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Friends, Lend your ear
And patiently hear
This anecdote of mine
took place at the bus stop line
I learnt my lesson well
On it I’ll for ever dwell.
You see it happened so
At the bus stop we had a row
A man big huge and wide
As if elephants on him could ride
And a pot bellied Bhai Sahab
No less than any Nawab
The third one was Sikh
He resorted to all full trick
“Hum Pathan Ka Baccha Hai” shouted the big man
But the other two stayed when they should have ran
I watched this drama with great amusement
When my eye struck the slogan, ahead there permanent
I cleared my throat and brushed my hair
For this quarrel I wanted to end it fair
I went up to them to speak in a thunderous roar
But all my voice was drowned in the noise for sure
Or had it never come out
However hard I had tried to shout
At last some courage I did gather
Instead of speaking I pointed to the slogan which was farther
Three pair of eyes followed my finger
But not a bell did that ringer
“Uncle please read that”, I said in a meak voice
In the hearts of my hearts I consoled myself I had no choice
Written there in bold big letters
No notice it would escape even if it were better
Ladne se hoga satyanash
Aapka hamara , Desh ka vinash
Ladne ke sthan par kam kare
Desh aur swaym aage bade
Ladne se milage na koi samadhan
Iske viprit hoey dhandhan
Desh ki sewa kijaye
Sewa asi jiska hoye na map
But still their faces were just as blank
I wanted to bash them with huge wooden blank
The big man looked at me and said
Is Pathan ke bacche ko padai nahi aata
Hum is baat ko batlata aur bahut sharmata
I had the greatest shock of my life
Imagine all three had a wife
And still they knew not a letter of language
To them books were no different from garbage
The other two confessed that they too had never stressed
Much on studies
As they were buddies
“Oh my Ghosh”, I exclaimed
And asked them had they never be trained ?
Could they not read a single letter of Varnmala ?
Had they really never visited a pathshala ?
Denying it all by nodding their heads
They tore my aim to sort out their quarrel to shreds
Now acting nemesis did not matter much
They were not literate and yeh tha sach
“Each one, teach one” was haunting me
So why can’t, I thought, each one teach three
Since charity begins at home
And in one day was not built Rome
I made up my mind
A solution to the literacy problem I’II find
I resolved to teach all three
And teach them I would very free
And since I had retained my voice
I told the three of my choice
It took me some tome to convince my new friends
That ‘Praur Shiksha‘ was very much in trend
At last I persuaded them to spare an hour
For a whole month I did my job
And the satisfaction from me , no one could rob
I slogged and worked hard as any one else
And within me were ringing joyous bells
At last my work bore its fruits
Literate were they – these three brutes
So the next day I took them where I had met them first
They read that slogan in an energetic burst
I waited
They contemplated
And to my pleasure
And joy without measure
They hugged each other to very close
That tear of happiness in my eyes rose
I realized that God helped those who helped themselves
And knowledge was one thng no one could sell
These threeliterate beings had witnessed a new dawn
Now no more on the chess board of the world were they pawn
Like them, and me, I want all to realize
That literacy is the greatest prize
What god has given us this is the best
This can’t be stolen while robbed can be the rest
My friends, I hope I got the message clear
Illiteracy is the basic problem oh dear
Literate you can make a person if you try
Life of any illiterate is no better than in a pig’s sty
So my request to you is this
Don’t ever the opportunity you miss
To teach any lone fellow
Make joyous his face yellow
Had those three known how to read
To quarrel would there have been no need
To quarrel would there have been no need
In this country they are not the only threesome
I agree this job is tiresome
But don’t lose hope
Because you are the rope
For these illiterate
To become literate
And climb the mountain of knowledge.
-Marisha
'94-95