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A Visit to our Ancestral Home
By Waris Shere
May 30, 2008 |
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That
childhood memory of mine I will always cherish.
Our memories provide continuity between our past
experiences and the current moment. You can
never get too far away from your memories
because everything you now experience is focused
by lenses either scratched or polished by past
experiences.
I was born in a village Katowna, approximately
35 miles from Patna. Stones, mud and sand are
the toys of children of Katowna. During our
recent visit to this village, I was told that
children roam in the sun for whole day,
expecting a handful of rice from the
neighbouring houses and to sleep on the ground
under the mango trees. Often situations compel
them to sleep without food. Indeed a very sad
and pathetic tale.
Despite living in Canada for over four decades,
we try to visit our native village quite
frequently. We have three children Sahba, Sheraz,
and Feraz - all were born in Canada. Ehtesham,
my first cousin who is a resident of Patna has
taken good care in the development of the lives
of the people of this beautiful village. He
built a school for the children and provided all
kinds of financial help for the families living
in Katowna.
"I have a kind of a relation with these poor
people, I've seen their needs and how local
people react to their needs. There is no one to
help them." Ehtesham said.
I was told that most families consist of four to
five people who live in a two-room brick house
with no bathrooms. In Katowna, as in other
villages, the men mostly work on farms and the
women work as domestic help in houses.
We along with our three children Sahba, Sheraz
and Feraz intend to buy computer and establish a
scholarship to help towards the proper education
and care for the children of Katowna.
There is a dire need to go deep into the
problem. It is universally accepted that
economic prosperity is a worthwhile target and
the most viable instrument to achieve it is good
education. Education for the poor is the need of
the hour, and real development is the
development of humans. Tagore wanted India to be
a land where knowledge is free. Why should we
deprive the poor of good education solely
because they are poor? The history of the world
bears testimony to the fact that numerous great
men and women have sprung from humble cottages,
not from high palaces.
It was an eye opener for Feraz Shere, our
youngest son. It was his first visit to the home
of his ancestors. We noticed a cluster of
mud-plastered walls shaded by a few trees, set
among a stretch of green fields, with a few
people slowly coming or going, ox-carts
creaking, and birds singing--all present an
image of harmonious simplicity.
Villagers I noticed share use of common village
facilities - the village pond, grazing grounds,
temples and shrines, cremation grounds, schools,
sitting spaces under large shade trees, wells,
and wastelands. Perhaps equally important,
fellow villagers share knowledge often going
back generations. Inter-dependence in rural life
provides a sense of unity among residents of a
village. There is a great sense of unity. Hindu
festivals such as Holi, Diwali, and Durga Puja
bring villagers together. Even Muslims may join
in the friendly splashing of colored water on
fellow villagers.
A family rooted in Katowna does not easily move
to another, and even people who have lived in a
city for a generation or two refer to their
ancestral village as "our village." We will
cherish for a long time this memorable visit to
the home of our ancestors.
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About the Author: Waris Shere is an educator
and author of eight books. His latest
publication is "The Struggle for Peace". He was
educated in Patna and presently a resident of
Winnipeg, Canada.
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