I Used To Hear The Village Clown Saying Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

I used to hear the village clown saying
Long, long ago,
The same uncouth, clumsy, old and odd-clothes-wearing clown
Joking and saying,
First, I would M.A. then B.A. then I.A. then Matric
And the people used to smile at,
Smile and laugh,
The half-read people,
Taking to and smiling,
How could it be?

But the same, I think, is happening today,
Students going to bazaar and buying degrees from
Without having read
From multi-national educational establishments
And liberalized desi varsity off the campus franchisee centres,
Go, bargain and pay the price
And take the degree
And this is the package and the programme.

There was a time when the exam. was exam-like
With the pin drop silence,
The invigilators used to expel
And also fine and jail
While some used to approach the examiners
For raising marks and scores illegally,
Going against etiquette and morality.

Thereafter came an age of Natwarlal, the conman issuing certificates,
Giving degrees and diplomas falsely,
The certificate is o.k,
But the signature is duplicate
And the registration number missing,
Though the seal and the monogram are there rightly
And many worked as teachers, clerks and professors

And some shone too as incumbents
At their workplaces,
Gained popularity
For their competence and dexterity,
But went missing when the news broke out
That their degrees were false,
The police after, searching them
And they went in hiding,
Their whereabouts unknown.

But today they are writing at home and submitting,
The open varsity, adult-education students,
Not satisfied with their A Grade degrees,
Wanting more and more,
Open the answer-script and take down your notes,
And say it outside that
You had been a topper
Like a cock giving the shrill call.

This is just the one side of the picture
While on the other some go about taking the help of micro-photocopied chits
As for to cheat in the examination hall
And to take the use of unfair means,
Dodging the invigilators,
As some simpletons go about labouring seriously.

What to say about them,
Many thieves and dacoits are Ph.Ds. and M.Phils.,
If call I not, what shall I,
As have they manoeuvred and managed them
To be in lubricated postings,
As they write it not,
Got written, copied and pasted
Even took the grants and stipends and scholarships
For doing them,
What more to say to?

When had there been not the conmen, in every age, in every time,
People managing the things,
Trying to get them managed and done with,
The media-managers and the manage-masters,
You see them everywhere,
The pocket full of,
But whom to rely upon and give money to?

When the bluff-master or manage-master’s testimonials
Are duly signed, checked and verified, sealed and stamped,
Those are valid, certified and approved,
It does not matter whether he has purchased or not,
But his degrees valid
And if the deserving ones are without,
What to say it,
How to explain them and these?