Human Rights Day

Human Rights Day, 10 December, was observed at Talimi Haq School. The children of the school and teachers put up a programme of songs and drama.

6 December

6th December 1992 was one of the darkest days in the history of modern India. The Babri mosque in Ayodhya in northern India was destroyed by a mob of vandals. Riots between Hindus and Muslims broke out across towns and cities in north India. Riots hit Calcutta too, with Muslim slums being torched in Tangra in east Calcutta and Metiabruz in west Calcutta.

After the experience of the Great Calcutta Killing of 16 August 1946, and more riots in 1963-64, Calcutta had at least been free of the horror of communal riots. The CPI(M)-led Left Front govt ruling West Bengal since 1977 had made communal harmony a major plank of its policy. But following 6 December 1992, sleeping demons were awakened.

Curfew was enforced in Calcutta in the days following 6 December 1992. For me, that led to an enforced engagement with this question, the Muslim question, something I had hardly thought about earlier. Afterwards, photographer Achinto and I went to Tangra. The people from the burnt out slum were sheltered in the municipal slaughterhouse. I will never forget that sight, a vision of hell.

A germ was planted in me. And that germ went on to take over and transform my life within 5 years. But before that all the habitual assumptions and notions, all the socialised conditioning and subtle prejudice in me had to be plucked out. I was fortunate to meet friends who aided in this.

There is a huge gulf separating Muslims (the overwhelming majority of whom are poor, barely educated, and self-employed) and educated Hindus in India. Its a question of perception and cognition. Very few even bother to recognise that such a gulf exists.

After I started working in Priya Manna Basti in Howrah and started Howrah Pilot Project, 6th December was observed by us as National Renewal Day. In 1998, we organised a cultural programme for the children of Talimi Haq School. A special harmony badge was made and worn by everyone. In 1999, there was a ceremony where the Muslim children of Talimi Haq and Hindu children of a nearby school tied rakhis on one another (a wrist band symbolising brotherhood). An elderly community member who had spent much of his life teaching children of Priya Manna Basti was felicitated and honoured. And in 2000, this date fell during Ramadan and so we had a grand iftaar (fast-breaking) gathering for my new-found Muslim activist friends from Calcutta.

The great thinker and poet Mohammad Iqbal wrote the song "Sarey jahaan sey achha Hindustan hamara" (Better than the whole world, our India). But he is also considered to be one of the founding fathers of Pakistan, which was born as a separate homeland for India's Muslims. Iqbal wrote "Shikwa aur Jawaab-e-Shikwa" (Complaint to God, and God's answer), about the miserable plight of Muslims. After I started working in Priya Manna Basti, and began to understand the power of Urdu poetry, I wrote a song "PM Basti ke ham sab sachhey mussalmaan hain" (We are all true Muslims of PM Basti). I wrote my own "Gratitude, and God's Acceptance", to express my feelings for the blessing of India's plural heritage. And I wrote my version of "See the city from here" (the title of poet Faiz's poem), celebrating the love and harmony I found working with the women and children in Priya Manna Basti.

It is 14 years since that dark day of 1992.

In the Ramayana epic, Prince Rama of Ayodhya had to take up 14 years of forest exile to uphold his father's honour. His father died grieving for his son. And before returning home, Rama had to vanquish king Ravana of Lanka to rescue his abducted beloved wife Sita.

Much has happened in these 14 years. In 2002, we had the horrific riots in Gujarat in western India. This was India's intimation of its version of the Final Solution. And just a few days ago, the report of the Sachar Committee was submitted to the govt of India. This examined the socio-economic backwardness of the Muslim community in India.

Like never before, the challenge is out in stark terms to all Indians:

Are we a pluralist nation, where everyone has a place of dignity, with justice for all?

Can Hindu and Muslim be as one, two inseparable parts that together make the whole that is India?

Does anyone want such an India?

Photo: Achinto

Pina Bausch visits Talimi Haq School

Pina Bausch, the celebrated German dancer and choreographer, director of the Tanztheater Wuppertal, was in Calcutta recently. She is one of the giant figures of modern dance.

She is preparing an “India piece” to be staged next year, and was here with her group in this connection.

The Goethe Institut in Calcutta arranged for their visit to Talimi Haq School.

It was a happy experience.

