Children of the pandemic

Why is it important to tell stories in ways that outlive the news cycle? Read author-filmmaker Samina Mishra and illustrator Tarique Aziz's book Jamlo Walks (2021) to look for answers

How can we prevent human suffering from being reduced to data sets in the service of disaster capitalism? What can be done to ensure that people who have died during the Covid-19 pandemic are remembered with dignity? Why is it important to tell stories in ways that outlive the news cycle? Read author-filmmaker Samina Mishra and illustrator Tarique Aziz’s book Jamlo Walks (2021), published by Puffin Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, to look for answers.

Recommended for ages seven and above, it is based on the true story of a 12-year-old girl named Jamlo Makdam from the Muria community of Adivasis in Bastar, Chhattisgarh. She died on her way back home from the chilli fields of Telangana, where she had gone as a migrant worker along with a group from her village Aaded. Set in 2020, it is a poignant tale, likely to make you sad and angry.

The author writes, “On 24 March, the government of India ordered a nationwide lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus. The people of India…were given only four hours to prepare for a 21-day lockdown. The entire population of the country was stunned and for the millions of Indians who build roads and buildings; work in homes, factories and fields; and live in makeshift settlements, this became an enormous crisis.”

This book reminds us that, in India, the pandemic has been compounded by political opportunism, administrative incompetence, and utter disregard for the right to life of people who are marginalised due to socio-economic reasons. It uses factual details sourced from the People’s Archive of Rural India, which published Purusottam Thakur and Kamlesh Painkra’s article titled “Jamlo’s last journey along a locked-down road” on May 14, 2020.

Ms Mishra writes, “Jamlo went to work sometime in February, but when the lockdown stopped work in March and the labourers had used up all their savings, they were told by their contractor to return to their villages. Jamlo and the group started walking on 16 April…They chose a route through the forests because the main road was locked down…On April 18, 2020, with just 55-60 kilometres left to reach her village, Jamlo collapsed.”

These notes appear at the end of the book, suggesting that they are for parents, caregivers and teachers hoping to use it as a resource to sensitise children. The main story uses fewer words. Mr Aziz’s illustrations do more of the talking. The protagonist is depicted with affection and respect, not only as a picture of hardship but as a child who loves her parents and works hard to provide for her family. She carries a cloth bag filled with chillies for her family.

Ms Mishra contrasts Jamlo’s life with the lives of other children — Tara, Rahul and Aamir. They attend “online school” from the safe confines of their homes, with access to food and drinking water as well as parents looking after them. Tara and Rahul are disconnected from the harsh realities faced by migrant workers but they want to know more, so they overhear conversations between parents, watch the news, and look out of their windows.

Aamir is bored because Zoom classes do not replicate the feeling of being at school even if the teacher tries to make them fun. He cannot play pranks or even see his friends. Many of them do not switch on their video due to poor internet connectivity. His father reminds him of his privilege by saying, “At least you can hear. So many children don’t even have this.”

This experience of inequity is documented in the Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2020 Wave 1, published by the Pratham Education Foundation’s ASER Centre in February 2021. It is based on a survey for which phone calls were made to parents/caregivers of children aged 5-16 in 118,838 households as well as head teachers or teachers in 16,761 schools in September 2020, the sixth month of continuous school closures across India.

Addressing the digital divide, Madhav Chavan writes, “While over 90 per cent households have cellphones, 62 per cent households have a smartphone which is mostly under the control of the father. Therefore, its use for educational purpose is limited. Unless a family has multiple smart devices, the children cannot use one for education. In this survey, 10-11 per cent households have reported purchasing a new phone — invariably a smartphone — during the pandemic.”

Harsh Mander’s book Locking Down the Poor (2021), published by Speaking Tiger, tells the story of a 16-year-old boy who “hanged himself from the roof of his small home” in Goa in October 2020. He and his brother used to attend online classes using the only smartphone that the family owned. When it broke, and needed repair, his father could not afford the estimated cost of Rs 2,000. He, like Jamlo, was failed by the Indian state.