I was about five years old when our family came to Kolkata. I did not know how to read and write yet.
I was excited when a neighbour who was very fond of me gave me a gift on the eve of our departure to Kolkata but when I opened the gift, I found it was not a toy that could have interested me, but a book I was unable to read. Unlike the children's books of today it did not have any illustration either for me to browse through and enjoy.I remember I was so disappointed that I wept and wept, and had to be consoled by my elder sister.
I was excited when a neighbour who was very fond of me gave me a gift on the eve of our departure to Kolkata but when I opened the gift, I found it was not a toy that could have interested me, but a book I was unable to read. Unlike the children's books of today it did not have any illustration either for me to browse through and enjoy.I remember I was so disappointed that I wept and wept, and had to be consoled by my elder sister.
As a child I could not appreciate the first gift in my life, nor could I understand the love and affection it contained !
The book, I remember, was named 'Kutkuter Daftar' and was about the life of an Ant and its travails. I read it much later, but I must admit it did not leave much of an imprint then.
I learned to read and write soon enough with the help of my elder sister, my Didi, my first teacher who guided me in my first attempts to write the letters of the Bengali alphabet. Didi must have done the same with her other younger siblings. She was around ten or eleven then and was very fond of reading which she is even today, but surprisingly she never went to school or rather was never admitted to one. Girls were already going to schools and colleges those days though the number was not as large as it is today, and it was becoming a socially accepted phenomenon unlike in the days of my mother's childhood when girls were married off at the age of twelve or thirteen in most families even fifty sixty years after Vidyasagar's efforts to educate the girlchildren. Social attitudes take time to change whatever revolutionaries may think, but in Didi's case my surprise is all the more because our parents laid a great stress on education. They possibly thought that a girl's salvation lies in her marriage and though education could be one attribute, it was not the most important one in finding a match for her. They were not wrong in a way for Didi was married off when she was sixteen.
There were a number of children in our age group in the neighbourhood and Dadamoni ( my immediate elder ) and I made many friends. We ran around the lanes and bylanes or played games in a nearby field. We were growing up as normal kids and learning our 3 R s at home. There were many to discipline us for unruly behaviour and occasions for disciplining were not at all infrequent. More so, because Dadamoni and I fought too often over many issues which must have seemed significant at our age. A slap or two and even more severe beatings were not at all uncommon. Of course, Dadamoni bore the brunt more often as he was the older one. I remember one instance when we were tied together back-to-back still angry and straining to get hold of each other as our mother and some elder brothers looked on.
It was at this time that our father thought of furthering our education at home before sending us to school. Days of blissful ignorance were to be over and we had to prepare for becoming responsible citizens of the world. He appointed a private tutor who used to come to our house generally in the afternoon at around four p.m when we were supposed to be at play. Sometimes when we were not at home, he would walk across to the park nearby to seek us out and bring us back for tution. Apart from his bald head, I do not remember much about Mastermasahai (teacher ). But I do remember he was no miser when it came to meting out punishment for tasks not done or for being naughty.He generally used the scale, but at times he deployed a more severe tactic. He would put a pencil between two fingers and press till you cry out. Needless to mention, Dadamoni, the naughtier one, was the usual recipient of his largesses.
Finally, we were sent to school on the same day. I was not even eight at that time, but since there was no age restriction those days, we were considered good enough to be admitted to class five and six respectively. Obviously tutoring at home had its merits. ( a bit of warning here ! as in some ads with stunts.Parents better not try this out these days, else they will not find any school to take their children in )
Since there is a lot of learned talk now-a-days about discipline and punishment at school and pundits agree that these are reprehensible, I would like to mention that when we were at school in the fifties, it was quite usual for teachers to use a scale on a student for some wrongdoing or other or ask him to stand on the bench or more humiliating, ask him to kneel down while holding the ears in one corner of the classroom. Being a good student or being considered one, I was fortunate that I never suffered any of these, but I do not know of any of my classmates or for that matter any in my school, having committed suicide as a result. Many on the other hand had gone on to become very successful persons, just as my Dadamoni has despite those pencil and fingers tricks of our Mastermashai.
The book, I remember, was named 'Kutkuter Daftar' and was about the life of an Ant and its travails. I read it much later, but I must admit it did not leave much of an imprint then.
