Let me tell you a story.
Let's take a leap in time.It's the beauty of stories,you get to travel space-time without leaving the surroundings that are warm and familiar.
1925,East British-India. (You are welcome to imagine this in Black & White)
Majumder,just your average farmer,died,leaving behind his 23 year old wife and two sons.One of his sons wasn't even old enough to know what death was,and another son was merely 10 years old.The villagers,motivated by their utmost concern for them(insert sarcastic tone),suggested the 23 year old widow to put her elder son into the farm.His father was a farmer,why should he be anything different,right?The widow wiped her tears with her saree and said,"No,I want my son to continue going to school."
If you have any idea what South Asian villages are like,you would know that you CANNOT take a decision without having all the elder people giving you their wisdom.And if you are a woman,especially a widow,you cannot take any decision at all.
But that widow took her decision,and despite the society taunting her for it,she sent her sons to school.Her elder son,however,was a naughty one.He always managed to get himself in trouble,didn't do good in school,and all the other things disobedient kids do(which I wouldn't know,of course). Mrs.Majumder's elder son's actions were causing many disputes in the village,and she would get complains often.The villagers kept suggesting putting him in farming instead of school.The villagers were big with their wisdom,but when it came to helping the widow financially,no one offered a penny.Mrs.Majumder,who was uneducated herself,sold her lands in order to survive and keep her sons in school.Years past.Her elder son took the 10th grade exam,and he failed.No surprise in there.But her son ran away fearing that his mother would beat him.He decided to come back after a few months in Kolkata,India and he took the exam again.The second time,he passed.He was the first person from that village to have passed that exam.He was my grandfather.
My grandfather failed the 10th grade exam.He ran away from home,by home I mean Feni,Bangladesh and went to Kolkata,India.Where did you think I get the badass in me from?It was 1930 when my grandfather decided to come back and re-take the exam(called Metric exam back then). This was 17 years before the British left the sub-continent and India and Pakistan was born.Bangladesh doesn't appear in the scene until 1971,it was just referred as "East British India" back then(before 1947).
After my grandfather passed the exam,he went to Kolkata and got a job in the railway.He came back to Bangladesh(referred as East Pakistan)after 1947.He spent his whole life working for the railway,from 9 to 5. My grandfather,he didn't go past 10th grade.But you can't imagine how grateful I am to my great grandmother for sending my grandfather to school.
Everything I am today,I owe this to that 23 years old widow,who didn't give up,who didn't bow to society.Who realized the value of education,despite being uneducated herself.She'd never have any idea that her sole decision to be stubborn had a ripple affect which has changed lives,in the best way possible.
If my grandfather didn't go to school,he would remain a farmer,oblivious of the power of education.He wouldn't work day and night to send my father and his siblings to school.He wouldn't send my uncle to study here in America.He wouldn't apply for my family's immigration.If my grandfather didn't go to school,I wouldn't be here.I wouldn't be here writing this blog,I wouldn't be here loving Math and Science,I wouldn't be here knowing how education can change your life.I wouldn't be me,the girl who loves reading.
So this post is to the strongest woman ever,the woman I have never met--my great grandmother.Thanks for the fight you put up,thanks for realizing the value of education,thanks for sending grandfather to school.
I owe you one.
-Mourin
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."-Nelson Mandela
Let's take a leap in time.It's the beauty of stories,you get to travel space-time without leaving the surroundings that are warm and familiar.
1925,East British-India. (You are welcome to imagine this in Black & White)
Majumder,just your average farmer,died,leaving behind his 23 year old wife and two sons.One of his sons wasn't even old enough to know what death was,and another son was merely 10 years old.The villagers,motivated by their utmost concern for them(insert sarcastic tone),suggested the 23 year old widow to put her elder son into the farm.His father was a farmer,why should he be anything different,right?The widow wiped her tears with her saree and said,"No,I want my son to continue going to school."
If you have any idea what South Asian villages are like,you would know that you CANNOT take a decision without having all the elder people giving you their wisdom.And if you are a woman,especially a widow,you cannot take any decision at all.
But that widow took her decision,and despite the society taunting her for it,she sent her sons to school.Her elder son,however,was a naughty one.He always managed to get himself in trouble,didn't do good in school,and all the other things disobedient kids do(which I wouldn't know,of course). Mrs.Majumder's elder son's actions were causing many disputes in the village,and she would get complains often.The villagers kept suggesting putting him in farming instead of school.The villagers were big with their wisdom,but when it came to helping the widow financially,no one offered a penny.Mrs.Majumder,who was uneducated herself,sold her lands in order to survive and keep her sons in school.Years past.Her elder son took the 10th grade exam,and he failed.No surprise in there.But her son ran away fearing that his mother would beat him.He decided to come back after a few months in Kolkata,India and he took the exam again.The second time,he passed.He was the first person from that village to have passed that exam.He was my grandfather.
My grandfather failed the 10th grade exam.He ran away from home,by home I mean Feni,Bangladesh and went to Kolkata,India.Where did you think I get the badass in me from?It was 1930 when my grandfather decided to come back and re-take the exam(called Metric exam back then). This was 17 years before the British left the sub-continent and India and Pakistan was born.Bangladesh doesn't appear in the scene until 1971,it was just referred as "East British India" back then(before 1947).
After my grandfather passed the exam,he went to Kolkata and got a job in the railway.He came back to Bangladesh(referred as East Pakistan)after 1947.He spent his whole life working for the railway,from 9 to 5. My grandfather,he didn't go past 10th grade.But you can't imagine how grateful I am to my great grandmother for sending my grandfather to school.
Everything I am today,I owe this to that 23 years old widow,who didn't give up,who didn't bow to society.Who realized the value of education,despite being uneducated herself.She'd never have any idea that her sole decision to be stubborn had a ripple affect which has changed lives,in the best way possible.
If my grandfather didn't go to school,he would remain a farmer,oblivious of the power of education.He wouldn't work day and night to send my father and his siblings to school.He wouldn't send my uncle to study here in America.He wouldn't apply for my family's immigration.If my grandfather didn't go to school,I wouldn't be here.I wouldn't be here writing this blog,I wouldn't be here loving Math and Science,I wouldn't be here knowing how education can change your life.I wouldn't be me,the girl who loves reading.
So this post is to the strongest woman ever,the woman I have never met--my great grandmother.Thanks for the fight you put up,thanks for realizing the value of education,thanks for sending grandfather to school.
I owe you one.
-Mourin
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."-Nelson Mandela
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