Monalisa Patsani
post news network
Bhubaneswar, June 12: The story of Madan Meher, a PhD scholar in JNU, is inspiring, to say the least. This native of Dhama in Sambalpur had a cobbler for a father. As a young child, Madan was attracted to cobbling footwear out of worn out tyres more than to books.
He would assist Father in making or mending these cheap shoes for forest dwellers of Dhama. Although he had been admitted to a school, Madanspent time making shoes and selling them in village markets.
“Those days I was least interested in education. Like my father I used to make these slippers and shoes from worn out tyres of buses and jeeps. Forest dwellers liked our shoes as they were sturdy and would protect their feet from thorns. I would often sit at our shop polishing shoes,” Madan said.
School was a place he visited occasionally. Perhaps mockery at school helped increase his distaste for education. “This situation continued till matriculation. I would face lots of discrimination and humiliation at school as I was this cobbler’s son.”
Things changed one Saraswati Puja day. “I had this fascination for trousers and shirt. So I borrowed my father’s clothes and went to school wearing these loose fitting clothes folded up to be closest to a fit. Students and teachers laughed at me. They considered us untouchables and often said, ‘a son of a cobbler will always be a cobbler.’”
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The words stung him that day and made him determined to rise in life. “I was hurt by the humiliation and rejection. I asked myself, ‘why should I, too, be a cobbler?’ I, too, have the right to be something else and to lead a better life. So I decided to pursue higher education and sought admission in MJ College, Dhama.”
The 31-year-old struggled a great deal to get through college. “During the first year in college teachers would keep me out of sessions and away from other students in the hostel because I was ‘son of a cobbler’. But I held on to hope and pursued the course. While doing post-graduation from Burla University, I did not have enough to even buy food. During the final examination I met with an accident. It had happened because I had no food but I sat for the examination with a wet cloth bound around my belly.”
Madan has cleared GRF and NET examinations and is on the hunt for a job. “Our system is such that it doesn’t allow people like us to rise. People of high caste in my village got jealous of my achievement and got my younger brother and I booked on false charges. We were kept in custody for a night. I am struggling to free myself from that case.”
As someone who has experienced a hard life as a child, Madan wants to spread awareness against child labour. “I have utilised my rights to change my fate. I want to work towards improving the education system of our country. I don’t want others to undergo the same experience as I did,” Madan said.