I learned to read and write soon enough with the help of my elder sister, my Didi, my first teacher who guided me in my first attempts to write the letters of the Bengali alphabet. Didi must have done the same with her other younger siblings. She was around ten or eleven then and was very fond of reading which she is even today, but surprisingly she never went to school or rather was never admitted to one. Girls were already going to schools and colleges those days though the number was not as large as it is today, and it was becoming a socially accepted phenomenon unlike in the days of my mother's childhood when girls were married off at the age of twelve or thirteen in most families even fifty sixty years after Vidyasagar's efforts to educate the girlchildren. Social attitudes take time to change whatever revolutionaries may think, but in Didi's case my surprise is all the more because our parents laid a great stress on education. They possibly thought that a girl's salvation lies in her marriage and though education could be one attribute, it was not the most important one in finding a match for her. They were not wrong in a way for Didi was married off when she was sixteen.
There were a number of children in our age group in the neighbourhood and Dadamoni ( my immediate elder ) and I made many friends. We ran around the lanes and bylanes or played games in a nearby field. We were growing up as normal kids and learning our 3 R s at home. There were many to discipline us for unruly behaviour and occasions for disciplining were not at all infrequent. More so, because Dadamoni and I fought too often over many issues which must have seemed significant at our age. A slap or two and even more severe beatings were not at all uncommon. Of course, Dadamoni bore the brunt more often as he was the older one. I remember one instance when we were tied together back-to-back still angry and straining to get hold of each other as our mother and some elder brothers looked on.
It was at this time that our father thought of furthering our education at home before sending us to school. Days of blissful ignorance were to be over and we had to prepare for becoming responsible citizens of the world. He appointed a private tutor who used to come to our house generally in the afternoon at around four p.m when we were supposed to be at play. Sometimes when we were not at home, he would walk across to the park nearby to seek us out and bring us back for tution. Apart from his bald head, I do not remember much about Mastermasahai (teacher ). But I do remember he was no miser when it came to meting out punishment for tasks not done or for being naughty.He generally used the scale, but at times he deployed a more severe tactic. He would put a pencil between two fingers and press till you cry out. Needless to mention, Dadamoni, the naughtier one, was the usual recipient of his largesses.
Finally, we were sent to school on the same day. I was not even eight at that time, but since there was no age restriction those days, we were considered good enough to be admitted to class five and six respectively. Obviously tutoring at home had its merits. ( a bit of warning here ! as in some ads with stunts.Parents better not try this out these days, else they will not find any school to take their children in )
Since there is a lot of learned talk now-a-days about discipline and punishment at school and pundits agree that these are reprehensible, I would like to mention that when we were at school in the fifties, it was quite usual for teachers to use a scale on a student for some wrongdoing or other or ask him to stand on the bench or more humiliating, ask him to kneel down while holding the ears in one corner of the classroom. Being a good student or being considered one, I was fortunate that I never suffered any of these, but I do not know of any of my classmates or for that matter any in my school, having committed suicide as a result. Many on the other hand had gone on to become very successful persons, just as my Dadamoni has despite those pencil and fingers tricks of our Mastermashai.
Dwiju
ReplyDeleteExcellent.
I can remember Mastemasai's features , tall and handsome, but not the name.Didi may remember it(Was it Shashanka Babu ?). I think he used to teach three of us. I often tell Didi to write memoirs, she has such an excellent memory.
I remember getting most of the punishment , mostly from Chorda. The reason often was we, mostly me, were never to be found anywhere despite Ma shouting for us and Chorda making extensive searches. I don't think you were that involved in playing with marbles or flying kites. I probably was the most unusual one from 2 Mukherjee Para Lane. If I remember our fight was mostly outside not at home. That probably did me world of good although I did not realise at the time. One thing I probably learned is not to dish it out to any of my children.
Not that I should know, I can't remember the Kutkuter daftar either. I probably did not read it.
I don't know if you remember that I was not found fit to be admitted to class six at Chetla School although you were ok for class five. Baba insisted that I should because I was two years older than you. The head master reluctantly agreed to Baba's request.
Dadamoni
I also played marbles and flew kites, may be not as much as you did.As regards fights, yes, it was mostly outside home. If you remember we were always on different sides in a game, and whenever there were arguments between the two groups, it always ended up as an argument between the two of us.
ReplyDeleteI do not remember that you were not initially considered for class six. It did not make much of a difference eventually, did it ?
Many things came easy to me in early life, some adulation too as you know. It did not help me cope with life later.It bothers me when I watch these reality TV shows featuring young and talented singers and dancers who become celebrities too soon.
it is strange how different people remember differently. while monijethu found the tutor tall and handsome, u seem to recount only his bald pate.however, one thing u both seem to agree upon is that, what a pain he was (between the fingers or otherwise)
ReplyDelete