Shajahan

My name is Shajahan Khatun. I am 12 years old. My father’s name is Babu Jaan. I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters. My brother’s name is Raju. I work as a domestic help. My mother also works as a domestic. My sister’s name is Noorjahan. She also works as a domestic. I like to eat bitter gourd preparations. I live in No. 5. I have been to the zoo for a visit. I also cook at home. There are 7 people in my home. I like to roam around.

Banana

by Shajahan Khatun

This is a part of a banana leaf. I got this from the botanical gardens. Banana leaves are used to eat on. Raw bananas are cooked as a vegetable. We eat the ripe banana. The banana flower is also eaten as a vegetable. The banana tree is used in religious ceremonies.

Heena

My name is Heena Parween. I am 12 years old. My father’s name is Mohammed Ali. My mother’s name is Asma Parween. My father works in a tobacco factory. My mother works as a domestic help in other people’s homes. We are 3 brothers and 6 sisters. I have 2 mothers. I study in Class 2. I like to eat mango pickle. We had gone to the botanical gardens for an outing. I like to go out on visits.

The coconut

by Heena Parween

This is a coconut leaf. I got this from my school field. The coconut tree is very tall. Its fruit is the green coconut, and when this is ripe it’s the coconut. Coconut gives oil. We apply this on our hair. Brooms, fans and mats are made from coconut leaves.

Artwork

by Heena

I bought this flower from the market. This flower is called kucha. It is offered at dargahs (the shrines of saints).

Imran

My name is Mohammad Imran. I am 10 years old. My father’s name is Mukhtar Ali. My mother’s name is Farzana Khatun. I have 4 brothers and 1 sister. My favourite food is biryani. My father is in the fish trade and also works as a cook. I like bitter gourd preparations. I study in Class 4. I like to go out but I have not been able to go anywhere. I really want to study. I only go to my granny’s house. My mother works in other people’s homes. I eat puris (fried wheat bread) in the morning. When I grow up, I would like to work in the court with a black gown.

Tulsi

by Imran

This is a tulsi leaf. I got this from a neighbour’s courtyard. The tulsi plant is worshipped. For coughs, the tulsi leaf is boiled in water and drunk and you become well.

Decoration with flowers and plants

by Mohsin Kamal

We can decorate our homes and workplaces with the help of flowers and plants. We can decorate many things with the help of the leaves and flowers of plants. The flower of Hibiscus is used for worship (puja) or sacred offerings of the Hindus. Banana leaves are also used for puja. Apart from this, green coconut is also placed on a bowl and used for pujas.

Hibiscus is also used by taxi and bus drivers to decorate their vehicles and to ward off the bad effects of an evil eye. During marriages, the car of the bridegroom is wholly laid out with flowers. Roses, sunflowers, jasmine and marigold are used for such decorations. The face of the bridegroom in a Muslim wedding is covered by a veil made of flowers, called sehra.

We also use leaves for decoration of cars. The leaves are usually cone shaped. Mango leaves strung on a string are hung from doors of houses to ward of evil spirits. Lemon and chillis are tied together on a string and hung on doors of homes and workplaces. This is also to ward off the evil eye.

Apart from this we also keep flower pots for decoration of homes.

The women here decorate their hair with champa and jasmine. They also use garlands made of beli.

An unforgettable incident

by Akbar Ali

There was a straw basket hanging on the wall in my house. As my eyes roamed the wall I noticed a snake sitting in the basket on the wall. Then I saw a rat going into the basket. I hurriedly shouted to my brother. My brother got up and grabbed the basket and the rat fell out. As the basket was removed we saw the snake coiled around a large nail dug into the wall. My brother jerked back. There was also a hole above, in the wall, and the snake hurriedly slithered into it. As the news spread many people gathered in my house to see the snake. Some suggested killing the snake by crushing it in the hole itself with the help of some heavy tool. Some suggested that it was here to drink milk. My father did not listen to anyone. He got some cement, mixed it with some sand and plastered the hole.

I can never forget that day.

Sabir Ali

A couple of years back the children of our school had the opportunity to perform a pantomime in the auditorium at Science City in front of an audience of about 2000. The drama went very well and at the end of it all we got presents. I got a geometry box which had a pen, pencil, eraser and sharpener. I still have that box with me today.

