Light of education

Everything in the village - houses, villagers and those narrow lanes- were seemingly cleaner and brighter than usual. Air was full of mild fragrance. Each household in the village sprinkled their places with a soothing scent. Whole atmosphere was bubbling with a kind of festivity. Otherwise the environment there used to be full of harsh alcoholic odor. This is Datar, a village located 24 km away from Jhansi- A hub of Kabutra Tribe infamous for illegal trade of Desi(Country Made) Liquor. But today it was a new dawn of hope for Datar village. All the inhabitants were excitedly waiting to warmly receive a very special guest. At the same time S.S.P Jhansi Dev Kumar Antony, who was known for dead honest image, was heading towards Datar but not to nab any criminal but to felicitate several young men for quitting illegal liquor trade. It was a miracle that Kabutras were in focus not for something unlawful but for a good reason. This transformation did not happen overnight and no one knows this whole storybetter than Raj kumar Diwedi, a RSS full timer, who first came to Datar in 2007. That time no one in the village was interested to take him to their Dera (Hut). Villagers were suspicious. Sending kids to school was a big taboo here. After thelong persuasion they permitted Diwedi to educate their kids on the condition thathe would not be interfering in any other activity of village. Kabutra tribe used to not to trust Kajjas (Non Kabutra People). The actual root cause of the problem was lying in centuries old mistrust between the Kabutra Tribe and the rest of the society. They were denied to any respect in yesteryears, even to sit in mass fest at temples. The brutal treatment Kabutras received from the society in past, left them with no option other than embracing to criminal activities. But once the dawn of education rose in Datar darkness of misfortune began to vanish. Aashish Manoriya, a student of B.sc 2 nd year expresses that he doesn’t want to put word Kabutra as his surname. His family has completely quit the liquor trade. Anil, who runs a hardware shop, tells “At one point of time it was unimaginable for us to quit our conventional trade of illegal liquor”. Datar established in February 1958 by the efforts of then Home Minister of State Balwant Nagesh Datar but couldn’t step into the mainstream for almost 40 years until RSS Swayamsevaks landed in the scene. “Establishing a school in the vicinity was the first step to change the lives of Kabutras”, shares Dr. Ravi Prakash, mahanagar sanghchalak. Currently, 450 children of Kabutra Community go to school. These kids previously used to remain at home to assist their parents in the packaging of liquor and often they also got indulge in consuming alcohol. According to Kshetra Sewa Pramukh Naval Kishor Ji, now 80 girls from this community also go to school. Kabutras are now helping the Kajjas too. They sponsored the marriage of two poor girls in Seepri Bazaar Basti. Now let’s get back from the flashback mode to present. After felicitating the young men in Datar, who have quit illegal liquor trade, entire opinion of Super cop Dev Kumar Antony’s about the Kabutra Tribe has been changed. Antony also encouraged their youths to join police force.