My classroom was a small one, provided with a blackboard, duster, chalk and hundred-volt bulb. My class strength was sixty to seventy students who belongs to different age groups. Most of them were above sixty years and some of them were octogenarians and coming from working class families.
The catch of my classroom was Laxmi. In Indian mythology Laxmi means goddess of wealth, but in her case she was rich with her heart and poorest in terms of wealth. At fifteen, Laxmi is married to Thankappan. Laxmi was the second wife of Thankkapan, a tall, handsome and kind-hearted person. Thankappan's first wife had died due to small pox.
Laxmi got all of twelve children to look after five of Thankappan's first wife Parvithi and seven of hers. But she brought up all of them very well without showing any discrimination.
Years passed. The Britishers had started many missionary schools in Kerala . Finding themselves guilty, Laxmi and Thankappan decided to send their children to the school. Objections came from other family members and friends in the same village. After hearing them , Thanakappan gave a meaningful smile . Everything was hidden in the smile. Only one school was there in the neighboring village, which was five miles away from their village. Laxmi and her husband Thankappan decided to send their children to that school.
Meanwhile lot of changes took place. Under the strong leadership of Gandhiji a revolution took place throughout the country to set India free. Villagers were eager to know what was happening in the country and gathered around Sunil, the elder son of Laxmi with the newspaper. Sunil read the newspaper for them.
India got her freedom in 1947 and in 1957, under the leadership of EMS Namboothripad, the first communist party came to power. The government passed two important bills,the land reform bill and an education bill. Meanwhile Laxmi's children got one or another good jobs and became financially well off.
When I went with my literacy mission in their village, Laxmi and her husband were the first students to enroll in my class and eagerly drove another students into my class when I mentioned the mission for which I was assigned. After that she showed keen interest in our day-to-day activities and brought more and more students into my class. On the opening day of my class she said in her welcome speech that she was keenly interested in learning and wanted to be literate but never got an opportunity. This time I used this opportunity to remove the malison from their village.
Various programmes were conducted as part of their literacy mission . When they were able to write their own names, the delightful smiles on their faces were worth to watching. On the last day of my class a prize distribution was held. When Laxmi came to the stage to receive her prize, I saw an angle of light walking on the stage.
After that I went to another part of the country with the same mission , but never got such a collective response as in Kerala. Meanwhile I lost all contacts with Laxmi and her people.
After a long time I got a chance to come back to Kerala. I just went to Ponnani with some sweet memories. Ponnani has changed a lot. From the railway station, I walked to the nearest bus stop. Meanwhile all small shops were converted into huge building complex, large home were converted into small houses, the number of temples, mosques, and churches had increased but still the place was short of schools, college and hospitals. When I reached the bus stop I saw many aimless students, new teachers with old syllabus, ill reputed politicians, well dressed workers all waiting for the bus. In between the huge rush, two of my old students came to me with little doubt, hesitatingly confirmed my identity. They then gave me the bad news that Laxmi had died. They were David and Peter and they were going to attend her funeral. I also went with David and Peter to attend her funeral. When I went near her body, her eyes were open. The determined eyes told me how to look after the beautiful world, know the value of education and the meaning of freedom. When I saw her old beautiful face her lips told me if there was a rebirth she would want to be a teacher and spread the light of education among illiterate people. When I searched her heart, the young heart was ready to take on new challenges to make the whole world as literate as the small state of Kerala. When I observed her hands, her hands were ready for a new revolution that would remove casteism, feudalism, and corruption from our society. When I touched her feet I felt, she was ready for another walk, into the world of darkness, as a messenger of education.
I just went with the funeral for some distance. After sometime, I stopped going with the funeral and just looked on. The crowd passed out of my sight and in听 a moment, a message flashed across my mind -the message to complete my mission .