Mohsin Kamal

We have an annual function in the school every year. Once, I too took part in it. There was singing, drama etc. I had originally planned to sing a song. So when my turn came I went to the stage and started singing but halfway through I forgot the lyrics. All the children began to laugh which made me very angry. I was also very ashamed. At the end of the programme we all got a packet of sweets which made me feel better.

When I was in Class I, I used to go for private tuitions. During that time, I once skipped my tuitions for eight days telling my parents that tuitions classes were closed for a few days. On the eighth day some friends from my tuition class came home and began inquiring about me from my family. My father told them that classes were closed. On coming to know the truth my father gave me a good beating. I went for my tuition class the next day and again got a good dose from my teacher. I can never forget this incident.

Nasim Khan

Once I told my friends of Talimi Haq that I would not come to school any more as I had been put to work by my father. It was meant to be a joke. The next day I went to the ground where all the boys go to play and began to play. Soon I realized that I was now late for my classes and could not go to school. I came to know that Sir had sent some boys to my house to fetch me for my classes. My sister told them that I was in the ground. They came to the ground but could not find me as I had left. They then ran into my father and asked him if it was true that I would now not come to school as he had put me to work. My father denied this. When my mother came to know the reason why I had not gone to school she gave me the beating of my life. The next day my friends in Talimi Haq School had a good laugh at my expense.

Looking from here

It is hoped that through the work of Talimi Haq School, extremely valuable action experience and learning would be generated – about the education of very deprived children.

What should the school seek to do – replicate the education provided by the existing schools that others go to ? Why are they not there in the school in the first place ? What is the future confronting these children ? How much can they hope for , or someone interested in them hope for? What can their parents do for them ? And for how long ? The likely future personal circumstances of all such children, are severely limited within certain specific limits, not very different from that of their parents, and their parents before them, and so on, all of whom were illiterate. Is this acceptable ? If this is accepted as inevitable and unchangeable, is there yet something education can seek to do ? In terms of personal qualities, capabilities, skills, values, character, the lack of all of which is also a principal feature of the blighted environment, and something that is negatively socialising the children.

Society has consigned such children to become delinquents, anti-socials, criminals, hoodlums. Working with children so that they grow up and contribute to the sustenance of a better community environment is a specific, locally rooted practical goal that any intervention should address. The educational effort has also to be seen in the light of the social, economic and environmental situation in the neighbourhood.

More fundamentally, in a context where there is a complete vacuum in terms of committed and honest local ownership and capability for community development and slum improvement - as a result of which the local environment sinks into ever-more degradation - what could be sought to be instilled in such terms through education of the poor children of this milieu?

Creative challenge

Creative educational initiatives can be taken up using multi-media computers and internet. Microcomputer technology offers the interesting potential of bypassing several of the barriers that society itself imposes for a deprived learner. Besides, it is in itself something stimulating and enhancing the development of multiple faculties in the child’s brain.

Language education in such environments throws up challenges, since the sought after language (English) is very far away from the children’s social environment, and their own language, Urdu, is a second-rate or third-rate option, clearly understood to bring with it a second-rate or third-rate future. At the same time, through building a sound foundation through the mother tongue, Urdu, the felicity in language learning that young children have is something that should be taken advantage of. The possibility of new social and economic avenues and opportunities that the language ability opens up has also to be grasped.

Similarly, for science education. If education seeks to enable someone who is known to be heading towards a humble future to become a good human being – what is the ‘science’ he or she should know, and how should it be taught? What exactly is a scientific outlook in a humble, deprived environment and how is it to be inculcated?

The resources of the city - various museums, gardens, the zoo, libraries - offer rich potential to design live, action-based learning opportunities.

Music, drama and dance offer significant educational and child developmental potential. Developing a curriculum and teaching routine based on this could be a very creative effort. Talimi Haq School could offer a valuable opportunity for talented persons seeking an opportunity to work with poor children using music, drama and dance. Similarly with sport and physical culture.

It is hoped that Talimi Haq School can become a venue for serious action-research efforts in such directions by educational activists, even as the intensive, long-term effort at improving the social environment in PM Basti continues.

