Age Is Just A Number: 72-Year-Old Joins Standard VII To Learn English From Scratch

While spectacles and missing teeth are a common sight in classrooms, inside a third-floor hallway at Fort's St Xavier's Night School, you could spot grey hair too. For, at the age of 72, Mukund Chari, who is a little taller and a lot older than the rest of Class VII students, has gone back to school to give his English literature degree dream a chance.

He joined the school two months ago.

Born four days before India's independence, the Grant Road resident retired as a security guard and an employee of Nira Cooperative Society who checked drink stalls near railway stations for more than 30 years. He studied in a Marathi medium school in the 1950s.

¡°Thrilled that I had finished Class XI, I went to a college in south Mumbai to seek admission. I wanted to study literature. But a few minutes inside the principal's room broke me. I was told the education would all be in English. I wasn't confident of being able to cope with it since my schooling was in Marathi. I went back home disappointed and shut that chapter,¡± recalls Chari in his still-no-so-perfect English; he is busy picking up the language at his new school; as a practice, all students must speak in English in class. Chari had to join Class VII as he has little knowledge of English and must learn it from the scratch.

Soon after the episode with the college principal, Chari lost his parents and being the eldest among five children, took up a couple of jobs to look after his younger siblings. ¡°We went on with our lives. My sisters and brother got married and settled down. I continued with my jobs too but there was one thing that always lingered at the back of mind. I wanted a master's degree in English literature. I haven't read Shakespeare but I hear it is great,¡± he said.

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As age caught up and work became physically tiring, Chari decided to retire and live with his sister's family. ¡°Her (sister's) son has studied literature in college and I peeped into his homework once in a while. My interest in the subject was alive,¡± said Chari. It was during an evening trip to Crawford Market earlier this year that he saw a group of boys in uniform, which gave him the idea of going back to school.

¡°I feel very incomplete that I couldn't pursue a degree because I wasn't able to speak English. I think I have only a few years to live and I want to fix that. Instead of just spending my days visiting temples like my friends do, I picked school,¡± said the septuagenarian. He has his eyes set on completing the master's or PhD in ¡°something related to literature¡±.

The road back to school hasn't been without bumps though. To ensure that his dream would not be a burden on his family, he first had to find a school he could afford. He spends Rs 16 on bus travel to and from school each day. ¡°The family was extremely supportive but I wanted to go to an aided school. Our neighbours had questions about my choice. Often, they wanted to know if I felt ashamed sitting among children but this feels just like family,¡± he said.

Chari is among the 189-strong diverse set of students who study at the school in spite of odds. Chari's teachers are delighted to find him attend class regularly. ¡°While we need to force a lot of our students out of the playground and into the classroom, Chari is always the first one in these days. He has never missed a day of prayer which begins at 6.25pm. He is as enthusiastic as the young ones. In fact, he climbs up the stairs with the rest of the young boys in spite of us offering him to use the lift as an exception,¡± said school head, Ajit Dave.