It was a sunny afternoon at Bathola in Faridabad, and I was about to start for home from the convent school where I was working as a teacher. Suddenly, the Principal appeared in front of me and requested to teach the children of those labourers who migrated from Bihar for construction work on the school campus. I masked my tired face with a smile.
From next day, I started taking evening classes for them. The hunger for education was visible in their curious eyes, but I could satisfy them for only for a few days. The calls of my afternoon nap compelled me to escape their sight. Whenever they saw me, they begged for classes, but my lazy attitude did not allow any. One day, a young girl ran towards me carrying her little brother. Approaching me, controlling her breath, she questioned, “Sir, why are you not taking any classes for us?”
Her twinkling eyes were expecting some affirmative response from me. Scratching my head, I promised her to start the class after a week. Days passed, and the time came for me to keep my promise. After my evening tea, I went to the school campus, but there was no one waiting for me. I went around the school building in search of them, but I couldn’t find anyone. On enquiries with the security men, I came to know that they had migrated to some other place in search of work, forced by poverty which compelled them to leave behind their rights and dreams. Ashamed of my worthless promise, I went back home with a bowed head.
The sudden declaration of the lockdown created a whirlpool of hardship for the floating population. Their dreams were limited to reaching home and keeping themselves alive. Our country witnessed the mass migration of the century. Due to starvation, exhaustion and accidents, many dreams were lost on roads and railway tracks.
To assure the right to education during the COVID-19 pandemic, online classes became a bridge between students and teachers. But what about the rights of those children who are in the remote parts of India without any digital connectivity. How the gap between online and offline students will be filled? The pandemic reveals that not everyone is assured of their fundamental rights.
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