The village schoolmaster: Why Chhattisgarh’s Ashok Lodhi is called Cinema Babu by a village

With a television and a loudspeaker, Ashok Lodhi, a teacher at a primary school in Koriya district, has ensured his 270 students don’t miss out on education just because they have no smartphones.

Tameshwar Sinha
| Updated: Last updated on October 14th, 2020,

Ashok Lodhi turned his two-wheeler into a classroom on wheels in order to teach children in villages. Photo: Gaon Connection

Koriya (Chhattisgarh)

A teacher who is called Cinema Babu. That’s Ashok Lodhi for you. The nickname has stuck, thanks to what the 43-year-old teacher at the Phatpani Primary School in Sara Sankul Kendra, Chhattisgarh, did during the COVID-19 lockdown period and continues to do, to ensure his 270 students don’t not miss out on education.

This assumes a lot of significance at a time when cases of children in rural India suffering due to lack of access to online classes, or ending their lives because of frustration over online classes are cropping up. 

What Lodhi did was simple. He innovated with the Indian ability of jugaad and turned his two-wheeler into a classroom on wheels. An LED television from the school has been removed and fastened on the rear seat. A speaker is placed on top of a box, and a mic helps him teach the six to 11-year-olds, from classes I to V.  

Children like studying with the help of television. Photo: Gaon Connection

Whenever Lodhi’s motorcycle is sighted in the mohallas (localities) of the village, located 20 kilometres from the Baikunthpur development block in Koriya District, and the music plays on the speaker, the children rush to meet their masterji. What Lodhi is doing is above and beyond what the government of Chhattisgarh has instructed. It had directed government school teachers to teach village children in open areas or in government buildings while maintaining social distancing.

The state government created mobile applications such as Tuhar Duar and Diksha to facilitate online education of children. Unfortunately, not all students have access to smartphones, and hence miss out on the apps. Lodhi has ensured these children are able to access the videos and content related to their subjects. 

Lodhi has placed a speaker on top of a box and a mic, which helps him teach the six to 11-year-olds, from classes I to V. Photo: Gaon Connection

Lodhi has spent Rs 21,000 of his own to arrange for an inverter, battery, mic and speaker. These make up his mobile classroom. He teaches the village children with the help of cartoons and other videos beamed from the apps onto the TV that’s fixed to his vehicle. 

The students seem to like this departure from the norm, because it is not intimidating. “We like studying with the help of television and are able to study Hindi, English and Mathematics. Our Guruji (teacher) comes to us and teaches us. We are able to learn better, and feel great that he takes this effort for us,” Deepak Singh, Lodhi’s 10-year-old student told Gaon Connection.

“In our village, Ashok Lodhiji has come to be known as ‘Cinema Babu’, I thank him for reaching out to village mohallas and educating our children with the help of a television set. The sessions are both entertaining and educational,” said Raghunath Singh, who sends his child to one such mohalla class. Though it began small, 270 children from different localities have now got a chance to stay in touch with their studies.

Talking to Gaon Connection, Lodhi said that he thought of fusing teaching and television, a medium children love. “I knew that children would be greatly interested in studying through cartoons. Because this is a mobile classroom, I will be able to teach, while maintaining social distancing,” he added.

In the first few days of Lodhi’s visit to the village, he received a lot of love and appreciation for his effort. “Times such as these call for new efforts and approaches. We teachers have to respond to the situation and adopt innovative methods so children get an education,” he said.

Read the story in Hindi.