*~~~~~~ Scene 2 Part 3 ~~~~~~~*
'Hi Anandi , over here' shouted Saritha across the hall.
'Hi' waved back Anandi as she walked fast paced towards her new friend, Saritha.
'I was waiting for you. Why were you this late?' she asked innocently
'ohh, sorry sorry... hum single logon ko kya pata 'kalyana Vazhkai(married life)- amm shadi shuda life' she immediately translated.
Anandi smiled at her statement
'abh chalain?' she asked
They both entered into a medium sized room which could hardly hold 50 students. But, this was not going to be an issue in light of the fact the there were only 30 some students enrolled in the course.
'Lets take the front seat' suggested Saritha
'oyi! har waqt agay baitnay ka kya shauk hai thumhay! came a booming voice from behind.
It was none other than Harsh.
Saritha rolled her eyes and shook her head
'When will you ever learn to be punctual' she complained
'never' said Harsh bringing himself closer to her and that precise moment saritha backed away.
'Acha abh thum dono shuru math ho jana' she said annoyed. Her experience with them the day before was enough for her give an idea as to how much they would love to get on each other's nerves.
'lets just get a seat and sit-its time for the class to start'
They made their way towards the middle of the front seat. Harsh reluctantly followed them.
'As instructed yesterday in the blackboard,amm each one of you had to bring in a social issue that -according to them- holds the highest priority' I would like everyone move their chairs around to form a circle and face each other.
'Allright, now who would like to volunteer to go first?' asked Mr. Joseph.
A few students raised their hands and spoke in turn.
'Go ahead Saritha' said Mr Joseph once he had finished with the other students.
'Sir, as one of our friends has already mentioned- I too believe that the most important social issue that needs to be addressed is 'Womens welfare'. I know its something that everyone talks about and I am sure they have their own reasons behind it. But, for me it is very personal.
My upbringing was done in a well to do middle class family. Usually people thank their parents for their success but for me, I owe everything to my mother. My father had abandoned us-' she started but her voice became heavy
'amm.-we are three sisters and at that time my father was the only one who was working. His salary was unable to 'afford' us-well that is what I remember him saying. er.. And one fine day he just left us' she paused
Anandi noticed Harsh looking down and poking the notepad with his pencil while Saritha was speaking.
'I think.. my mom was around 32 at that time. In my house-or culture-society, it wasn't the norm to make women study beyond a certain class. She had finished inter-so she did not get a job right away. Upon a suggestion from a friend, she did take some short hand writing classes-which were quite popular back then. Then she learnt typing and joined in a company as a secretary. She worked very hard to provide for us. She used to work in the mornings and give tuitions to young children by evening'
'to cut a long story short-I believe that if there wasn't help given to my mother - even at the form of a good advice- and direction- I believe that she would have never been able to come out of this -well- that my father had pushed us into'
'My goal is to provide education to the underprivileged and help women who have no one to show them the right direction' concluded Saritha.
'So what are you going to do as an individual to achieve your goal, i.e. to bring changes in 'Women's welfare' -asked Mr. Joseph
Saritha thought for a moment and looked at Anandi who was intensely studying her.
'Every goal needs to have a starting point. Though your goal is noble, it needs a backbone. Try finding that and then I will come back to you again' said Mr. Joseph as he moved towards Harsh
'Mr Harsh what 'issues' did you come up with'
'Well sir, according to me - the biggest issue is -what I call 'lets transfer our dream' issue' said Harsh seriously
'Interesting'-said Joseph as the entire class giggled.
Saritha shook her head moving closer towards Anandi as if afraid to catch a deadly disease.
'Every parent wants their children to become something, and when that does not happen they just go hay-wire. This is what I do not want. I believe that every child has his or her own dream to pursue and the parents should encourage that, instead of finding new-complex ways to suck the confidence away from their children' complained Harsh
'so how do you propose to bring about this change Harsh' asked Mr. Joseph
' I would want a way to for parents to learn about proper parenting. If they want to create a healthy community with creative minds then they have to give enough room to the children to spread their wings' Suggested Harsh
'are wah Harsh.. not a bad thought... ' whispered Saritha
'Thank you' said Harsh smugly.
'What about you Anandi' asked Mr. Joseph now diverting his attention towards Anandi
'Well, the root cause for many evils in our society is lack of proper education. Not just one sector of the population but young, old, girls, boys, men and women. If people are shown the proper direction then automatically many practices of our society will start diminishing.
Lets take the example that Saritha had earlier stated. It was proper education with necessary resources that had helped her family come out of such hardship. Not only that, the villages-where ignorance is rampant, the problems are harsher.
Anandi looked around and saw everyone listening to her intently.
'Please continue...'urged Mr. Joseph
'In my opinion, if we work on a smaller area and then move forward, we can start seeing changes immediately' suggested Anandi
'kindly elaborate' urged Mr. Joseph
'the first school is your mother- this is quite common knowledge. Everyone needs to start at home and the move from there. Then come the family members, neighbors and then the community around you.
If our own family are unable to practice what we preach then all our hard work would not reap proper benefit' said Anandi
Mr. Joseph looked extremely satisfied with her answer.
'Anandi has brought to light a very fundamental yet effective method to bring about the change that we all wish for. That is .. start small- start within your hands reach'
I want all of you to understand this and think of how this approach can be implemented in achieving your goal. Also for your next assignment I want all of you to team up and travel around Udaipur. Take notes of whatever issue/problems/concerns/good/bad you come across in your one-day travel. Make a journal entry and impress me tomorrow ! '
The class dispersed. Anandi, Saritha and Harsh together left the room and walked their way to the canteen.
'I am impressed Anandi. You did a wonderful job today' praised Saritha
'han me too' added Harsh.
Anandi smiled at them.
'sir nay bohot acha assignment diya hai na' she added excitedly. 'Lekin mujhe tho udaipur main kuch nahi pata. hmm' she added as an afterthought
'are hum hai na' said saritha
'We will team up and go together' she said enthusiastically.
'What about me? asked Harsh
That precise moment a few girls walked by and Harsh started eyeing them. Anandi and Saritha looked meaningfully at each other
'vazhiyadha (stop drooling)' commenting Saritha
'kya?' asked Harsh coming out of his sudden dream travel
'Thum unkay saath jao na' she added-her voice filled with spite
'oh and leave you! no way' rebelled Harsh
Soon they all headed towards the canteen and ordered their-now regular order-
one black coffee, two cappuccino light and sweet.
[Hit the like button and please comment. It encourages me to write more ! ]
Edited by Suchi-Virmanian - 12 years ago
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