පවුලයි ගෙදරයි

আমাৰ ছোৱালীজনীয়ে পাঁচ বছৰত স্কুললৈ যাব লাগে, কিন্তু আমাৰ চুবুৰীত কোনটো ভাল বুলি সোধা মানেই পাঁচটা মতামত। মই কেৱল চিন্তা কৰোঁ, তাই যেন পঢ়াৰ লগতে নিজৰ সৰু বাগিচাখিনি ৰাখিব পাৰে। গোটেই জীৱনটোৱে খোজ কাঢ়িবলৈ শিকোৱাটোৱেই হয়তো মূল কথা।

ଏକ ଛାତ୍ର ଆଜି ମୋ ଷ୍ଟଲରେ ଖେଚୁଡି ଖାଇ କହିଲା, "ମାମୁ, ମୋ ଫୋନରେ ପିଲାଦିନର ଗୀତ ଲାଗି ରଖିଛି।" ତା' କଥା ଶୁଣି ମୋ ମନେ ପଡିଗଲା ଘରେ ମା' ବାପା ଏକା, ଆଉ ସେଇ ପୁରା ଘର ତିଆରି ପାଇଁ ଟଙ୍କା ମୋ ହାତରେ। ଏଇ ସବୁ ଦାୟିତ୍ୱ ଭିତରେ ପରିବାର କଣ ବୁଝାୟେବା, ତାହା ତ ଜୀବନ ଚାଲିବା ଭିତରେ ହିଁ ଶିଖି ଯାଉଛି।

सरकारी फॉर्म भरवाते-भरवाते एक बात समझ आई - जिंदगी की सबसे बड़ी सिक्योरिटी बच्चों का हाथ पकड़कर स्कूल तक चलना और बूढ़े माँ-बाप का हाथ थामना है। बाकी सब कागजी बातें हैं। मेरी बेटी के साथ बालकनी में उगाए तुलसी के पौधे की तरह, इन रिश्तों को भी रोज थोड़ा पानी चाहिए।

Our youngest, Toli, came home last Friday with a new English notebook, all glossy and smelling of the shop. I looked at it, then at the old one I’d mended with brown paper and tape for the third time. He said, "Tate, the teacher told us to buy this one, it has lines that are wider apart." But the old notebook still had twenty blank pages. Aso, in the end I made a bargain: we would tear out those twenty leaves, use them for maths sums, and save the new one for when they are really needed. The children must learn to finish a thing before they start a new one.

My younger cousin bhai was in Class 9 during Kargil, and I still remember that June — we were both learning to fix old regulators from scrap while chacha’s radio played war news all day. Now that same

आज बिहानै देउराली बजारमा मोमोको स्टल खोल्दा मनमा नेहा बोराको कुरा आयो। उसको चार वर्षको छोराल

Father used to say the education minister is like a man who promises to fix your roof but only shows up when the sun is out. I saw a kid near Kwakeithel today, carrying a school bag twice his size, walking in the mud because the road repair hasn't reached us yet. Every time a new policy is announced, I think of that boy's father, maybe working double shifts like mine did, still unable to afford the private tuition that actually gets you into a good college. The delay in the smallest things—a road, a teacher in a government school—costs real childhoods, la. And we keep waiting for someone outside to bang the table and tell them hurry up.

Beta ji, kal Udaipur se beti ka phone aaya — hostel ke paas ek naya watermelon shikanji stall khula hai, she said "papa aapke khet jaisa taste hai." Sunke mann kiya Chetak leke khet chala jaoon, par paani ka bill dekh ke hosh aaya. Lekin jab woh hotel management mein apna first place laati hai, toh lagta hai har tanker ka paisa vasool ho gaya.

ఈ మధ్య పాపయ్య (మా పెద్దోడు) ట్యూషన్ ఫీజు కోసం ఒక కొత్త లైట్ ఫిట్టింగ్ డిజైన్ చేస్తున్నాను — పాత సినిమా పోస్టర్ల రంగులు గుర్తొచ్చే గ్రేడియంట్ ఇస్తే బాగుంటుందని అనిపించింది. పిల్లల బడి ఖర్చులు ఎప్పుడూ టెన్షనే, కానీ మా నాన్న చెప్పేవారు "పాఠం నేర్చుకోవడం కంటే పాఠశాల తలుపు తెరిచి చూస్తే సరిపోదు, పిల్లల్ని బతకడం నేర్పించాలి" అని. మార్కెట్ నుంచి కొనుక్కున్న కంప్యూటర్ పార్ట్స్ ఒక్కోటే కూర్చుకుంటున్నపుడు, ఈ లెక్కలు తేలికగా మార

Our lane’s fibre line is down again, so while I fix the neighbour’s transistor, my son does his maths on my old mobile’s hotspot. Sometimes I wonder if all the grand plans for ‘digital schools’ have ever considered a Manipuri monsoon.

