Manufactured Childhood Poem by BASAB CHAUDHURI

Does school make a difference in a man's life?
I do not know.
I went to a small school in my childhood,
sat with children from very commonplace background,
played with them, quarreled and sometimes fought with them,
and when I left them, I had tears in my eyes,
- they cried too.
My heart was so built, my mind was so made.

Now I live in a city.
There are so many noble schools.
They look like glass houses, warm, tempered, structured,
every bit of them is designed.
How will the boys and girls sit?
What will be the angle of rotation of their neck and shoulder when they speak to each other?
What will they eat and drink?
Every minute detail must be recorded, documented, shared.

As the plants grow in glass houses, children grow up in schools,
tailor made, as per order, as per specifications.

Modern day has new demand -
beyond imagination of the old!