page 2 ( 32 ) some memories after VIth Std

  page 2
     ( 32 )

     One Saturday evening, during the summer vacations, after the Annual examinations in VIth Std, I took my Sunday School textbook and started to read, sitting in the middle room of our house.  There were two chairs and a table on which my books as well as my brother's were kept safely.  From that room, we could enter the kitchen.  There were no doors between the rooms.  There were two verandahs, one in the front and the other at the back of our house.  In the front verandah, on the right side, there was a small room.  I often wondered why my father built such a small room because it was so small that even a cot cannot be placed.  Some useless things, coconuts, rat - trap etc. were kept in that room.  A ladder was there to climb to the ceiling where we kept dried tapioca.  But this ceiling was limited to the front verandah and the small room.  Three rows of rounded wooden pieces were placed between the middle room and the kitchen in order to prevent the entry of my sister to the kitchen.  

     I was reading the book by the kerosene lamp.  It was interesting to observe the shadows of the family members which fell on the walls of the room.  It was my hobby to watch my own shadow on the walls when the kerosene lamp was lighted.  While I was reading, suddenly I raised my head and looked through the windows to the front and the back verandahs.  I shuddered as I realised that there were no windowpanes.  I remember the windows were covered up with some sheets or rags.  I wondered why I didn't observe that earlier.  All my childhood fantasies had disappeared.  The realities lay bare before me.  

     Aunts Molly and Laly were there in my house during the vacation.  In their conversation, my position in the class was also mentioned.  Then, I said loudly, "I would have learned much more than this, if there were windowpanes for the windows and also a toilet".  Yes.  There was no toilet in my house.  I have to reveal the truth.  After we went to bed, at about 02.00 a.m. or 02.30 a.m. , my father would call everyone loudly, "awake, come and it is the time to urinate".  Then we would wake up and go ro the backside of the courtyard and pass the urine there.  I have no shame to share this to my readers because it was the reality.  I wondered why my father didn't build a toilet in the house.  From the Lower Primary School itself, I was taught in the textbook that, "don't defecate in the open place".  Therefore, this question was always in my mind.  Then, it was the time for asking that question aloud.  In all my neighbouring houses, there were toilets inside the houses and outside the houses ( mainly for the labourers ).  

     Today, when I hear the advertisement in the Television and radio, "make a toilet in your house and use it", I would remember my past.  I want to point out some facts here.  Firstly, education doesnot make a person aware of the importance of a toilet.  I have already mentioned that my father had passed Xth Std, joined College for Pre - degree Course and discontinued due to various reasons.  My mother also had studied upto Xth Std but failed.  She would always repeat her story. At that time, the nearest High School from mother's house was in Kadavoor.  In my house, there was a trunk in the corner of the bedroom.  In it, some photos were kept safely.  I would sometimes open it and look into those photos.  There was the wedding photo of my parents.  I easily understand  my father's burning eyes while looking at that photo.  There were many photos of aunts Molly and Laly.  They were fair and beautiful.  My mother and her elder sister were also fair.  Then, there was the group photo of my mother's Xth Std in the High School, Kadavoor.  All the girls wearing a davany ( a kind of nice dress, almost like a saree ) and blouse attracted me very much.  So, my parents were educated when compared to the other labourers in our village.  Secondly, the proximity of neighbours having toilets and other  facilities doesnot make a person aware of the importane of a toilet.  Some people say that when a neighbour brings a new car, the others become jealous.  But all my neighbours stretching for about an area of one kilometre, lived in a high living condition.  When a person becomes an eye - witness of all these, naturally, that person would be interested in building a toilet.  But, in my house, it didn't happen.  Thirdly, the membership in an Ancient Church doesnot make a person aware of the importance of a toilet.  Eventhough a person is a member in an Ancient Church in which there are very eminent people as members, the carol group visits every year, the members of the Church often meet together outside the Church, at the market, at the busstop and they convey their news with each other, but they don't talk about the toilet facilities !  

     What a world is this !  I have been taught in the Lower Primary Classes that the basic necessities of a humanbeing are food, clothing and shelter.  What does shelter mean ?  It means a home.  A home means :- a toilet, a kitchen, a bedroom, then you can add as per your choices. Who is there to teach these things to the underprivileged people in India ?  When I think about thousands of  women who suffer because of the lack of toilet facilities, my mind is smouldering and I feel like a toy in the hands of destiny.

       The realities donot stop here.  Maji had failed in the Xth Std Examinaton.  She told me with great grief that her father had commanded her to do all the household works  and after that only she could learn her lessons.  As a result, she could't learn anything properly from the primary classes onwards. It was the plight of all the girls in my family till that time.  Moreover, I could understand the background of other students in class though I was not an educationist or a Teacher.  Then, a question pestered me - what would be my future ?  " Should I yield or fight?", that was the challenge before me.