'But why?' 'Why shouldn't I catch a cobra?' So opens dramatically Mahasweta Devi's story of Moina, the little girl who constantly asks questions. So many questions, that the village postmaster calls her the 'Why-why girl'.1 

Moina's life is a paradox of freedom and constraints. Freedom is what she enjoys roaming the forest and being close to nature. Moina is born into the Shabar community of tribals, who consider themselves 'children of the jungle'. For centuries, they have strived to preserve their joyful, carefree, equitable and sustainable ways of life against the continuous onslaught of 'civilisation'. Never acknowledging any king or ruler, they have fled from forest to forest, just a step ahead of its destruction by settlers who followed them.2

Moina's life contrasts sharply with that of any of us who may be privileged to read her story. Catching and cooking snakes, trapping birds, tending to goats and eating the leftovers of the 'Babu' who employs her, these experiences are very different from those of most school-going children. Moina's autonomy in the forest and her dependence on a feudal master are both far more intense than the freedoms and restrictions in the life of any middle class child.

Moina may not know, as yet, of the persecution suffered by the Shabars after the monstrous act of the British in 1872 declaring them to be a "criminal" tribe, a label that still leads to discrimination, now in more subtle, yet powerful ways. Perhaps she's heard of Chuni Kotal, the Shabar girl who dared to aspire to an education. In Moina's story, her constraints come from family circumstances which force her to work for a living as a goatherd. Moina is quick in noticing the injustices in her life: 'Why do I have to walk miles to the river for water? Why do we live in a leaf hut? Why can't we eat rice twice a day?' And then, 'Why shouldn't I study too?' Moina's questioning about the world leads her to the realisation that some answers at least can be found in books, and so she demands to be admitted to school.

Mahasweta Devi based the character of Moina on many children she had met, both tribal and non-tribal. She remarked that tribal children, being close to nature, are naturally receptive to scientific explanations. But for a Sabar child like Moina, even to find a voice to speak out, is something special. To be able to express a feeling, a wish, an opinion, or a question, is something that a child in a privileged family may take for granted. For Moina such an opportunity came only from out-of-school classes conducted by the 'Samiti'.

These classes, which form the backdrop to Moina's story are, in real life, run by the 'Paschim Banga Kheriya Sabar Kalyan Samiti' in Purulia, West Bengal, with whom Mahasweta Devi worked for three decades. The Samiti is a community-based organisation committed to bringing livelihood, education and respect to the Sabars who have for generations been alienated by society. The Samiti conducts bridge classes in tribal hamlets, which enable Sabar children to gain confidence, find a voice, and learn basic skills to help their transition to nearby Government schools.3

More than a thousand kilometers West of Purulia, in Amravati district of Maharashtra, a Grade 8 girl in a Tribal Ashram Shala poignantly questioned Sawaliram, 'Humans are one, then why are they of different castes?'

We hear these questions not just from Moina in the story, but from so many children who find themselves in discriminatory situations, which are all too common in our society. These children simply ask for their right to play, question and learn, without being excluded by their looks, dress, speech or birth, without the social stigma of being called 'denotified'. Let's hope many more Moinas stand up and claim that right.

-----

1'The Why-Why Girl' by Mahasweta Devi, first published in an introduction to the Puffin Treasury of Modern Indian Stories, edited by Mala Dalal, 2002. Illustrated children's books published by Tulika in Tamil, English, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Gujarati and Telugu.

2'The Book of the Hunter', by Mahasweta Devi, translated by Sagaree and Mandira Sengupta, Seagull, 2002.

3'40 Paise Worth of Respect, Please', by Dilip D'Souza. Retrieved on November 11, 2019.