India trip 2004
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FEBRUARY 11, 2004- ERODE, TAMIL NADU
In 1945, my maternal grandmother Balambal (bala ambaal) and one
Meenakshi Sundaram started a girls school in Erode. Classes were
held then in thatched-roofed structures for 77 students. They called
it Kalamagal Kalvi Nilayam (Saraswati Learning Home) and my
grandmother was its first Correspondent and Head Mistress. It was
started as girls' school.
It still is today .. for 7,000 students, 4,000 of whom study free and
the rest for a modest fee.
I entered the campus sheepishly, not knowing what to expect but the mere mention that I was Balambal's grandson sent ripples through the school and we were given a grand tour.
A well-run school under a trust, which is managed by women who by dictate must also be teachers. A very enthusiastic band of teachers teach and inspire these girls, who were friendly, not nervous or otherwise intimidated by visitors like me or their teachers. The school has a very good coin museum in addition to an archeological museum... well maintained and well displayed.
This was something I had wanted to do for a while now. I left Erode when I was barely 2 and this was my first visit since. The thatch roofed structure is gone... replaced by very functional buildings maximizing the available land in what is now the heart of ERODE.
A very gratifying day!
On another topic...
UN-TIE INDIA MOVEMENT
I am seriously considering starting a revolutionary movement to
un-tie India! I am personally convinced (because this is a social
issue, evidence will be difficult to produce) that India will make
great progress and strides if it is UN-TIED.
The sight of hundreds of children - rural and urban - going to school in uniforms is a gratifying sight to many I am sure ... but why the tie? Why that noose around the neck of our children... why this vestige from the colonial past... why why?
Get rid of it...Un-tie our children! What makes this even more
absurd is that many children go to school with no footwear but that
damned tie is there around their tender necks!! In Dharmapuri
District in TN, in the middle of nowhere I saw children - boys and
girls with BOW TIES no less!!!
What we are creating is a new caste system in India. A caste system that is linguistic based. Imitating the "public" or "convent"
schools, 100s of new schools have sprung up and the damn tie
represents the English medium in which these children are taught.
The vernacular "caste" wears either salwar kameez (progressive) or pavadai- thavini (petticoat and 1/2 sari - traditional)
There are other nuances to this caste system of course - this is
India after all. The English medium schoolgirls wear skirts and the
boys wear pants (as opposed to shorts). The only way the "pure" and the "orthodox" (public/convent) can differentiate themselves is to insist that on a hot day with 95% humidity their children wear a
woolen blazer- monogram and all.
Incidentally the hemline of skirts also determines if they are English medium State or Central Board...
So my friends... join me on this revolution to UN-TIE India and free her children from yet another caste layer...from this rope around their neck...from this symbol of our continuing gulami
(slavery).
Inqualab Zindabad! NEXT TOP
