Muhammad Ulfat Anjan
Meet me friends, I’m a small school girl studying in a government primary school in my locality. I’m five years old and read in the first standard. I’ve an elder brother too who is a little older than me. He too reads in the first standard but in a private school. I’ve recently been admitted in my school whereas my brother was admitted in his school when he was just three years old. It gives me immense pleasure to often tease my brother with words like ‘keep quite, you’re also in the same class…!’ whenever he tries to impose his supremacy over my tender nerves. He turns silent and i feel elated.
I often think, when alone that my brother is brighter than me and i’m only a dull doll. He can read all my books and solve even my math puzzles. This quality of my brother makes me jealous of him and i wonder why can’t i too be like him ! Many a time i wept rivers of tears to persuade my parents to admit me too in my brother’s school but my parents rebuked me with angry eyes and i had to check my tongue. I often think why am i treated with a difference but my small intellect has no ready answer for the question. I forget all soon and move on with my way of life.
You know, my brother’s books are more beautiful than mine. When he is busy in completing his homework, i too sit beside him. His painting book pleases me and i too begin to colour the pictures using the magical colours in his colour box. His writing in the cursive style mesmerizes me. I too try to do it but fail. His science book, computer book, general knowledge book, writing improvement book, grammar and language book–all fascinate me as i do not have such tempting books. I have only an English book, an Urdu book, and a mathematics book in my bag. Also both mom and dad teach my brother till late night but i am taught only by my old grandpa sometimes. His success pleases them more than mine. Last week when my brother brought his marks certificate home, all were fascinated. Mom and dad counted the numbers again and again and praised my brother with smiles. I too brought my marks certificate after a day but mom cast a tiresome glance on it and placed it on the shelf. My daddy never looked at it. I failed to apprehend things and soon forgot all about my marks sheet.
My dear dad often takes me into his arms and says: ‘ You know my fairy, your school is the best school. It has all qualities of a great school. Your brother’s school is the worst school on earth. Work hard and soon you will defeat your brother in every battle.’ These words give me courage and i smile to carry on my journey. But after pondering over his words it seems that they are only a lie, a big lie. My school is not the best school and my brother’s school is not the worst. There is a difference, a big difference between the two like the difference between me and my brother.
Last monday i got an opportunity to spend a day inside my brother’s school as our school was off due to a government holiday. It was indeed a thrilling journey right from the beginning. I got up early in the morning and took a bath. After hastily swallowing the tea i put on a new dress. Soon the bus came and began the journey. I had never boarded a school bus and hence i was a bit nervous. I sat beside my brother and glanced at the new friends. The boys seemed much like my brother but the girls were much different. The well designed uniforms with ribbons and broaches and their use of the mixed language delighted me as i was used to using mostly my mother tongue. My school uniform was not as appealing as theirs. Their uniforms were clean and well ironed whereas my uniform is never ironed. My mom washes it only on sundays. My brother had already told me that they have all got two sets of uniforms few days back to make fun of my single set of uniform during a quarrel. I was lost in dreams when the noise of the tiny passengers signalled that we had reached the school. All disembarked from the bus and i too followed their steps holding tightly my brother’s hand.
I entered the huge gate painted red and green and was astonished to find a gate keeper inside. He too had put on a beautiful uniform and was answering the greetings of the children with a smiling face. The colours of the flags on the wall fascinated me. My school has no wall around it and there is no gate guarded by a gatekeeper to answer my greeting. I was absorbed in thoughts when the patting of the gatekeeper on my head brought me back into reality. I moved on and stepped into my brother’s classroom. Soon the bell rang signalling the beginning of the morning assembly programme. We were soon in the ground and i was dumbfounded to see a sea of students coming like ants to attend the programme. It took about fifteen minutes to form the lines. I failed to count the students as there was an infinite number of them. But after some minutes i was able to count the teachers and their number matched exactly with the number of children in my school. The programme was done and we entered the classrooms. Teachers came and left leaving me in utter astonishment. It was strange to see that different subjects were taught by different teachers unlike my school where single teacher teaches us two to three subjects. Soon the bell rang and it was now the break time.