Akbar

My name is Akbar Ali

I am 12 years old. They call me Raja. My mother, Halima Khatoon, is a housewife and my father, Mohammad Suleman, is a rickshaw-puller. I have three brothers and three sisters. One of my brothers is unschooled and works in the jute mill. The other studied till Class 4 and now works in the mill. All my sisters studied till Class 6.

I study in Class 3 in Howrah High and have been coming to Talimi Haq ever since it started. I like mathematics and cycling. I also like playing video games. I would like to be carpenter.

Once there was a party in the school. We had good fun. There was biryani to eat. Ranjit Sir had given the money to make the biryani which was cooked in my house by my sister. There were about 25 boys and girls to eat the biryani. There were also cold drinks at the end of the party. It was an unforgettable experience.

Kabaddi!

by Akbar

This game is played in a play field. We form two teams of about six persons each. A dividing line is made on the ground and two boxes or houses are made on each side of the line, which is a common border.

Each team takes up one house. The play then begins. One person from one of the teams enters the other team’s house and his job is to touch as many of the other team members without himself being caught by them. And all the while he is to keep muttering “kabbadi, kabbadi, kabbadi…” without any pause.

If he manages to touch any of the other team’s members and return to his house and team mates without being caught, those touched are out. On the other hand if he is caught by members of the other team, then he is out. If he loses his breath and stops saying “kabaddi …”, he’s out.

Now the other team has to send one of their members to do likewise, and the play continues in this fashion. At the end of the play, the team with the most number of mates still in wins.

From our students

In 2003 children from Talimi Haq School participated in an internet communication project on the theme of "nature", together with children from a school in Hastings, UK.

Here are some narratives from then of our ex-students introducing themselves.

Note: In India children start formal schooling at age 6, in Class 1. At the end of Class 10, the secondary school examination is taken. This is followed by Classes 11 & 12, after which the Higher Secondary Examination is taken, which is a prerequisite for undergraduate studies at university.

Kaneez

My name is Kaneez Fatima.

I am 12 years old. Javed and Parvez are my brothers. I study in Class 5 in Howrah Haat School. I like Urdu and drawing. I would like to be a teacher.

Shamsad

My name is Shamsad Ali.

They call me motka (fatso). My mother, Unti, is a housewife and my father, Idris Mohammad, works in the jute mill. I am eleven and have two elder brothers, Taj Mohammad and Raj Mohammad. Taj has not been to school, he repairs bicycles, while Raj, a year older than me, studies in the madrasa (Islamic religious school).

I go to the Howrah Haat School, and am now in Class 2. I like quizzes and doing arithmetic problems. I would like to be a doctor when I grow up.

Shahnawaz

My name is Shahnawaz Ali.

I am ten years old and have two brothers and two sisters. My mother Ajmeri Khatoon is a housemaid. My father passed away a year ago. He used to work in the jute mill.

They call me Irfan at home, while in Talimi Haq School my friends jokingly call me “Mahatma Gandhi”. My elder brother Shamsher works in a cloth store. He and I were in the same class (2) in Howrah High School when my father expired. He then had to give up his studies and start working. My younger brother studies in Talimi Haq School, while my sisters stopped attending school after a couple of years in Howrah High and then in Talimi Haq.

I am now in Class 2 in Howrah High. I like Urdu and would like to join the police.

Husna

My name is Husna Ara.

I am eleven years old. My mother, Zarina Khatoon, is a housewife while my father died last August. I have four sisters and one brother. My two elder sisters did not go to school and stay at home. Farida and I come to Talimi Haq School. I don’t go to any formal school. My brother, Asgar Ali, works in the jute mill.

Urdu and English are my favourite subjects. I don’t know what I could do when I grow up.

Javed

My name is Javed Ali.

My mother, Nissa Khatoon, is a housewife and my father, Mohammad Ali, works in the jute mill. I am twelve years old and I have four sisters and two brothers. My sisters go to school and help in the housework. My two brothers also attend school. I study in Anjuman School in Class 3. I failed in Class 2 for three consecutive years. That’s how my younger brother Parvez caught up with me.

I like studying English. I would like to work in the jute mill when I grow up. I like playing kabaddi (a traditional Indian game). I have also done odd jobs.

Parvez

My name is Parvez Ali.

Javed is my brother. He failed in Class 2 and I caught up with him. Then we both failed together for the next two years. Now we’re both in Class 3. I am eleven years old.

