Picture This (Fundamental education, lost ?)

It’s nearly afternoon, there is not even a single white cotton ball growing in the field of blue crop above, just a lonely sky, engulfing the planet. The Sun is about to go into its prime state.  To further elucidate it, you must know this is not the winter Sun which is all pleasant and warm in the cold but instead is the scorching summer ball of fire. Now imagine a bus stand on the left side. This is a normal bus stand-unclean, broken and ill-maintained; an individual named Droid sits here taking shelter in shadow of this structure from the heat and waiting for a particular public transport vehicle to arrive, to take him to his destination. Two roads flowing like asphalt rivers in front of him and yet somehow stationary. The vehicles on them try to move as fast as they can but excessive traffic forces each one of them to crawl. Beyond the bustle of these machines and opposite to the bus stand lies a glass building; all high and tall, its boundary separating it from the relatively poor background. An individual in blue uniform checks the identity cards and lets only a few selected individuals to pass through the security gate; the privileges of working in a glass office. As Droid observes this multinational IT tower, a boy pulls-up a cart to the left of him. This unnamed boy is selling peanuts, peanuts that are warmed in sand to give them an earthly textural taste. He is making an earning by selling these nuts in advertisement pamphlets which have been shaped up as cones. This troubles Droid, but when he observes further he feels even sadder. The pamphlets are advertisements for coaching of various competitive examinations GRE, GMAT, TOEFL and what not. Droid ponders in his mind that whether or not this boy is even aware of these exams? Do these names make any sense to him? Selling peanuts for five rupees and ten rupees for small and medium respectively, does this boy even know the value of these examinations?

On 1 April, 2010 under the article 21A of the Indian constitution Right to Education was made a fundamental right (amended in 2002, enforced in 2010). But here, to Droid education does not seem fundamental. Droid sees the IT building on one hand all glistening and shinning in the sun, with individuals sitting in their air conditioned cubicles and on the other hand watches this young boy trying to make a living while giving up on the fundamental, basic education. Droid says to himself, “Irony, indeed”. The 1^st April has many origin stories but in today’s modern day it is synonymous with Fool’s day. A smile comes to Droid’s face, a smile which is more remorseful than ecstatic. The system has made a fool of itself but Droid knows that he too is a part of this system. He asks himself, “is this right to education enough? Or a new right to quality education is required?” But he knows that no matter how many renames one may provide to a particular act, right or an institution, until and unless there is a successful implementation everything will remain in a state of despair. The always forward moving traffic although crawling has a sense of direction, direction that would lead it to its destination. But here this boy seems directionless to Droid. The boy’s life not only seems slow but also deprived.

And while Droid thinks of changing this society, his air-conditioned bus arrives and off he goes. He takes the window seat and starts reading the newspaper. The newspaper contains the same advertisement, the one he just saw. And what does droid do, he just turns the page and moves on. He himself is a hypocritical and selfish being. None of his words, talks or speeches translates into action. For Droid talks too much and his mind is full of thoughts.