Connecting the Alphabets

Education is a liberating force. Connecting millions of hearts and souls with an invisible thread, it helps people cut across the barriers of caste, class, creed, gender and religion and fulfill the aspirations in life. Schools being the citadels of education, provide the right environment in which the teachers and students flourish and spread their wings. Putting the welfare of the society and nation over and above their personal interests, teachers groom young minds for a bright future and students follow their dreams under their mentorship. This deep interrelationship between the students and teachers creates wonders. Depiction of the stories of sacrifice, struggle and success of the teachers and students through any written document like a book can boost the morale of good students and teachers, motivate the newly inducted students and teachers to deliver their best and become role models for others.

The present anthology of stories, mostly set in rural scenario of Odisha, India, is a humble attempt to connect the experiences of fourteen characters into an organic whole and present a kaleidoscope of emotions, feelings and thoughts rooted in school life. While trying to teach the learners how to connect or add the alphabets in learning a language, teachers train them to be architects of their own lives, connect the events in their lives and create a successful whole. The events depicted in the stories are a blend of some real life experiences and fictional narratives but the characters very much resemble the people we meet in the schools every day. Each reader will surely find something common with one of these characters and identify himself/herself with them. Most importantly, each story tries to convey a strong message to the society which a sensible reader would never miss. The stories portray and preach a spectrum of qualities that we discover and look for in students and teachers: adaptability, commitment, cooperation, collaboration, enthusiasm, empathy, honesty, intelligence, passion, patience, perseverance, resilience and sacrifice.