अगर कभी अँधेरी रातों के सैलाब, 
सब्र के बांध परखने आ जायें 
ठहर जाना कुछ देर उनके भी साथ 
क्यूंकि हैं नावाकिफ वो इस बात से 
कि हर रोज फिर से दस्तक देने की 
है उजाले की अटूट फितरत |

अभी तो सुलगती सी है आग बस,
अभी से झुलसने का इतना डर !
बरखुरदार जब लपटें उठेंगी आशियाने तक,
तब क्या भागते मिलोगे जमाने तक !

और दुःख अब नहीं झेलेगी माँ

अजीब सी लगती है 

अजीब सी लगती है 
सूरज की पहली लाली
जैसे करती हो इंतज़ार
मेरे आँखों के खुलने का 
और फिर बड़ी बेदर्दी से 
चौंधिया देने वाली रौशनी 
आँखों में झोंककर 
तसल्ली करती हो देखकर 
मेरे खुशियों की अर्थी 
जो उस शाम से निकली पड़ी है 
जब से मेरी माँ गुजरी है 

उस शाम की अब भी सुबह नहीं है 
फिर भी देखता हूँ 
हर दिन सूरज को उगते 
निर्लज़्ज़, निःसंकोच तरीके से, 
जिसकी इबादत में माँ ने
भूख, प्यास और नींद भी छोड़ी थी 

खुश लगता है ऊपरवाला भी 
जिंदगी लेकर,
जिसके हिस्से का प्रसाद 'भरपूर' 
माँ ने चढ़ाया था 
उसका पेट भी भर गया हो जैसे
इसलिए ठुकरा दिया बड़े शान से कहके, 
मुझे धरती पर अब तेरी जरूरत नहीं 

कितनी आसानी से कह दिया था 
डॉक्टर ने उस दिन 
तुम्हारी माँ अब नहीं रही 
जैसे कुछ हुआ न हो 
कोई पत्ता हिला न हो 

माँ कसम शरीर का हर कतरा रोया था 
चिता पर देख के उसका चेहरा आखिरी बार 
और शमशान घाट की 
पर भभकती आग की लपटों ने फिर ठंडक दी थी 
जैसे मुझसे कह रही हों 
चलो और दुःख अब नहीं झेलेगी माँ  | 

Part I

POVERTY: CIRCUMSTANCE OR CHOICE

Are people poor by choice?

A quote generally attributed to Bill Gates and very famous on social media platforms goes like, “If you are born poor, it’s not your mistake, but if you die poor, it’s your mistake.”

Many times when we think of poverty, we think of lazy, inept people who chose not to work in life and hence remained poor notwithstanding the hardships poverty entailed upon them.

Such approach links poverty to individual actions or lack of it and conveniently ignores the socio-politico-economic milieu of individuals. It also partially absolves the state of its responsibility.

India has the largest number of people living below the poverty line despite the underestimation. Are those Indians, millions in number, poor by choice? Does the Indian state bear little responsibility towards them?

Article 21 of Indian constitution gives every citizen the fundamental right to life and personal liberty which among other things includes the right to live with human dignity. Is a life enmeshed in poverty a dignified life?

Imagine a day when you don’t have sufficient money to get two square meals. Imagine this situation continues and you have no idea when this is going to end. How do you feel?

Poverty can not simply be explained in words. It is a disease that saps life out of living. It affects cognitive ability, impairs decision making, dents self confidence and wreaks havoc on health and well being of an individual. To be poor is the worst form of human existence.

No matter how romanticized poverty has been depicted in books, poems, or movies; in reality, it’s brutally enervating.

That is why, the onus to alleviate poverty can not be imposed on debilitated individuals and it becomes important that the state, as an external agent, be proactive in ending this vicious cycle. For any definite action on poverty, every organ of state (executive, legislative or judiciary) and every department of government (health, education, finance, labour, women & child care, law & order etc) will have to work in unison. The methodology (direct vs indirect support, centre vs state support) may be debated upon, but the urgency to have proper state support can not be debated upon.

Since Independence, many governments came and went. Indira Gandhi won landslide victory in general election on plank of poverty eradication. Narendra Modi won it on the promise of poverty reduction through good governance. Still, poverty is a menace plaguing Indian society. Therefore, time has come to forget our differences and unite in putting pressure on state to make the lives of not so fortunate ones worth living. Come on my fellow countrymen: let’s do it for once and all.

कि तुम पूछते हो क्या है मेरा वज़ूद ,

इतने सालों में किया भी है तुमने क्या ऐसा खूब ?

मैं सोचता हूँ  कि क्यूँ है आज ये तेरा गुरुर 

जब कल परसों मेरी मोहब्बत ही थी तेरा सुरूर !

'शशांक'

Affordable Quality Basic Education

Education is not a privilege. It is a human right.  Then why does our society tolerate illiteracy?Why do we find that many children are still not going to schools or have dropped out after a few years?

Mahatma Gandhi said “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” And, according to Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can choose to change the world.”

Education is fundamental for human, social and economic development and a key element to achieving lasting peace and sustainable development. The benefits of quality basic education are manifold. One World Bank study observes that every extra year of primary education increases a person’s productivity by 10 to 30 %. The high rate of return on education clearly defines it as the surest way of breaking poverty cycle.

According to 2011 census, India’s population is 1.21 billion with overall literacy rate of 73% which meant about33 crores Indians were still illiterate till 2011, a staggering number indeed.

Talking about the quality of education, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2009 results ranked Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh (two of the better educated states of India) 72 and 73 out of 74 participants, higher only than Kyrgyzstan. The single most significant finding of ASER survey, the largest non-governmental household survey undertaken in rural India and facilitated by the Pratham Education Foundation, is that learning levels across the country, whether in public or private school, have not improved.

The gravity of situation can be summed up in the words of Nobel laureate Dr. Amartya Sen that India does have many achievements in the success of a relatively small group of privileged people well trained in higher education and specialised expertise. Yet our educational system remains deeply unjust. Among other bad consequences, the low coverage and low quality of school education in India extracts a heavy price in the pattern of our economic development. The remarkable neglect of elementary education in India is all the more striking given the widespread recognition, in the contemporary world, of the importance of basic education for economic development. Somehow the educational aspects of economic development have continued to be out of the main focus in our country.

The Constitution of India in a Directive Principle contained in article 45, had made a provision for free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of fourteen years within ten years of promulgation of the Constitution, but it took us 60 long yrs to implement Right to Education Act to provide free and compulsory education to all children in the age group of six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right. That clearly indicates the seriousness of Indian state or rather lack of it!

There are plenty of reports, roadmaps, findings, suggestions given by experts on this issue. For e.g. the need to have greater expenditure on education as %ge of GDP, improvement in school infrastructure, better pupil-teacher ratio, preventing absenteeism of students as well teachers, training and skill development facilities for teachers, but these measures need to be implemented earnestly and urgently.

It should be remembered that it’s not just the responsibility of the state itself, but the responsibility of individuals and society as well. It pains to see people now-a-days more concerned about social media gibberish, reality shows, half truths presented in the form of breaking news than about the status of basic education in India. If nothing else, people can sensitize others and spread awareness about it in their locality to (in the words of former UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon) build a better future for all.

PS: The data and the texts referred in the article have been collected from various sources and their contribution is duly acknowledged though the sources are not explicitly mentioned here.