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On one side we find these trying instances which batter the young hearts resulting in disillusionment that things are more or less the same both in the village as well as the town she talks of an incident where she says that after finishing SSLC she goes to college, “….suddenly there was an announcement in the class,’Will Harijan students please stand; the government has arranged that Scheduled Caste students should get special tuition in the evenings.’ Just two students stood up: myself and another girl. Among the Page | 80 other students, there was a sudden rustling; a titter of contempt. I was filled with a sudden rage. At once I told the teacher that I didn’t want their special tuition or anything else, and sat down. It struck me that I would not be rid of this caste business easily, whatever I studied, wherever I went.” (Pg 19) But, on another level these same places hold the promise and hope of a better life of respect and dignity. She talks about her being awarded prize for standing first among all the Harijan pupils of that district. She says”….. My name was called out in assembly, and everyone clapped. My mother and I stood side by side very happily. And on that day I wasn’t embarrassed to be singled out as the Harijan child who had gained the best marks. I was even pleased. And the other children congratulated me for doing so well. I thought, why? Is it impossible for a Harijan to study or what? I felt a certain pride then, a desire to prove that we could study just as well as others, and to make progress.” (Pg 19) At another time she had asked permission to go home because her younger brother and sister were to make their first Holy Communion. She was denied permission to go home as assumed by the principal as to what festivities and celebrations might there be for her, whereas wealthy children were sent back home, she challenges the principal and the warden and stands her ground obstinately insisting that there cannot be different rules for different castes, only same rules for everyone. The path shown by her brother who gives her the faith that learning holds the key to unlock their destiny. Religious dogmatism leads to the revelation of being an untouchable, and poor. The protagonist finds that things are no better even in the church. They were treated in a humiliating manner, not allowed to touch the walls of the church lest they spoil them, and to bring gifts and fruits for the priest and for the Mother Superior even though they themselves have never tasted the fruit. The protagonist finds a wide rift between preaching and practice in the church. She also touches upon gender discrimination when she talks about men and women given different wages for the work done by them in the fields, she works as an agriculturer labourer to help out her family during school holidays. She says she had seen people working hard day and night from sunrise to sunset, especially women, without any rest, and they can survive only through hard and incessant labour. One observation which she makes is as to why men are always paid more. So, even as these issues are beyond the comprehension of a child, nevertheless, they seem unjust even to them. According to Psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who believed that parents, caregivers, peers and the culture at large were responsible for the development of higher order functions. He mentions socio-cultural theory which looks at the important contributions that society makes to individual development. It stresses the interaction between developing people and the culture in which they live. According to Vygotsky, "Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals." It focuses not only how Volume 3 Issue 1
April 2014