Recasting Citizenship for Development - File UPI

218 B. LAKSHMI
occupied by the girls. I start my conversation with J. Her mother is a Mara
(an ethnic minority in Mizoram), while her father is a Bengali (a migrant).
She says that she is not accepted as a Mara as she does not know the Mara
language:
When I was in Class I and II, they [the Mizo and Lai pupils] looked at us
like tigers do and teased me that I am an English lady from London and
that my nose is pointed like a parrot.
They would be very good to us, if we behave the way they want us to
behave. For instance, if they tell me, ‘Go and sit there’ and I obey what they
say. But we are not their slaves. I remain calm because my Mummy told
me to remain quiet as I have to study here till Class X.
There was a science seminar in February. I performed well but my name
was not there. I have decided that I will not participate in any competition
now.
Another Mara girl, S, says,
They [the Mizo and Lai boys] knock our bags, we scold them and they go
back. If we do not say anything to them, they will do everything with us
that they do with Mizo girls. If a girl is absent, some boy will come and sit
in the middle. They behave like married people do … they can do it with
any girl.
If we get good marks, the Mizo look down upon us. They have a feeling of
being separate.
Thapan (2006 [1991]) has observed that friendships among pupils
are central to their life at school and these are expressed through being
together, talking and doing things together. The most important bases of
friendship are similar attitudes towards life and people, and common
interests. In my fieldwork in Chhimtupui district, I found that friendship
is governed by sex and ethnic background more than anything else. For
instance, J said: ‘I am only on talking terms with the Mizo students and
not on friendship terms. They always come and fight with us but we keep
quiet. But the situation is still better here than in Aizawl.’ On a similar
note, S observed, ‘Outwardly they like, but inwardly they do not like, to
make friends with us. Today, they may talk nicely but tomorrow they will
talk badly with us.’