I like studying English and I love playing football. I would like to join the police when I grow up.

Shaher

My name is Shaher Ghaznavi.

I am 11 years old. They call me Sitara. My mother, Shehnaz Begum, is a housewife while my father died a few years ago. He used to work in the jute mill. I have two sisters and two brothers. One of my sisters studied till Class 8 and the other completed Class 10. They now stay at home and make necklaces to sell. One of my brothers works and the other studies in Class 5.

I study in Class 4 in Howrah Haat School. I like Urdu and playing football. I would like to be a doctor when I grow up.

Hassan

My name is Hassan Kamaal.

I am 13 years old. They call me Sunny. My mother, Mustari Begum, is a housemaid and my father, Mustafa Kamal, is a signboard painter. I have four brothers and one sister. My eldest brother is a plumber and the others go to school.

I study in Class 7. I like studying Science and playing football. I would like to be a teacher of Science when I grow up.

Priya Manna Basti

All my dawns cross the horizon
and rise from underfoot.
What I stand for
is what I stand on.

Wendell Berry


Priya Manna Basti is a century-old jute workers’ settlement, that is today home to about 50,000 people, mainly labouring, Urdu-speaking, Muslim households.

This is a degraded, poverty-stricken locality, with inadequate civic amenities. Gastro-intestinal and waterborne diseases are common.

What is today known as PM Basti, was originally the property of two Englishmen - John Chew and James Chew. It was then known as ‘Chew’s Garden’, and there were a number of flower gardens, ponds and small structures on the site. One of the Chews was killed when he suffered a riding accident and fell from his horse into a pond. His brother then sold the property. The new owner re-named it after his wife.

Basti means “settlement” in north Indian languages. In common parlance, basti also refers to the habitation of low-income workers, of the common folk, of the labouring poor.

After Howrah Mills, Ganges Jute Mill, and Fort William Jute Mill were set up, and workers from the neighbouring states of Bihar and UP came to work in these factories, there was an acute need for housing the jute mill workers. Workers took small plots of land on the former Chew garden on rent and built huts for themselves - made of earth and wattle-and-daub. In this manner, about two hundred densely packed houses came up. This was around the turn of the last century.

Photo: Achinto

We are here

The space in the lower left quarter of this picture - is where we are. In the far distance, the light towers of the Eden Gardens cricket grounds in Calcutta loom over the eastern horizon. Across the river Hooghly, across the Howrah Jute Mills and the now closed Remington typewriter factory, across Grand Trunk Road, is PM Basti, and Talimi Haq School.

Photo: Achinto

Like a gardener

"Town planning is not mere place-planning, nor even work-planning. If it is to be successful it must be folk-planning. This means that its task is not to coerce people into new places against their associations, wishes and interest - as we find bad schemes trying to do. Instead its task is to find the right places for each sort of people, places where they will really flourish. To give people in fact the same care that we give when transplanting flowers."

Patrick Geddes

Friends of Talimi Haq School

This is a good opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to Friends of Talimi Haq School from all over the world.

Last year, following an urgent appeal for financial help to secure our school premises, we were blessed to get an immediate response from them.

We vacated our old premises in April and moved to a temporary accommodation. And in November 2005, we shifted to the new premises. We have more space than we had earlier, two large, airy rooms on the first floor.

Our friends’ donations have also provided the running expenses since last year.


India: Dr Gita Chatterji; HK Chaudhury; Ashoke Banerji; Manav Jalan; Banashree Bannerjee; C Basker; VS Gopalakrishnan; Mihir Bhatt; KS Chhokar; Arun Mamgain.

UK: Anya Sitaram; Malathy Sitaram; Nihat Tsolak; Karan Bilimoria; Polly Gould.

Israel: Einat Kalisch Rotem; Elana Rozenman.

USA: Nancy Owens; Medha Chandra; MS Chhikara; Abir Samuel; Seema Parakh and friends; Anand Swaminathan.

Sweden: Camilla Porshede; Pers & Diana; Faculty and students from the Royal University College of Fine Arts, Stockholm.

Australia: Samir Shrivastava.

Canada: Juliette Patterson

Malaysia: JS Kairon.

New Zealand: Sita Venkateswar; Lorena Gibson; Robyn Andrews.

