E-Journal Entry-1 Tapasya Kaul Rajaram- MAE13126
A Muslim Girl Goes to School- Sara Abubucker
Summary:
This
story "A Muslim Girl Goes to School" by Sara Abubucker is an
autobiographical account. The character of the girl Sara is penning down
her own story about her experiences as a Muslim girl. She is the main character
in the story and there are other characters like her mother and father and her
brothers who are impacting her life.
The
setting goes from larger to smaller like the way she describes her village as a
part of the larger whole. The story is set in Northern part of Kerala, which
shares the border with Karnataka. The story is set in a small town of
Kasaragodu. There is a detailed demographic description of the village setting.
Setting clearly describes that how they are from a very privileged family
background. Though the author does not boast about it; however, establishes the
fact of being from a respected family very well. She mentions that her going to
school could have started many tongues wagging in the community. However,
because they are from a well-respected family in the community that does not
happen and people in the community are silenced. The setting is also of how the
Muslim family has Hindus staying in and around them in the village and the neighborhood
and how they do not have any kind of animosity based on religion.
The
theme of the story is about the Muslim family who has contradictory goals of
sending their girl to school. There are conflicting thoughts within the family
about the girl Sara going to school. The father wants to establish an example
of how Muslim girls should go to school. The mother does not seems to be very
convinced of this thought and is not very happy on Sara going to school. Sara
mentions in the story that she was born on the same day as the Prophet. Sara
starts enjoying going to school not because she wants to study or get educated
but to enjoy the play in the school playground, the library, and to be with her
friends.
Plot
of the story moves in waves of crests and troughs of happiness and sadness. The
story first comes across as happy setting, then comes a moment of commotion
when the father decides to put the girl in the school, then how she is sad
because she does not really wants to go to school, then she is again happy and
how she shares her emotions with her brother. Towards the end the story goes on
a sad note as she looses her brothers. Her father looses her wife, and both the
sons. The story ends on a sad note. It is not a happy ending story for sure.
Point
of view is of the author’s point of view about what she feels about
establishing her identity. She establishes that the Muslims are a minority in
the setting of the story. I felt, there is no need to do that as in India the
Muslims might be minorities however if we look at the world population Muslims
are certainly not a minority.
About
the Author:
The
author seems to be a new voice in Kannada literature as a Muslim writer who did
not have to establish her identity to be accepted as a Kannada writer. The
history behind this was that in Kannada literature Muslims were always
misrepresented. This seems to be the history behind most of Sara's writings. I
am assuming that she might have felt the strong need to establish her identity.
She establishes her identity as a Muslim girl.
The
author when wrote this story it might be a big deal for a "Muslim
girl" to go to school. In today's condition it is not so. There are many
Muslim girls who go to school though the drop out rate is still very high. So
the story does not hold that kind of meaning, which it might have held 10 to 15
years back. We can also compare this story to "I am Malala" which is
again an attempt to tell the story of what Muslim women undergo in the society,
how their voices are mostly silenced and what they suffer in the society that
they live in.
The
story is so true not only for Muslims but for other girls also who are
discouraged to go to school and are married off at an early age. There are many
girls who are sold, as their parents cannot take care of them. There are many
reports, which keep coming in the newspapers. Jija in our group talk about the
story described how her friends who are from Kerala – Malabar, were forced to
get married. It does not matter weather you are a Muslim or a Hindu this theme
of the story is still relevant in many parts of India or around the world. The
Muslim girls are still not encouraged to go to school they are sent to Madrasas
as shared by Navneet who went for her field trip and her research was based on
Nai-Talim.
As
she was from an elite family the girl managed to go to school though a Muslim.
There is a sociocultural connotation, which is established clearly. They are
from a respected family and they are well established because the girl's going
to school could have made people talking about them. However because they are
from an elite family the other people in the community does not talk behind
their back. Though there are some talks but it dies its own death.
Reflections
on the story:
The
story had linearity and coherence and is a very traditionally written story.
The story has been written from the (perceived) viewpoint of a Muslim girl who
does not want to go to school but is forced to go to school as a child. Some
very serious issues, such as contradictions about the views of the mother and
father about educating a girl child, and being a Muslim in Indian setting, and
the gender issue etc. have been referred to. The combination of these elements
makes the story a unique experience. To learn about how these issues affect the
girl invoked a lot of thoughts in me as a reader. At the same time, the
descriptions of character and events were so realistic, that I as a reader
became engaged with the story and the characters. For all these reasons, I was
deeply moved by the story.
The
most stirring part of the story was how the narrator recalls the most important
and molding events of her life and describes them for example the delivery of
the neighborhood girl and her mothers excitement about it. The description is
extremely emotional about the occurrence of the events and has details and
personal touch in those descriptions that have an effect on the reader. I
suddenly found myself in the setting and the story of the girl Sara momentarily
unnerved at the implications that may have on the various characters in the story.
Literary
Circle Session:
My
literary circle interaction was very fruitful and insightful. Of all the five
members, all of us had read the story and engaged with the story before the
discussion happened. As a result, the interaction meaningful and insightful, it
was not a superficial ‘laying out of ideas’ as expressed by Calkin.
We
discussed slightly different interpretations of the incidents in the story. For
instance, we all had similar ideas of what happens towards the end. We all felt
the story turns depressing and sad towards the end. That is how I perceived the
deaths of the mother and the brothers in the end. On the other hand, even
Sreevidya proposed the same idea that the story is of loss and death towards
the end.
There
were no major disagreements within the group, primarily because we all had
similar kind of ideas after reading the story. All of us shared about how we
have encountered people or friends still face these difficulties of being drop
outs from the school or not being sent to school being a girl child or being a
Muslim women. These questions made us think about the position of the narrator
and how relevant the theme of the story still is may be not directly but
indirectly as the gender issue still remains in front of us like a
giant. The literary circle sessions indeed made me revisit various aspects
of the story that I had earlier ignored or not read carefully.
Insight
about Literacy Discussion:
I
think if I were to conduct a literacy discussion, I would ask students to draw
on their own experiences as they discuss the text and keep the discussion grounded
in the text and build on it further. I would also encourage collective
discussion and idea sharing and shared meaning making of what they could
understand by the text. I think the story can be easily discussed in literary
circles in the middle school. It would be a good discussion point to bring out
the different issues of class, caste, and gender in our society.
