“Bhaiya, we are given just two days!” Suraj was busy making tea, as he propped the news. He apparently saw the shock on my face without really looking at me. He turned to the wash basin, and continued, knowing I was still startled by the news. “This was coming, so I was prepared.” He spoke with a placidity that never knew me. Sipping the good tea, he pushed me away from the kitchen. I involuntarily followed him, to listen to his plans. But there was nothing more to tell me. He had already decided. The beloved school at Makdumpur has to be shifted, since the slum is being relocated. They have asked the people to vacate the area in two days. “We have planned to build the school to the other side of the road, where many of them would be relocating.” I know what it all meant: destroying the present hamlets ; finding a new area; surveying the area; gathering the children again; Missing out a few children; addition of some new children; missing out on classes and so on.
Temporariness has been our mark for some time now. The one challenge we face is the extreme rapidity of changes that occur to our schools. Shifting our buildings from one area to another is never an easy task. But the relation we hold with our children and women is a bonding that is super-glued! So our learning centers follow our children like a faithful dog. Our schools reach the children, where they are. Our hands are known for its plasticity; we have stretched; we have always stretched and it has never retraced back. And so even when our Magdumpur School building is re moved, our school will still exist, even materially in another location.
“I have already spoken to Bindiya Didi about the expenditure.” Suraj had already made his move. “I am thinking of tin sheets, instead of the thatched roof.” he slyly looked away; another shrewd move. He wasn’t asking permission. I knew what he meant. His thoughts spoke loud enough “Our children will study under tin sheets; they deserve it.” I smiled as I simply gave way to his move.
As I give way to Suraj’s plans, I knew I was giving way for God to work within us. He had started a good work in us, and I just knew He is faithful!