France: Etienne Vernet; Olivia Buffi.

Germany: Rimini Protokol

Earlier this year, we were fortunate to receive Nazmuddin Munshi’s father’s zakaat contribution, towards our running expenses. This year he hopes to give us the zakaat of other family members too. It’s a modest beginning, but zakaat could be a good means for the sustenance of our school, which is dedicated to enabling opportunties for growth and learning to children from poor Muslim households.

About the school

Here's a note from when Talimi Haq School was started (on 1 June 1998).


1. The school shall cater to : (a) Children of school-going age who are unable to go to school because of their poor backgrounds; and (b) working children who are not attending school.

2. A survey of slum households reveals that the largest group of children under the above two categories are in the 7-9 years (20 girls, 19 boys) and 10-12 years (43 boys) respectively. The final decision about the number of students in each class would depend upon space considerations as well.

3. The school shall run from 3 30 - 5 30 pm, and from 4 - 6 pm for the working children. School shall run for 6 six days in the week, with Sunday being the weekly holiday. The school shall have a proper annual calendar including vacations and holidays.

4. Each of these 2 hours school sessions will be divided into 4 half-hour periods.

5. Priority subjects shall be : Urdu, Arithmetic, English. Additional subjects shall be : History; Geography; Religious and Moral Education; Nature, Environment and Science; Social awareness; Drawing & Painting; Clay modelling; Craft; Singing; Physical culture; Drama.

6. Three periods each day during Monday to Friday would be devoted to the priority subjects. The fourth period on these days, and all the periods on Saturday, would be utilised to cover the additional subjects.

7. The whole emphasis, approach and objective of the school will be to stimulate the bodies, minds, feelings, creative and expressive faculties of the children. The school shall aim to equip the children to be honest, hard-working, capable and loving adults. Thus, no formal syllabus, or school board curriculum shall be followed. However, clear, meaningful targets (indicators) for attainment would be specified for each of the subjects, as well as in regard to the qualities and values sought to be inculcated. Value-oriented, and stimuli-oriented education would be sought to be concretised in terms of a practical and progressively developing routine of everyday practice. On the basis of this, lesso plans would be prepared. This would include teaching materials, primers etc. In essence, a single, comprehensive primer would be developed through the teaching, using the initial lesson plans as a starting point. Once the exact staff requirement is clear and the teachers have been recruited, there would be a orientation workshop on ‘Creative Education’. Such workshops would be organised on a regular basis with a view to developing high quality capabilities in this approach.

8. At this stage, the thinking is that the students shall remain in the school for a year, around which time a detailed review of the experiment would be undertaken. On the basis of this review (as well as practical matters such as finances), a decision would be taken about the future programme. Either the first batch would leave the school, after having developed a basic level of competence in the subjects and underlying values and qualities. Or, the batch would continue in the school for another 2-3 years, after which a fresh batch is taken on for another 3-4 years. Thus, one could hope to take responsibility for making a group of children into capable, honest and decent people.

9. Fees : There shall be an admission fee of Rs 10 per student, and a monthly fee of Rs 5. No school uniform, no text books to buy. Primers developed by the school would be distributed to the students, against a small contribution. Slate and pencil, and later, note-book, would have to be purchased by the students.

10. There would be a strong emphasis on cleanliness and proper behaviour and habits. Thus, clean clothing, hands, hair, face, nose, ears etc; classroom discipline, and behaviour outside the classroom.

The Great Banyan Tree

PM Basti, where Talimi Haq School is located, is on the Grand Trunk Road. Built in the 16th century by the ruler Sher Shah Suri, it runs from Shibpur, in Howrah, to Peshawar in Pakistan (near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border).

Very near the beginning of the Grand Trunk Road is the Indian Botanical Garden. The most famous thing in the Botanical Garden is the Great Banyan Tree (Ficus Bengalensis, family Moraceae). Its almost 250 years old. The tree is a native of India.

The Great Banyan tree draws more visitors to the Indian Botanical Garden than its collection of exotic plants from five continents, the plant houses or the special garden of bamboos, palms, succulents etc. The fruit of the banyan is like a small fig, red when ripe, but its not edible. In terms of its spread, this tree is the largest known in India, perhaps in Asia.

