A Trip Down Memory Lane

Baaginakatta. A remote village in Uttara Kannada. It is about 20KM from Yellapura town. From medical treatment to any major commercial transactions, one has to travel to Yellapura. KSRTC bus plights twice a day. Once in the morning and then in the evening. There are only 20 families living in 5KM radius. 90% of them are Havyaka Brahmins. It is believed that their ancestors settled there after fleeing from North India during the attack from Ghajini Mohammad. Interestingly, people who live there say that a lot has improved in a last few years as they have got electricity, phone line and tar road now.

First thing that strikes you as you near this village is its natural beauty. It is surrounded by thick forest. Fresh air and abundant clean water enough for any city dweller to feel each cell of the body coming alive.There are water falls, no network for mobile phones. A very secluded place but without any naxalite issues.

I went there with my parents to visit my missus' grandmother's house. Her uncle Shivarama (Shivanna as he is fondly called) is a teacher in the primary school there. We went to meet him at the school as we were in a hurry to go back. The school is situated in the midst of arecanut plantation. But only when I reached the school to visit him, I realized that it is a single teacher school!

This school has always had a single teacher. There were total of nine students. All were sitting in the same class but they belonged to different classes. From 1st standard to 5th standard. As soon as I entered the classroom, they stood up and greeted us with " Hiriyarige Namaskaragalu" (Greetings to the elders). It brought back the memories of my childhood where standing up and greeting whenever an elder person enters a class was fun. More so, when someone enters the room in the middle of an ongoing class.

I did my primary schooling in Madakatte primary school. A village situated 35KM from Mangalore town. It had six teachers for seven classes. Over the years, the number of students have reduced considerably resulting in the decrease of number of teachers. According to the govt rules, there should be one teacher for every 30 pupils. There are only three permanent teachers left now for 77 students.

Nobody is ready to send their children to Kannada medium govt schools. Only very poor people who can't afford an English medium school send their children to these schools. In spite of management bringing in honarary teachers to add computer classes and English classes, there has been no increase in the number of students. I certainly won't blame the parents for sending their children to English medium private schools as long as they instill sense of pride towards Kannada. In a few years, my school may have to be shut down. It may remain only as a memory. That thought somehow makes me feel queasy. But 'change is permanent'!

Lets come back to Uttara Kannada from Dakshina Kannada. I instantly liked the classroom. It was decorated with paintings made by students, simple paper cuttings, charts etc. The classroom was newly built with the help of donations from the people of the village. Brightly lit classroom and happy faces of the children were delight to watch. Shivanna was beaming when he said that his students are excellent in extra curricular activities. The sense of pride was apparent when he gleefully told us that they had won several prizes in taluk level competitions.

These students may eventually go to cities to continue their education and settle somewhere far from their native. One day after many years if they see this post and the casual photoshoot they were part of, tugs their heartstrings in any way,  I will be the happiest person.

PS: The title for the post was suggested by my close friend Rajeev Komar who studied in this school till 4th standard. He now works at Broadcom.