Stories by the Stream
The children of remote Kalevasti village thoroughly enjoy the KPALP's Independent Writing story work
conducted by K.P Shobha Samudra and her able teachers.
The Z.P primary school children of Kalevasti village in Indapur block have been part of the PLC's Independent Writing programme since October 2018. The school is a one-story building that stands alone and apart from the rest of the village, next to a quick-flowing stream that is actually an agricultural canal. Goats and buffaloes graze or sleep in this scrubby, almost treeless landscape.
Kalevasti village is in K.P Shobha Samudra's cluster, Redani (part of Indapur). The area is so poorly connected that she was unable to live in Jejuri and commute to the schools in her charge. So she rents a house in a village located at the centre of her cluster.
''Redani is an unenviable posting for any Kendra Pramukh, especially for one my age,'' 53-year-old Samudra rues in her soft-spoken but direct way. ''Yet my true validation comes from the work I do with my teachers and children.''
Ambika Pawar is not from the local Dangar community. Her spoken language is Nandivali, a rather removed dialect of Marathi. The Muktalekhan upakram is helping her and another Nandivali child in class bridge gaps in language, the teachers say. ''I've gotten to know about the cover elements of a book. I can tell you whether there is a quote on the cover or not. I can tell you many, many things!''
''I choose the book, Gamatya chendoo (The Funny Ball) from among the books here,'' Aviksha Kulal says pertly, ''because the title raises a question in my mind — what could be so special about this ball?'' She says that she is preparing to be an author. ''I will write tiny stories and when I get the hang of it, I will write longer stories for children. I will write about birds and animals like crows, rats and deer. My Sir will publish it, my Madam will make illustrations and my Kendra Pramukh will read it!''
Behind the scenes
The children's playful and carefree exploration of stories is the result of elaborate planning by K.P Samudra and the teachers', Manisha and Dnyaneshwar Kuchekar, a husband and wife team. They explain that the children are primarily from the Dangar community, which is spread over about a 100 households. They come to school from a radius of two kilometres. Their parents are educated till the primary level and traditionally work in farming and rearing cattle.
''When I first introduced the programme to my teachers,'' Samudra recalls, ''they were keen to learn how to implement it because even our academically bright students lag behind in creative writing. '' A striking thing about Samudra and her teachers is their implementation style. Blurring the lines between teacher and taught, they have participated equally in learning the use of the templates. They too read story books and filled templates in. They did this in class alongside their young students, creating an atmosphere of openness and free discussion.
''Children are listening harder and have improved at the Shravan (focused listening) competency,'' Manisha Kuchekar (41) says. ''They are reading a lot, reading aloud, following the rules of punctuation, and have made good progress with the Vachan (reading) competency. We are seeing superb confidence among all of them, in speaking out, where earlier only the academic achievers would speak in class. Their attention span has improved, too, and this is showing in all subject discussions.''
''Kids used to cheat and copy from each other,'' Dnyaneshwar Kuchekar (47) recalls. ''But since in this programme they write their own observations, each different from the other, they are starting to feel that there is no one answer that is correct. It's okay to write on his or her own!''
Such is the children’s enthusiasm to read and work on templates, the books are falling short!
''I will write stories about birds and animals like crows, rats and deer. My Sir will publish it, my Madam will make illustrations and my Kendra Pramukh will read it.'', says Avisha Kulal, 3rd grade.
As we continue to explore the changes that the Muktalekha programme has wrought, the children become more friendly. They run up to us, wherever in the school area we may be, with filled-in templates, favourite story books and short stories that they have written. As we leave, our hearts full, the playful children bid us a friendly goodbye. We leave, knowing that the breezes of change are blowing through the windows of their hexagonal classroom. That here, the PLC's Independent Writing programme has found a true home.