There is no clear history of the tree as to the time of planting etc, but it is mentioned in some travel books of the 19th century. It was damaged by two great cyclones of 1864 and 1867 when some of its main branches were broken, exposing it to the attack of a hard fungus. With its large number of aerial roots which grow from the branches and run vertically to the ground and look like so many trunks, the Great Banyan Tree looks more like a forest than an individual tree. The tree now lives in perfect vigour without its main trunk which decayed and had to be removed in 1925. The circumference of the original trunk at 1.7 m from the ground was 15.7 m. The area occupied by the tree is about 22,165 sq m and the highest branch rises to 24.5 m. It has at present 2,800 aerial roots reaching down to the ground.

The Botanical Garden - is the favourite place for an outing for Talimi Haq School!

Photo: Achinto

Reaching out

Hullo, from Talimi Haq School!

Many thanks to Mr Clarence Fisher from from Snow Lake, Manitoba, Canada - for providing the impetus to start this blog.

This picture is from 2000, taken by Jean Cassagne from France. Our school room has changed. The old building was demolished and a new structure was constructed in 2005. Friends and well-wishers from all over India and the world sent donations for our new premises. But we treasure the memories of the early days of our school.

In this blog, we will share our experience of running a school for non-formal learning. The school is in Priya Manna Basti, a century-old jute workers' settlement in the Shibpur locality of Howrah. The people in Priya Manna Basti are predominantly Urdu-speaking Muslims.

Talimi Haq means "right to education" in Urdu. It also means "truth is learning". Al-Haq is one of the sacred names of God in Islam.

The school was established by Howrah Pilot Project in 1998, as part of a community development programme in PM Basti.

Children between 3-12 study here. We prepare children to join the local primary school. Some 500 children have studied in Talimi Haq School. Right now there are about 120 children with us.

Teachers

Talimi Haq School is run by trained volunteer teachers from the neighbourhood. Our teachers are:

Front: Rehana Khatun, Amina Khatun, Yasmeen Parween.
Back: Sarfraz Nawaz, Binod Shaw.

Children

Here's a picture of some of the children.

Reunion

Here is a letter I wrote to a friend in March 2005 about the Talimi Haq School ex-students' reunion.


Yesterday afternoon we had an old students' reunion at the Talimi Haq School in Howrah. I had thought about this for a long time, and also spoken to Amina and Binod who run the school. I had visited Howrah a few days ago after almost 4 months. The school reunion was planned, and it took place on Sunday, 20 March 2005.

It is difficult to express all the feelings from looking, as an observer, at all that had happened since I started working in Howrah in 1996-97. I had been at the Howrah office-centre virtually everyday, 6 days a week, from 1998 to 2000. In mid-2000, after I joined the CALMANAC website assignment, my visits became infrequent. After this assignment was over, for a month or so I again went there everyday. But then I began getting more and more into my new duty / responsibility, the family business. Through 2001 and 2002, I went about once a week. In 2003 and 2004, this became even less frequent. I went only for specific purposes. But I had remained in close and regular contact, with Prodyut, Amina and Binod, and earlier Ranjit and Anguri. And of course I worried about the funds to keep the school running.

To my surprise I learnt that since its inception in June 1998, over 400 children had studied here for some length of time. I was particularly keen that a group of boys who had studied in the very first year attend. I had taught them myself - arithmetic, singing - and developed a close rapport with them.

Some 30-40 ex-students came for the reunion, and together with a good number of the small children currently studying - there was quite a crowd in our school room. It was hot and sweaty inside the room, but that did not affect anybody's enthusiasm. Some boys who had been studying here until quite recently, were now strapping lads. Some girls from a few years ago were now very pretty adolescents. Among them a girl living across the lane who had joined after I had asked her father to send her to our school.

Photographs taken over the years were displayed on a wall - a school function on Independence Day, a picnic to the Botanical Gardens, a visit to the Science Museum, visitors from Britain. Looking at some of the pictures, I felt a lump in my throat and my eyes clouded over. Some of the tiny kids in the pictures were big boys and girls now.

