The Hindu : New Delhi News : More than just fostering bonds

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 25, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

More than just fostering bonds

Madhur Tankha

NEW DELHI: More than being just a face-to-face interaction, the four-day "Pratibimb" programme that ended at Gandhi Darshan here on Tuesday served as an ideal platform for strengthening the bonds between urban and rural children.

It made children studying in the Capital's posh schools and those studying in nondescript villages realise that there exists an entirely different world that they had neither visualised nor experienced from such close quarters so far.

For Zarifa Akhtar, a Class IX student from Srinagar who performed traditional Kashmiri folk dance along with two visually impaired students from her State, the programme was memorable. Zarifa said she would be going home with lots of beautiful memories, some of which will remain etched in her mind for a long time to come.

"This is my first visit to Delhi. I made friends with a number of children from States like Punjab and Tamil Nadu. I also got a glimpse of their culture, language and eating habits. It was interesting to know that students from Delhi have a flair for language. Besides English, they are studying either French or Sanskrit," added Zarifa, who thoroughly enjoyed her visit to the historic Red Fort here.

Chandra Rupa from DLF Public School, Sahibabad, said the programme had made her realise that children living in remote regions of the country "not only had to study but also do hazardous work like stone quarrying, carpet weaving and labour to eat two square meals a day".

Stating that she met a Class VII student from the Sunderbans who aspired to become a doctor, Chandra said: "He wanted to treat patients in his rural area. There are enough doctors in the big cities, but a doctor practising in a village can make a lot of difference to the lives of local people there."

Sharing each other's way of life was one of the interesting features of the programme for Chandramita, a Class VI student who had come all the way from her village Mirza in Assam. She got a chance to perform Bihu dance here and also exchanged addresses with a number of students from across the country.

In his Gidha village in Bihar, Raja Kumar studies for three hours daily as part of an education programme. "In school we learn counting and other education-related things through songs. Besides daal, bhaat and aalu we sometimes even eat rat meat. There is food scarcity in our village," added Raja, who wants to become a doctor when he grows up.

Lack of school infrastructure, drinking water and badly maintained roads are some of the problems affecting Rakhi Samant's village in Sitarmani district of Bihar. This Class VI student says that while urban students have a lot of facilities available in their schools, her school functions from a dilapidated building. "It is not that we don't have talent. But in far-flung villages we don't have good books and experienced teachers. Therefore, our general knowledge is poor compared with city children."

Coming all the way from Kashmir, Assam, Orissa, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, the children aged between eight and 15 years have established friendship with urban students and realised that education is the key to their betterment.

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