On the occasion of International Mother Language Day, we share a set of poems that hold up a small, honest mirror to the classroom. Written by Mr Dron Sahu, these verses speak from the child’s side of the desk where the language of home and the language of school do not always meet.
A Child Between Two Languages: Poems by Mr Dron Sahu
Shafali Chadha
Language and Learning Foundation
21st Feb 2026
On the occasion of International Mother Language Day, we share a set of poems that hold up a small, honest mirror to the classroom. Written by Mr Dron Sahu, Headmaster, Govt. Primary School Bijemal, Chhattisgarh, these verses speak from the child’s side of the desk where the language of home and the language of school do not always meet.
In simple lines and everyday images, the poems capture what it can feel like to learn when the medium of instruction is unfamiliar: when a familiar word changes shape in a textbook, when meaning arrives late, and when “failing” is less about ability and more about language.
मेरे घर की भाषा और,
पुस्तक की भाषा बेमेल है।
पुस्तक की भाषा में ऑयल,
मेरे घर की भाषा में तेल है।
स्कूल मुझे ऐसे लगता है,
जैसे कोई बड़ा-सा जेल है।
शायद इसलिए मुझे सिखाना,
हो जाता हर बार फेल है।
द्रोण साहू
Translation
The language of my home,
and the language of my book,
doesn’t quite meet.
In the book, it’s “oil”,
In my home, it’s “tel”
School feels to me
like one big jail.
Maybe that’s why
teaching me fails every time
Dron Sahu
किसी भाषा में सीखने से पहले,
उस भाषा को सीखना पड़ता है।
उस भाषा को सीखने से ही तो,
किसी अवधारणा को सीख पाएगा।
जैसे अक्षर को लिखना सीखने पर,
ही तो अपनी बातों को लिख पाएगा।
जैसे बारिश का मज़ा लेने के लिए,
बारिश में भीगना पड़ता है ।
वैसे ही,
किसी भाषा में सीखने से पहले,
उस भाषा को सीखना पड़ता है।
द्रोण साहू
Translation
Before you can learn in a language,
you must learn the language.
Only after learning that language
can your ideas take shape
Just as you learn letters first
so your words can live on the page.
Or get drenched in the rain
to actually enjoy it
In the same way,
before you can learn in a language,
you must learn the language.
Dron Sahu
मेरी भाषा
मेरी शिक्षा,
मेरी परीक्षा।
मेरा आकलन,
मेरा मूल्यांकन।
मुझे पढ़ाना,
मुझे सिखाना।
जब मैं ही हूँ इन सबके बीज में।
मेरी भाषा क्यों नहीं इस बीच में ??
द्रोण साहू
Translation
My language.
My education.
My examination.
My assessment.
My evaluation.
Teaching me to read.
Teaching me to learn.
When I am the seed of all of this,
Why is my language not part of it?
Dron Sahu
Author:
Dron Sahu
Headmaster
Govt. Primary School Bijemal, Chhattisgarh