The programme began with a short welcome address by me. I said like every school and college, Talimi Haq School too should have a reunion of the ex-students. They should feel happy and proud to have belonged to a special school, which set them off on their journey in education and life. Where they learnt something, and can remember a time of happiness, fun and frolic. For the current students, it will give them a feeling that they are studying in a special school, which is looked up to and with which ex-students feel an attachment. This a special school as its name proclaims. Education is a right of all, so this is a school for that. So many children have come here and then gone on to other schools, where they are now studying, or have even graduated from. And thus is the stream of education in this locality advancing. The students learn Urdu, English, Arithmetic, cleanliness, good behaviour, correct values. But at root, the teachers here give love and affection to the children. Boys and girls who were unable to continue with their schooling - learnt at least something here. All ex-students should know that this is their place, like their home. And we at the school consider you all as our own. You have a right to this place, it is yours. You can come whenever you want, when you are happy come and share your happiness with us. When you are feeling sad and burdened, come here and find a shoulder to rest on. And you will always be in our thoughts, and we hope you will drop in every now and then. We remember all those who are unable to come today. We remember in particular all the teachers who have taught here over the years and we miss their presence very much. I hope there will be a lot of happiness today, a lot of fun, jokes and anecdotes, remembering of joy and mischief, songs, recollection of old times.

There was a juice break. Several of the small children were given their juice and coaxed to go home to make space for the ex-students. Some of the boys and girls came to chat with me and I enquired about their studies.

A number of skits and songs were then presented by ex-students, which had the audience in splits. A group of boys sang a song I had composed, "PM Basti ke ham sab sachhey Mussalmaan hain" (“we are all true Muslims, from PM Basti”). A video recording of a women and children's rally on International Literacy Day in 1998 was played.

Amina and another new teacher asked me to sing. I sang three songs, including my composition "Hari aur Ali galey miley jab" ("When Hari and Ali embrace"). Finally there was an hour-long antakshari session, between boys and girls, with a male teacher, Binod, and a lady teacher, Rehana as the referees. The competition was fierce, and the enthusiasm quite explosive. The boys exulted in singing out love songs teasingly, but the girls were not going to be outdone in knowledge of songs and singing.

Packets of savouries and sweets had been prepared, to give to everyone - but because many more than estimated had turned up, everyone had to share. Two boys asked me to share their sweets.

The CPI(M) was organising an Anti-Imperialism Human Chain in the evening. I had invited the local councillor to attend a meeting with a group of visiting architecture students and faculty from Sweden next week. She had requested that the school teachers and older children join the human chain. So we all proceeded to the Grand Trunk Road, and stood in the chain for 10 minutes. Returning to the office, I bid them goodbye and said I really enjoyed myself.

The programme was shadowed for me by sadness and uncertainty, as I got the news that the building was going to be pulled down after 10 days and a new construction put up. This had been in the offing but nothing concrete had materialised. But yesterday morning my colleague Prodyut had been called by the landlord for a meeting. I remembered when we moved to this office, in early 1998, exactly 7 years ago. Every tiny detail in the office had been visualised and rendered with so much thought and feeling. And the school had been started shortly after that. So much had happened here, so much of me had been formed in this space. The bitter irony of the reunion happening right now was difficult to swallow. Where would we go? Would the school have to close down? Where will we keep all the things in the room? Maybe something will work out, everything will turn out alright - but something was over, a chapter had come to an end. I shouldn’t feel burdened by sadness over the past that's coming to a close, one should look forward practically to the new.

At home later in the evening, I spoke to Prodyut over the phone and he assured me that there was no cause for concern. After all we had a proper deed of occupation and payment of deposit. A new agreement deed for premises in the new construction would have to be prepared. The landlord was also going to find us an alternative temporary accommodation. And until all this was sorted out there was no question of vacating our centre.

At night, Rajashi, my wife, who had also attended the school reunion, told me that from being at the reunion I should be proud and happy about the school. She referred to something I had told her once, that everyone should have the right to failure. She said a lot of successful people would not have done something like this.

Get in touch

Talimi Haq School
Howrah Pilot Project
12 Priya Manna Basti 2nd Lane
1st Floor
Shibpur
Howrah 711 102
INDIA

Email: rama.sangye@gmail.com, howrah.pilot@gmail.com
Teacher-in-charge, Amina Khatoon: amina_hpp@hotmail.com
Manager, Binod Shaw: binod_hpp@hotmail.com

Hony. Chairman, V Ramaswamy, Hony. Treasurer, Prodyut Paul.