It's been 25 years since the release of Mira Nair's masterpiece Salaam Bombay, and one character in the film who left an indelible imprint on movie-goers' memory was Chaipau, played with startling honesty by the film's child lead, Shafiq Syed.
Shafiq, who won the national award for his portrayal, is making a living in the city as an autorickshaw driver, and is father to four children, two of them school drop-outs. On March 22, Salaam Bombay is being re-released, but that is the last thing on Chaipau's mind. He is desperately hoping his third youngest will not meet with the same fate, and is trying to find a good school for the child, with some help from the Right to Education Act (RTE).
"I had no idea about that this RTE Act existed, but if it means that my child might get a free education, then I will certainly go and get application for him right away," says Syed.
Shafiq, who's house is located off Bannerghatta Road, is father to Waseem, girl Simran Banu, Nadim, and two-year-old Asenu. Waseem, 12, has already dropped out of school, just like his father.
"He studied till sixth, but he was older than other children in his class. So refused to go to school. Simran stopped going to school when we shifted from Kanakapura Road to our current house. We had to discontinue her studies because the school was too far and maybe we will enroll her again in the next academic year," he adds.
But it might be Nadim, whose age Syed is not sure of ('six or seven') as the child's birth certificate is misplaced, who might be the luckiest of the lot.
"I will definitely go around neighbouring schools and see if RTE applies to my children. And when Asenu is a few years older, then I will apply under RTE for him too."
Up till now, Nadim has never attended school, but Shafiq fears his third child may have lost out on the age cut-off, but is determined to make sure he gets the application for his youngest child as soon as he becomes eligible.
"I don't want my children to be like me. If I had studied, who knows, I might have even had a career as an actor. I could have been able to read the scripts at hand," he says.
Forget National Awards, his main goal right now is to make sure he at least own the auto he drives.
"I have to pay rent for my auto. If I can get a loan in order to drive my own auto, then maybe I can use that money to pay for the tuition fee of my children," he says.
@hyper_aice
