Eklavya

Mandar was welcomed into the hall with a thunderous applause. The noted writer had just won the Man Booker prize for his work “Eklavya”. Mandar, as humble as ever, came in with folded hands and bowed before the audience. It was an elite set – the alumnus of the university he had graduated from.

The alumni consisted of businessmen and celebrities from various walks of life. They were all proud of Mandar. The press had gathered generously as well. They had all come in for the felicitation ceremony arranged by the university for Mandar. The Vice- Chancellor (VC) of the university was also present.

The stage had a lectern with a microphone on one side. On the other side, it had a table and three chairs where the Vice-Chancellor and two other dignitaries were seated.   

The master of ceremonies (MC) called out for Mandar. He was to be felicitated by the VC. The VC put a shawl around Mandar in a customary act of felicitation that the audience was well accustomed to.  Mandar thanked the VC with folded hands and an endearing smile. The gesture was accompanied by an applause that the VC had never heard before. Being used to such ceremonies, the VC arrived at a conclusion that Mandar had quite a fan following among his readers.

The MC wasted no time in inviting Mandar to the lectern to address the audience. He walked to the lectern, looked at the audience and smiled. He thanked the VC for the felicitation. He thanked the audience for taking time out of their busy schedules to appreciate his work and be part of his felicitation.

The MC had asked him to talk a bit about the novel and about his life as a novelist. Mandar, the writer, knew how to keep the audience engaged. He sipped from the glass of water kept at the lectern. He seemed to be in no hurry. Slowly, he began speaking.

‘How many of you have read Eklavya?’ he asked. More than ninety percent of the audience raised their hands to signal an affirmative answer. He conveyed that he was glad. He then said, ‘I want to narrate something that is not a part of Eklavya but it is the genesis of the book.’ With that statement, he amplified the eagerness of the audience to a whole new level.

The story is about a man, his wife and his son. They were from the draught hit area of Vidarbha in Maharashtra. The man was a farmer, but was forced to find a new job or commit suicide as the weather gods weren’t by his side.

He moved to Mumbai and decided to find work here. As he was illiterate, he found work as a gardener of a school. His salary would barely make ends meet.

The literacy dream

Though he was an illiterate, the man knew the value of being educated. He knew how important a tool it was. He had dreams in his eyes for his three year old son. He wanted his son to be educated. He went to the principal one evening when no one was around. He told the principal of his desire to provide his child an opportunity to learn. He told the principal that he would work as hard as the principal wanted if it could enable his child to become literate.

The principal asked him to come along with his wife and child, the next day. When they walked in at the appointed time, the principal laid out books that the child would need to study in the coming year. He asked the man and his wife to read one of the books. Neither the man nor his wife was able to read a single word.

The principal said that it would be impossible for him to accommodate the man’s son because the class had children of literate parents and it would be difficult for the child to learn and for his staff to teach him. For the first time in life, the hardworking man realized that his child could have a future only if he would know to read and write English.

Like most poor people in the country, he and his wife accepted their fate and walked back to their small house in one corner of the garden in the school. The boy grew up for the next three years helping his father in his gardening chores. He always looked at children walking in and out of the school wearing smart uniforms. He wondered what they taught inside. If he ever got a book or even a page lying in the garden, he would make an attempt to go through it. However, he did not even know the English alphabets so it was literally Greek and Latin to him! However, a year later, the tide turned for him and how!

His seventh birthday

His excitement at getting hold of one such book was tremendous. It was seven in the morning. It was a Saturday so there was no school. He had time for himself till nine a.m.

He began going through the pages of the book. He admired the pictures but did not understand a word. This had become a ritual with him every Saturday. At seven in the morning, he would sit at a bench in the garden and go through all the reading material that he had accumulated through the week. He was fascinated with the way the alphabets were printed and neatly arranged.

A lady who used to go for a morning walk passed through the garden and noticed this boy. It had been the third week that she had seen this boy. This time, she couldn’t control the urge to talk to him. She went to him and asked his name. The boy told her all about his family, the fact that he was denied admission to school and also about his eagerness to learn. He asked the lady, very politely, if she would give him some books.

