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Journalism of Courage
The letters dance in his head. It is difficult for him to keep his hands steady.
A,B,C,D…
Squatting on the floor,Ravi,an undertrial at Tihar,wants to do it all at once. Assemble the letters and form his mother’s name. She would be delighted. At least her son learned something in prison.
Ravi is studying under the compulsory 65-day programme Padho ya Padhao that was launched at Tihar last month to impart basic reading and writing skills to its illiterate inmates. The classes run for two hours every morning,from 8.30 am to 10.30 am.
According to Director General of Prisons Neeraj Kumar,almost 30 per cent of the prison’s inmates are illiterate and while they serve time in prison,it would be worthwhile to learn basic reading and writing skills so it could help rehabilitate them after they are released.
Kumar says he was on a prison round once when he found an inmate scribbling away in a notebook with some urgency. When he asked the prisoner what he was writing,he said he was writing his son’s name to see how it looked on paper. Thats when I figured this works in more than one ways, says Kumar.
So,he decided to select inmates who had studied up till Class 12 and train them to teach others. The literacy drive has been launched in collaboration with the National Literacy Mission Programme of the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Apart from the literate inmates,five trainers from outside also come in to conduct the classes.
The classes have spelt hope for Ravi,who is part of a class of 31 inmates in Jail No. 7. But on some days,he has his doubts. The day when he was forced to come to class,he had been sweeping the floor in the prison. He didn’t want to go through the rigours of staring at the computer that flashed letters in bright,bold colours and recite tables over and over again. But then,he also wanted to write his mother’s name and make her proud. So,at 18,he learned to hold the pencil. He holds it firmly,and steadies his hand to copy the shapes from the book of alphabet.
Before he ended up in prison for allegedly stealing a mobile phone,Ravi used to pick up rags and help his father sell them for a pittance. I never went to school. My parents tried sending me to a school in Bengal but I ran away, he said.
In a barrack,19-year-old Sumit is pacing up and down supervising a group on other inmates as they scribble into their notebooks. Sumit completed Class 10 from a government school in Najafgarh. Four months ago,he was put behind bars for allegedly murdering a fellow villager. Now,he takes classes here. I like doing this. We have a lot of time on our hands and it is something that will help others so I dont mind it, he says. It also makes him feel special,he says.
Meanwhile,Ravi,stares at the computer and at the image of a house that flashes on it. And he longs to be home again.
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