A torchbearer of education

RAINBOW COMES DOWN: Uttam Bhikkhu teaches poor children free of charge at a Buddhist temple in Kuakata. His students come from different communities -- Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus. Photo Courtesy: Pinu Rahman

Some people find happiness in pursuit of money, some in climbing up their career ladder. Some, however, carve out a different path and seek happiness by giving themselves over to establishing a just cause. Ven Uttam Bhikkhu, 47, belongs to the latter breed.

A Buddhist priest at the Misripara Seema Buddhist temple in Kuakata, Uttam spends most of his spare time teaching poor children free of charge. But there is more to it: his students come from different communities i.e. Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus. In a country where education has become a commodity and communalism is taking a heavy toll on ethnic and religious minorities, Uttam has taken up teaching, thus fostering a secular spirit in the locality.

Children carrying books and slates and writing pads are seen every morning and afternoon to walk to the temple where the priest, wearing a sage-like smile on his face, teach them Bangla, English and mathematics.

They are students at different local schools. Coming of poor families, many of them tend to drop out even before finishing their primary education while some fail in exams as they cannot afford private tuition. 

In addition to providing free tuition, Uttam buys them pens and writing pads when necessary. At times, he even pays their exam fees so that their dream of receiving the minimum education will not shatter midway.

However, it all started when Uttam felt the need for reviving the dying Rakhaine language. He brought some books on Rakhaine language from Myanmar and started his mission with only 15 Rakhaine children.

"When I saw that Rakhaine children can only speak their mother tongue but do not know how to read or write it, I decided on taking up this mission," said Uttam.

"Later on I noticed that poor children of other communities cannot afford education, leave alone private tuition. So they fail in exams and at one stage many of them drop out from schools and engage in earning activities like fishing, pulling rickshaws and vans etc.

"I took such children from poor families to my temple and started teaching them free of charge," he said.

At present, there are 47 children being tutored at the Buddhist temple which is about 5 kilometres north-east from Kuakata zero point. Of them, 15 belong to the Buddhist (Rakhaine) community, 5 to the Hindu and the rest to the Muslim community.

Uttam teaches them six days a week in two shifts: from 7:00 am to 8:00 am and 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm. His students range from pre-primary   kids to those reading in class nine and ten.

But carrying on such an altruistic mission comes with some expense. So Uttam set up the Loka Sukha Buddha Bihar Poor Student Development Foundation. As the large statue of Buddha attracts a lot of tourists to the more than 100-year-old temple, he requests them to donate to the foundation. This is how he meets the expense for the hapless children's education.

Uttam, however, is not content with what he calls “the meagre foundation fund”. He believes some substantial donation from the government or any non-government organisation will go a long way to take this mission forward.

“Their education is often hampered due to the religious rituals that I have to perform every day. If I had a separate place, I would be able to take more students,” he said. “Some of them come all the way on foot from far-off places. With a little donation from some charity, it'd be possible to buy a few rickshaws to spare them those tiring walks.”