Chuskit goes to school

Once upon a time, there lived a small girl called Chuskit. She could not walk.
Despite this, her spirit never dampened and she did things on her own. However,
the only thing beyond her reach was education. Like most of the children of her
village, she too wanted to go to school but couldn’t. Days after days, she watched
with a heavy heart as other children went to the village school.

One day, when Chuskit was playing with her kitty, she saw two uniformed children
about to cross the wooden bridge over the stream. She knew the uniform was that
of her village school. Seeing them Chuskit called out.

“Where are you going acho le?” asked little Chuskit to the big boy.

“I am going to school Chuskit”, replied the boy.

“Oh, how I wish I could go to a school. Can you take me to your school acho
le?”Chuskit inquired with a cheerful face.

“Oh, I wish I could Chuskit but, I won’t be able to help you cross the half-broken
wooden bridge, especially in your wheel chair.” And saying this, the big boy, left for
his school.
Chuskit became sad after hearing the reply and cried silently. She badly wanted to
go to school but was not able to. She had told many a times to her parents about it
but, her Appa le, always said that she was too special to leave home.

Chuskit cried to her kitty, “Did you see Nono, nobody wants me to go to school”. As
she sat stroking her kitty, her mind drifted to her childhood days.

Things were never like this before. It was like a life of a bird and she used to play
around, without fearing any boundaries. She was then privileged to play normally
like all other children of her village.
Chuskit remembered when she used to play on her own. How she loved visiting the
valley with her elder brother and gaze at flowers and chirping birds.

“Aren’t these beautiful”, an excited Chuskit used to cry out, pointing the chirping
birds to her brother.

Chuskit was lost in the sweet memories of her childhood, when suddenly she re-
called the dreadful day.

The day had begun on a usual chilly note. Chuskit, along with her brother, was
heading towards the valley for her regular visit. On the way, she always crossed a
narrow stream, which faced her house directly.
Back then, there used to be no wooden bridge over the narrow stream. And on that
dreadful day, Chuskit had tried to jump across the stream.

What started as a play with her brother had turned disastrous. She had tripped,
making one of the heavy boulders crush both her legs and disabling her for the rest
of her life.
“Oh appa le, my foot”, Chuskit had cried out then.

Hearing her shout, appa le had rushed to the spot and carried her all the way to the
village dispensary for medical aid. However, things did not turn in her favor and she
lost her freedom and support, her legs.

But, her family had come to her rescue. Since that day, amma le, appa le and
meme le took turns to give little Chuskit her routine rides to the valley. She was
made comfortable in every situation.

Never for once did little Chuskit feel helpless except, when she watched people go
out of their houses for work or play. She too yearned to go out and play, like she
used to but, her leg reminded her that she was deprived of that pleasure.

“Why can’t I go out and play amma le?” Chuskit once questioned innocently.

Showing some concern, amma le replied “Oh dear, if you go out and play, then who
will play with me?” “I’ll be left all alone and I am sure you don’t want me to be left
alone, do you?”

Little Chuskit was a sweet girl and never wanted to hurt anybody, especially her
mother, so she tried to stop asking her the question but, deep down she remained
troubled.
Till one fine day her appa le bought her a new support, her new wheel chair. Chuskit
was very happy to be on her own again.

Riding the wheel chair, Chuskit thanked her father, “Julley, Appa le”.

“Oh, it’s nothing for my darling little princess”, replied her glowing father.

“Appa le, can I go out and play?” pleaded little Chuskit.

“Oh sure dear, but don’t go near the stream. Just play nearby”, replied appa le, who
was trying to keep his own emotions in control.
Nothing seemed more pleasant than the new toy in Chuskit’s life. She was moving
around freely. But, poor Nono, he got the fright of his life. He ran helter skelter,
when he found little Chuskit wheeling behind him.

“Chuskit, will you let me ride that thing?”, asked her brother hesitantly.

“Oh sure, you can”, and Chuskit allowed her brother to go for a ride.

She remembered how happy Amma le had been on that day, seeing her play again.
Chuskit looked at her wheel chair and smiled. She thanked god for what she had.
Feeling slightly better, Chuskit wiped the tears from her face. She pulled herself
over the edge and watched the road silently, which from time to time brought many
passengers.

She watched as her village school bus came to a halt. A school boy got down from
the bus.
Seeing Chuskit, the boy greeted her “Julley nomo le”. “What are you doing here?”