‘How will you read the books I give you? How will you understand what is written in them?’ she asked. The boy replied that he would keep reading and trying hard. He said he will practice hard till it all comes to him. She was impressed with his zeal.

‘Would you like to learn if I teach you?’ she asked. My parents do not know English and they may not have the money to pay you as well. She was saddened by his innocent impressionable mind’s notion that education is the right of children whose parents knew English.

She said she would teach him for free. She also told him that his parents needn’t know English. He asked her what she did for a living. She pointed to a four storeyed building and said she stays there. She said she taught children at her house and asked him to come in the afternoons to learn from her.

The boy was elated. It was the most wonderful birthday present he could have asked for, exactly on the day he turned seven. 

The Tutelage

While a lot of children his age went to school wearing smart uniforms, he could afford only one teacher. He revelled under her tutelage and religiously went to her for the next ten years. She was equally gracious and taught him everything she knew. She was a qualified English teacher. Not surprisingly, her love for literature rubbed off on the boy.

By the time he was nineteen; he could speak and write English as good as any child who went to the school which denied him admission.

Formal Education – A necessary evil

While she taught him almost everything that was required to excel, he still did not have any formal education. She knew that the boy was more intelligent than most people she knew. She urged him to somehow get a bachelor’s degree. She told him that formal education is a necessary evil. He rarely disagreed with her. He went ahead and got a bachelor’s degree in literature, followed by a master’s degree.

Then, Mandar paused. He took a sip of water from the glass placed on the lectern.

The first book

There was pin drop silence in the hall. The audience were eager to hear him speak further.

‘The boy’s name is Mandar’, he continued. There was an audible gasp, followed by a loud applause. He continued, ‘You all might have read my first book ‘The importance of English’. The rest of this boy’s life is about writing the two books that followed, the last one being ‘Eklavya’.

Mandar smiled again as the applause seemed to only grow louder.

Some questions

The MC shook Mandar’s hand and requested him to take a few questions from the audience. Then came question one, “Who was the lady who decided to teach you when you were aged seven”.

Mandar stepped aside from the lectern and shouted aloud. “Please come up, Ma’am”. A lady of about sixty walked up the stage. Her son helped her up the stage. Mandar touched her feet – a gesture of respect in India. He made way for her. She came to the lectern and received the applause with a fragile “Thank You”

After a set of questions which Mandar answered patiently, it was time for the last question.

The last question

A gentleman from the front row asked, “Mandar, who was the principal who denied you admission?”

Mandar replied, “It doesn’t really matter. He had his own reasons and his reasons were logical. I do not think we should blame him. However, I would appeal (he looked at the VC and the dignitaries) that all students, irrespective of their parents’ educational background and literacy levels, should be given an opportunity to learn. If I can become a writer, there are so many who could become doctors, engineers and scientists and lead us to a bright future. My request to all administrators in education is to ensure that all steps are taken to enable children to learn.

With those words, Mandar stepped back and the MC took over. The MC thanked Mandar and requested the VC to give his closing remarks.

Closing remarks

The VC was a little over sixty years old. He began by thanking everyone for taking time out. He, once again, congratulated and thanked Mandar. He said his closing remarks will have two parts – a confession and a pledge.

He got the complete attention of the audience with one line. He said he will do this in not more than three lines. He began, “The principal that Mandar talked about was no one else but me. I had to abide by the rules of the school management and the decision to not admit him was as per the rules. 

However, I want to apologise to Mandar on a personal level.”

 He said Mandar is a modern day Eklavya – one who can excel without the support of the best teachers or schools. He also congratulated Mandar’s teacher and told her that it was because of teachers like her that the profession is still the most noble and pious.

“I want to pledge my support in any which way possible to ensure that every student gets the education he rightly deserves.”

With that the VC walked away. By apologizing and admitting to what he had done decades ago, the VC once again proved that he was a man who always did the right thing, no matter how difficult it would be.