Sandeep had studied till 12th grade and was looking for a job when he came to know of Pratham Institute's training centre at Thethaithanagar near Simdega. The centre offers a course in the Electrical vertical and is making its presence felt in Simdega and neighbouring districts because of the post-course placement. Pratham's team had come to his Basia, his village that lies in the Gumla district of Jharkhand.



The youth in Gumla district is in search of jobs. However, there are many constraints, and one of them is language. Though Hindi is the official language of Jharkhand, people here predominantly speak in Saadri (also called Nagpuri). For Sandeep and many others, a transition from Saadri to Hindi is not very easy. But he wishes to be a part of the transformation the youth in his village (and many villages in the district) want - a shift from agriculture and related activities to jobs in industries!

"I had never moved out of my village, and hence I was scared before joining the course. But I knew I will be placed. Some of my friends were in previous batches, and they are now working in Rajasthan", he says. He talks to them over the phone, and they tell him about their experience of working in a different state, and with a different type of people around them.

"Before coming here, I had some idea about an electrician's job. Besides working for a company, I can also take up electrical projects in my village", he says. The latter is significant because of the frequent power cuts in his village, and with skilled people, the problem could be addressed.

But is he now happy with the course? Is there a change in him? "Yes", he replies, with a spark in his eyes! "I knew the course was good because my friends had told me about it. But I have liked it because of the individual attention I got here. I also feel comfortable because all my questions are answered, no matter how many times I ask." Sandeep is also happy because he has got new friends here, and most of them are not from his village. The experience here has propelled him to dream big, and it has translated into an ambition to work in a city that he has known through the media. "It is my dream to work in Mumbai", he says. "I have heard a lot of good things about the city."

"What will you do with your first salary", we ask him before ending our conversation. "I will send some money to my family, and also buy a good phone for me", he replies with a smile.

Like many others around her, Sushma Kumari does not recall when she started playing hockey. "Bahut chhote the, tab se khel rahe hain" (I started playing when I was very young), she says. She belongs to the Simdega district of Jharkhand, a place where - despite the popularity of cricket in the country - every child has always chosen to be loyal to hockey! However, not many families can afford to buy a professional hockey stick, and hence they start with a wooden stick to continue playing the game. Sushma was no exception.



She hails from Karwajor village in the Kendu Toli of the district. Her father is a farmer, and her mother is a housewife. While she enjoyed playing the game as a child, her sporting talent was spotted only when she entered school. Her principal encouraged her, and the first thing he asked her to buy was a professional hockey stick! She agreed and thus began her tryst with hockey, which continues to this day.

She represented her school hockey team, and a consistently good performance resulted in her selection at the Hockey Academy in 2012. She is a part of the Jharkhand state team, and her routine involves rigorous touring across the country for hockey tournaments. However, like her teammates, she also came across a problem which turned out to be a roadblock for her growth and progress in the game.

"Sir, angreji nahi bol paate the hum (we could not speak in English)", she recalls with a smile. The girls also could not understand what others spoke in English. As a consequence, they faced a lot of problems while playing in non-Hindi speaking states, that is the states in the south and the north-east.

"The referees spoke in English, and it was difficult to communicate with them. Sometimes, players from the opposite team deliberately spoke in English so that we could not understand the game plan. We also could not talk to the referee if a decision was unfair to us", she continues listing the problems. The Hockey academy approached Pratham for assistance, and in 2016, the English program was started which continues to this day.

Sushma now feels the positive change in her as she can now understand and communicate in English. "I can now present myself better, and my confidence levels have increased", she confesses. "I also help my teammates if they do not know anything about the language. But more important is that I speak to others by maintaining proper eye contact", she beams.

We then ask Sushma if she finds any difference in the way of learning compared to what she learned in school. "In school, we were asked to read English, but hardly understood the meaning. We also could not participate in class, as the teacher interacted only with students who sat on the front benches", she says. "However, here we learn in groups and hence, learn from each other."

"We travel by train, and the English language has helped us read the names of the railway stations in places where they are not written in Hindi", she continues to list the benefits of knowing the language.

As we leave, we ask her with whom she would like to speak in English. "Vandana Kataria is my idol, and I want to speak with her in English. I want to discuss the game and get some tips on how to play and improve my game. I am confident that I will do it", she says with a smile and bids us goodbye.



    

Deepti Kullu