Appo, last week our Ammachi ku mathram vendi water bottle and pencil case edukan vanne—she’s thirty-five, her mother in Thrissur still writes with a fountain pen, she said. I told her, “Venda, Amma, you bring your mother a new eraser from my shop, that onion-scented one from Japan, she’ll smile like she won the PTA raffle.” This whole hullabaloo about “modern parenting” and “letting children choose”—yes, my own son wanted a blue uniform shirt instead of white last June. I said, “Kochu, nammal school rule follow cheyyunnu, not the other way round.” Fairness is fairness, whether it’s a uniform or a promise to an ageing parent—it doesn’t bend for convenience. The new mall can bring all the fancy shop they like; my regulars know where their mother’s favourite eraser lives.

Ừm, u kpa u la juw ban kyntait ia ka jingioh ha seng haba ki wanrah ia ki jingmut ba thymmai. Ngi la pynsawa ia ka shop na ka lynti, kumta ngi tip ia ki jingdonkam jong ki doh. Hynrei, haba ngi iohi ia ki khun ki sha ki school ba kynja rang, ka jingngeit ba bun ki jingkylli ki mih—ka lane ba khraw ka jingioh shisha ka long kaba kham kordor ban ia ka jingthoh ha ka kot. Ngi ju iohi ia ki nongrai u lum, ki sdang ban pynsawa ia ki jinghikai, hynrei kiba duk ki dang shah rieh noh.

बाबांचं वय झालं, पण त्यांनी शिकवलं की कुणाचंही कर्ज फेडायला उशीर होऊ नये म्हणून मी जीमची फी वाढवली नाही. आमच्या वाड्यातल्या शेजाऱ्याचा मुलगा कॉलेज सोडून मॉलमध्ये काम करतो—त्याच्या वडिलांना पेन्शन मिळत नाही म्हणून. आपण शिक्षण आणि आरोग्याला व्यवसाय बनवलं, मग गरीब मुलं कशी शिकणार? हीच खरी डायरेक्ट इनकम सपोर्ट असायला हवी, सरकारने सोसायटीच्या हातात पैसे दिले तर खरं विकास होईल.

Education loan EMI ka rate kabhi nahi ghatta, bus inflation bade ja raha hai. Ministry of Education bole toh kya — roz subah 4 baje balcony pe chai ke saath pigeon ko dekh ke lagta hai, ek number system hai jahan bacche ko padhane ke liye baap ko doosri shift ka loan chukana padta hai.

Arre yaar, Mirabai Chanu... mera mann karta hai paratha khaate khaate usko salute karun. Uska woh weight lift karna, bas ho gaya — apni beti Delhi mein computer applications padh rahi hai, har semester ka fees jama karte waqt mujhe bhi aisa hi lagta hai jaise apni poori zindagi ka heavy weight utha raha hoon. Magar phir Mrs. Sharma ghar ka paratha de jaati hai, aur main sochta hoon, haan, koi na koi toh support karega...

My regular Geeta aunty came today with such bad roots, yaar, and her son in Mumbai sent some article clipping about new parenting styles. I said, "Bas, aunty, colour pe dhyan do. That boy won't come back to look after you later, na?" We laughed but my heart felt heavy. Raising children here, sending them away... then who tends the tulsi plant?

Meri dadi bolti thi, bacche ki neev ek dum solid honi chahiye, jaise akhada ki mitti. Isliye main apne gym ke chhote bachchon ko pehle discipline aur confidence sikhlata hoon, phir unki academics ki baat aati hai. Aaj kal maa-baap bachche ko seedha heavy syllabus ke bhaar mein daal dete hain, bilkul unki kamar ki chot ki parwah kiye bina.

Mera father was insisting we use the new PVC sheets for the terrace repair, but the old wooden beams have settled just right over the years, yaar. I showed him how a proper timber frame, with the same mountain patience as my jute work, will outlast any quick fix when the rains come. Sometimes what holds a family together isn't the newest thing, but the care you put into what’s already there.

On Sunday mornings, my harmonium pulls the whole mohalla together—neighbors sipping chai on balconies, humming old Rafi songs. But these days, parents rush kids from tuition to tuition, forgetting that the best siksha starts at home, with grandmothers singing folk ragas. We chase English medium schools but let our own roof leak; the fix isn't in some new policy, it's in slowing down and listening to what the elders already taught us. 💕

My cousin was just telling me how they're putting their little one in that "Jana Nayagan" kindergarten, with the fancy uniform and yoga classes. I looked at the fees and nearly dropped my soldering iron – for that much, I could repair every radio in the neighbourhood! Makes me think, all this 'right foundation' talk, but does it really make a happier child than flying kites on the terrace with your chacha? Sometimes the old ways have their own jugaad.

This morning, crossing the ledger columns, I thought of my grandson's school fees again — the same ache my father felt for mine, I suppose. He tells me about his video games, and I listen, but I still believe the old way: a child learns best when the teacher writes on a blackboard, not a screen. Our *mana chelli* down the street sends her son to a fancy English-medium school, but the boy cannot even fold his hands and say *namaskaram* properly. Maybe we have traded too much for paper certificates.