After political liberation in August 1947, changes were only in historical accounts by replacing heroic accounts with Indians as the hero without any serious exercise to find an answer to the historic reality that Indians lived through seven centuries of alien rulers without even once a serious attempt to unite for political liberation? How much the Varna based and class divided social construct contributed to it or what contribution the vocation based caste system or the perpetuity of the caste based vocation system contributed to this lethargy? Political liberation had no meaning for the humanity caught tightly in the enlacing web of perpetual cast system. They lived through five thousand years as enslaved people who had no meaning in political liberation.

They came forward to participate in freedom struggle and thus brought the fight on streets from the chambers and discussion rooms. Instead of sharp worded resolutions, they offered their bodies to take the British lathi blows and bullets. The Empire rulers weakened by a decade of the Great War could not effectively govern their settlements of two centuries. India was among several settlements that were liberated in a decade after Adolph Hitler was paid to rest.

The independence did not induce the lower strata to believe it could and would end their enslavement of five thousand years to liberate them from rigidities of caste based vocations. They were back to their helpless existence, their old concepts of large family to have more hands to improve the bare family incomes to ensure bare and insignificant life. They were no told nor could they understand on their own dignity of life was in education.

Very few could understand that every school with children from similar social class though different from each other due to differing values, norms and living habits in their families became denizens of a small empire for six hours a day. Children learnt more by sharing life with other children besides the knowledge of modern subjects imparted to them. They got or created the opportunity for learning.

The supplementary education through social environment at home, in the neighbourhood and in school from other senior, juniors or class mate was as important as the academic teaching to shape their independent minds. DR Howard Gardner, child psychologist of America says after his 20 years research that mind making process begins in every child on attaining the age of 12 year in other word in the standard 7th of the middle school. For four decades of post independence era, most poor parents used to force their children on attaining 8 years of age to join the child labour squads. They would bring addition to the family earnings to substantiate the large family needs for food.

The social transition of the lower strata, particularly in rural areas acquired the pace in the last decade of the outgoing century, particularly after the media medium was opened for private sector participation. The flooding of visual media channels brought the world in huts and hovels of poor to make realize importance of education for dignity of life for their kids. Instead of dragging the child for joining the child labour squad, the child was led to the school gates. The NGO Prayas confirmed the Planning Commission claim in 2013 that of school attending age group children as many as 96 per cent were going to school. It was an quantum jump of 24 per cent in two decades.

Dr. Deven Kapur, head of India desk at the Pennsylvania University in Lucknow in 2011 a 55 year old uneducated Dalit woman telling him of saving Rs 50 every day, fourth of her income from ironing clothes in a by-lane of a middle class locality. She was saving now to enable her to send her grandchild to a English medium school.

Nikhil, 25 year old Dalit pressman sought my influence to get admission to a good school for two daughters of his elder brother. A Dalit family was keen on good education of two girls in the family in 2010s enthralling experience for me to lend my full support not only get admission but also scholarship from the Delhi government to ensure their unhindered education. The ordeal of Sushama, working in three homes as a sweeper girl does bring tears in every eye. Th 39 year old had her both sons in a private school. Her husband Mukesh was for twenty years with a public sector hotel’ He lost his job as there was no work due to the enforced lock down. The school remained shut down an only one computer in home provided facility to only one child to have distant education.

As the city transport remained shut or difficult to get on Sushama could not attend to her work. As a consequence she received no pay but the private school management insisted on full payment of school fees for both though even distant education facility remained unavailable as teachers went on strike to protest against no payment of salaries. The management plea was it had no funds as the state government did not remit annual grants. The state had no money are the lock down affected its tax revenue and education grants were not in the priority section. Sushma had to borrow money as she had nothing to hypothecate to get loans. The imagination of the tricks she might have to resort to borrow money to pay fees of both her sons is enough to bring tears to listen and ponder over the tragedy of pretty looking Sushama.