We had lunch and stepped into the playground. My brother showed me the whole ground. The children were playing different games. Both the boys and girls played their choicest games. I again thought of my school. In my school, there is neither any playground nor any play. There are no gaming equipments available to play with. Why don’t we have such a vast playground to play delightful games, i kept thinking. The laughter of the children brought me back from my dream world and i saw a doggy being shooed away from the ground. It seemed strange as i had never seen a dog being chased away from my school premises. Dogs keep on basking in the small open compound of my school always but no one disturbs them. My brother put his hand on my shoulder and pointed towards the huge school building with numberless rooms. I had counted thirty when the bell again rang to announce the beginning of the second half of the day. Before entering the classroom again, i felt the need to visit the toilet. A shock struck my eyes when i entered the toilet block. There was delightful fragrance inside and a special soap on the shelf. I had seen such a toilet a month back in a grand hotel when i spent a night there with my papa. Thoughts again visited my excited brain and i thought of the toilet in my school–a structure of some wooden pieces and rusty tin sheets which had been recently installed by my teachers there. Why don’t we too have such a toilet block in our school? This question continued to haunt me for about an hour. We now entered the classroom. The second half seemed much enjoyable as it was spent in new rooms. In one of the rooms there were computers and my brother said ‘this is our computer lab’. I found all the things there whose images i had seen in my brothers computer book. I played with the mouse and keyboard and was thrilled. After the computer lab, i saw the library where i found an infinite number of books. Many children were reading books there. I too turned the pages of some books and saw many beautiful pictures in them. A fat book was lying on the table which my brother introduced as a dictionary. Then i saw the science lab where i saw many strange items. There were bottles with labels, containers, beakers, stands, powders, etc. I was fascinated when the teacher mixed some solutions which produced beautiful colours. Finally i was shown the language lab where i saw head phones, speakers, mikes and many DVDs. The students’ repetition of word sounds pleased me and i too repeated some sounds in my heart. After the language practice, we were shown a film on the television set. It was about a man who smoked too much, developed lung cancer and died in a hospital. I was much moved by the movie and latter in the evening that day, i told about it to my daddy who too smokes packets of cigars. I advised him not to smoke as it is dangerous. He hugged me and laughed…
The bell rang and the end of the day was announced. All children left the school in ques in a disciplined manner. I too walked behind my brother and boarded the same bus again. The bus left the school premises. I was lost in dreams. Numberless questions were knocking at the door of my mind– Why is not my school too like that of my brother? Why don’t we too have a big playground to play varieties of games?
Why is there not such a fragrant toilet block also in my school? Why don’t we too have a computer room, a science lab, a library, a language lab in our school? Why is there no television set to watch films in mine school as well? The horn soon brought me back from the dreamworld. I was soon at my home with wonderful stories to narrate to my parents and friends. I was too tired and fell asleep soon after dinner. I had a dream. I was astounded to see my school wearing a different look. The gorgeous building spoke to the sky. A well designed tall wall around it with colourful flags, more appealing than the flags installed on the wall of my brother’s school added to its beauty. I entered the grand gate and greeted the gatekeeper. He smiled, answered my greeting and lovingly patted my head. There was a huge playground full of children dressed in pretty uniforms playing different games. There were neither any dogs basking nor any doggy anywhere to be driven away.
At morning assembly, i could neither count the children nor the teachers. I glanced on the school building painted in pink with an infinite number of classrooms. I ran from room to room and was astonished to find a well maintained computer room with many beautiful computers, a big library containing an infinite number of books, a science lab more beautiful than the one in my brother’s school, and a language lab well equipped with language learning stuff. The toilet block was more fascinating than the one in my brother’s school. I was watching a film on the huge flat television set when i was awakened by my mother in the morning. Highly excited, i hurriedly finished my tea, put on my uniform and ran towards my school. But the excitement doused soon when i reached my school. There was no change. It wore the same wearisome look. With a sullen countenance i entered my classroom and soon began the same monotonous activity again.
The author can be reached at ulfatanjan77@gmail.com