The divide of inequality

The sheer levels of inequalities in India are some times too sharp, almost like a smart smack on the face. We and people around us, with every member of the house having his/her own smart phone, for us, online classes or schooling is just about adjusting to study from home. But can you believe how some kids education is getting affected because they do not own a smart phone?

The story of these four sisters from Rohtak in MP - Varsha, Pooja, Neelam and Nandini, is truly a slap into the real India. Their father who is a labourer while her mother is a house-maid.

All four of them study at a local government school and all of them have schooling online due to the pandemic. The problem – between all four, there is only one smart phone. Varsha is the eldest and in 10th; she says she cannot afford to share the phone as she has board exams next year. Pooja is in the ninth and a topper with teachers having very high expectations from her. Neelam wants to gets into social work and the youngest is also very smart. Their father has lost his job and mother earns just enough to survive and they cannot even think of buying more smart phones for their children.

These four somehow share one phone between all of them and obviously due to the sharing, their education is impacted. But neighbours say that the girls are an inspiration to others and they can always be seen studying, sitting on the footpath under the tree in hot summer season for hours and hours without caring for the loud noise from the roadside.

This is such a sharp distinction from our children, who only have to lift their finger and they get everything and more.