His mother tongue is Bengali. But since childhood, Rijuraj Mukhopadhyay, a resident of Bhalagora village in Kashipur, has been enrolled in a Santali medium school and studying in that language. Behind this Bengali family's son learning the language in Ol Chiki script lies a pure love for the Santali language. Rijuraj appeared for his secondary examination after studying in a Santali medium school. His father Kamal Mukhopadhyay's ancestral home is in Nandigram, Jamuria in West Bardhaman. He grew up in poverty from childhood. His father was a cook in the school hostel.
After his sudden death, the responsibility of work fell on Kamal. He says, "I used to stay at my maternal uncle's house since childhood. Due to poverty in the family, I had to take up work while I was still a school student myself. I was the only member from a general family working as a cook in the tribal hostel. Everyone in the hostel spoke in Santali. That's when my special love for this language developed." After completing his studies, Kamal's profession is now teaching. He is a teacher at Sonaijuri Primary School. He said, "Even during school days, I tried to learn the Santali language. I learned a few words from someone. Some of which were perhaps objectionable. When I tried to say them, first there was laughter, then I got beaten by the teachers. Actually, at that time I had no idea about the meaning of those words. In the joy of learning a new language, I said them. That's when I decided I would teach this language to my child."
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Three kilometres for a language he loves
Consequently, he enrolled his younger son Rijuraj in Tilka Murmu High School, which is the only Santali medium school in the area. Though the school was three kilometers away from the village, family members would drop little Riju at school. Ajit Hembram, a resident of Bhalagora village, commented, "The area's high school is right opposite Rijuraj's house. Children from almost all villages come to study at that school. Yet Rijuraj would walk in the opposite direction to study at the distant school to learn Santali. All the tribal families in our village speak to him in Santali. We also feel satisfied speaking to him in our mother tongue." He added, "At this age, he can speak Santali fluently. The way he prays (which is called nehar in Santali), it fills the heart to see. Again, he is equally comfortable in our songs and sereda. He has even performed with artist Naren Hansda."
Shatrughna Murmu, secretary of the Purulia district committee of the West Bengal Santali Teachers' Organization and teacher at Tilka Murmu High School, says, "I have been seeing Rijuraj since childhood. The boy has a different kind of love for this language. I feel the boy will go far with this language." He further says, "This year, 512 candidates from Santali medium are taking the secondary examination.
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Rijuraj is the only candidate who is not tribal." Proud father Kamal says, "During the COVID pandemic, schools were closed for a long time during lockdown. He would go to several villages around our area including Sindupur, Juludi, Parashol and teach children in Santali." After finishing his English exam on Tuesday, Rijuraj says, "I have loved the Santali language since childhood. I want to study this language. I heard that Pandit Raghunath Murmu, the creator of the Ol Chiki script, came to Hurda in Purulia. Just thinking about it gives a different feeling."
