Is there any "Right to Education"?

No Room To Study?

Madhav was sitting on a sidewalk with his books scattered all around him as he read under the dim light from an overhead lamp post that fell on the pale and dull pages of his textbook. It was midnight and many people of the city were already in their bed enveloped under the comfort of a blanket on a freezing night. Madhav on the other hand was content to have a thin towel instead of a woollen blanket which he wrapped tightly around himself to get some warmth in order to continue his studies for a few more hours. He had a test the next morning and he was not yet fully confident about his preparation. Taking advantage of the calmness and quietude of the deserted street, he continued for another one hour before he began to assemble his books and stationery from the footpath. Once he was done packing, he began a long walk back to his dark and decrepit  ghettos where there were no roads, no light and no happiness. No sooner had he entered his chamber than his father began barking at him, berating him for coming so late yet again and for not obeying his orders. Madhav apologised immediately and brought his head down with shame and regret. He loved his father who had been his mentor and a true friend and couldn’t see him angry and sad because of him. He told his father that he would do anything he asked for and promised him that he would never again go against his wishes.

Madhav loved to wander in the streets, play with his school friends and study as hard as he could. He wanted to own one of those cars he saw on the roads that made large distances feel much smaller. He wanted to have a home with beds, lights and running water where he could feel happy to be back after an eventful day at school. Like many other boys of his age, he had some dreams but most of them were bare necessities.

Early next morning, as Madhav was getting ready to go to school for an important test, his father intervened and stopped him from going that day and forever. He made him remember the promise he had made last night. He could no longer go to school. Tears flooded Madhav’s eyes as intense sadness took a strong hold of him. He would have to give up studying, an activity he loved to do more than any other. He almost fell to the ground as he came to realize that none of his dreams were going to be fulfilled. A few years of education had given him an ability to dream and think about a bright future for himself but now he feared he would forget even to dream. A myriad of negative and unhappy thoughts crossed his mind in those few seconds. He eventually broke down and sobbed relentlessly with his head on his father’s shoulders. Seeing him cry in this manner must have been the hardest thing to do for his father who was trying his best to give his son a good life, at least better than his own life as a child. Madhav kept crying but didn’t show his disapproval to his father, a sacrifice of no ordinary measure.

Now that his father was aging and wasn’t in the best of health either, Madhav knew that he would now replace his father and do the strenuous job of a Rickshaw puller. His grandfather had also been a Rickshaw puller. Caught in the vicious cycle of misery and poverty, Madhav too was now trapped just like his father and grandfather.

Today, Madhav can be seen around the Paharganj region of New Delhi, pulling his Rickshaw with a bunch of indifferent tourists sitting behind. He has been in this business for ten years now. He is married and is a father of a two year old boy. He is hopeful and desperately trying to save enough money so that his son could actually live the dreams he once saw as a twelve year old.