“Nothing just watching the road and the passer bys”, replied a sad looking Chuskit.

Just then Chuskit’s grandfather, meme le, came to wheel her back into the house.
Noticing the boy he said, “Julley Nono le”. “What is your name?”

“Julley meme le” “My name is Niza Angmo”, the boy replied back.

Looking back at Chuskit, the boy asked “Don’t you go to school dear?”

Chuskit silently nodded her head.

Meme le immediately took over, stating how bad things had been for little Chuskit.

“The road further to school from our house is not in a very good condition and so
Chuskit will face problems in wheeling her chair.” “Even if one of us accompanies
her to school, the uneven sharp edged rocks can cut us.”

Hearing the dilemma, the boy decided to do something for the poor little girl. He bid
farewell to the duo and left for his home.
As Chuskit watched him leave, she again became tearful at the thought of what she
missed. She missed everything, which the other school children had, a school
uniform, bag and books. She wanted to read and write various subjects. Though the
idea seemed distant, the smell of parchment beckoned little Chuskit in her
thoughts. Poor Chuskit cried and wished someone would hear her plea.

And her plea got heard. The next day Niza spoke to his headmaster.
“Julley Azang le, I wish to speak to you”.

The headmaster beckoned him to speak.

“There is a small girl living over the edge of stream. She wants to go to school but,
isn’t as she’s confined to a wheel chair. Don’t you think it will be nice if we could
help her join the school?”

The headmaster was happy to know that he wanted to help. Seeing Niza’s
enthusiasm, he too gave his permission.

“Yes, of course we should help the child. Let me talk to the other teachers and see
what they suggest”.

Convinced that he would receive some help, Nazi took leave.

Mean while the headmaster thought about the matter and headed towards the staff
room.
At the staff room, he discussed the matter with other fellow teachers. The problem
reached a solution and all the teachers agreed to bring Chuskit to school. They
decided to mend the condition of the road to her house but, there was one problem.

To discuss the problem, the headmaster called Niza.

“I spoke to the other teachers and they have given their permission, but there is
one problem. We plan to make the road, which goes to the stream, but we don’t
have enough money for suitable manpower.”

Niza’s face lit up. The fact that little Chuskit would now go to school made him so
happy that the manpower problem seemed insignificant.

He immediately retorted, “Azang le that will not be a problem at all. I will gather
students who will readily volunteer to mend the road.”
The next day, as promised by Nazi, the headmaster found cheerful faces, all ready
to help the little girl. The headmaster was so happy to see the generosity of his
students that he too decided to spread some of it. He called a day off at school,
allowing the students to get down at work without any delay.
The children, still dressed in school uniforms, got to work immediately. They worked
diligently throughout the day, shifting the heavy boulders away from the road and
smoothing out the surface.

The children assigned work amongst themselves. While some focused on the road,
others worked on rectifying the broken wooden bridge over the stream. The children
laid down the heavy wooden logs one by one, neatly into rows to build a strong
bridge, which would not collapse under heavy weight.
Chuskit’s parents and grandfather watched the little children, sweating out, in order
to give their little Chuskit a gift, she had longed for.

Meme le was moved to tears. He decided to help the children by providing them tea
and biscuits. While Amma le prepared gurgur cha, a concoction prepared out of
strong green tea, butter and salt, meme le and appa le served it with biscuits to the
little helping hands.
Chuskit’s excitement knew no bounds, when she found that the road and bridge had
been made. She started going to school with Nazi, who used to help wheel her up to
the school.

Chuskit once again started enjoying her ride. She again got to gaze at the chirpy
birds and smell the sweet notes of the flowers. But, more than anything else, she
was happy because she got to live her dream. There was nothing as wonderful as
school for Chuskit. She thanked Nazi, who fulfilled her wish to go to school.
At school, Chuskit was enjoying her classes. She had made new friends, who helped
her all the time.

She had picked many a subjects quite quickly and soon drawing had turned out to
be one of her favorites.
Little Chuskit had drawn many paintings. However, her favorite was the one where
she portrayed herself with the headmaster, Nazi and her new friends in the class.

Chuskit’s parents were now very happy and so was meme le. These days it’s he who
makes gurgur cha for his little Chuskit and reviews her school work, after she
returns from school.