JOIN USIt's 'Namma Kannada' for these Sikh kids from Rajasthan
These five children meticulously learn the Kannada alphabet as their parents busy themselves each day within the manufacture and sale of cutlery.
Their teachers at the Government Higher Primary School at KEB Colony here are thrilled that Ankit Singh, Karan Singh, Amrit Singh, Kuldeep Singh and Bharati Kaur - belonging to Sikh families hailing from Rajasthan - are learning the rudiment of the language that they have embraced as their own.
While Ankit, Amrit and Karan are in Class II, Kuldeep and Bharati are students of Class IV. Sumit, another child from Rajasthan, had studied Class I in a Hindi school, but has now joined this Kannada school for Class II.
They reside at Sunnada Bhatti area of Siya Talab extension in the city, known for the utter lack of basic amenities.
Livelihood
The Sikh families migrated six years ago to Raichur in search of a livelihood and it has been their home ever since.
The children’s parents roam across towns and cities selling frying pan, different types of knives, the implement used to make butter milk, ‘tava’ used to make roti and utensils used in dhabas.
Teachers at the school say that the children found it difficult in the initial four to five months to acclimatise themselves to the new environment. But they are now learning Kannada with great enthusiasm.
Headmaster G Thimmanna and Shankaralingappa, chairman of the School Development and Management Committee, said that they were happy with the Sikh children’s academic progress.
The Sikh children’s love for Kannada attracts attention in the light of the government’s move to merge Kannada schools having poor strength with bigger ones and the trend of parents preferring private English-medium schools.