“We must be better. We need good teachers” — a masterpiece of world cinema that ignites the learning spirit within us!
“Man doesn’t need fairy tales anymore. Real stories are far phenomenal than the tales”
-Anonymous
Remember the iconic last scene of 1977’s ‘Reason, Debate and a Story’, the last cinema of world-renowned filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak that depicted how even after a rebel got killed, his rifle kept on firing? Well, Ghatak, being politically very vibrant, might had shown that so directly, but his metaphor was indeed true. Rebels die but their revolution doesn’t.
Kimani Ng’ang’a Maruge, an old dilapidated Kenyan, proved how true Ritwik statement was with his last breath. The story started long back when British people colonized Kenya in 1920. Likewise, any other colonized country, white-skinned Britishers brutally exploited the Kenyans in every possible way.
Like any oppressed takes some time to actually realize the oppression, natives of Kenya took too. It was almost after three decades, in 1952 when Mau Mau tribe of Kenya revolted against the British colonization which is popularly known as the Mau Mau Rebellion in the history. However, the protest miserably failed as the Mau Mau leader Dedan Kimathi was caught by the Britishers in 1956. Although Britishers left Kenya in 1963, the spirit of Mau Mau revolt never died.
After the Government of newly-formed of Republic of Kenya announced free education for all its citizen, Kimani Ng’ang’a Maruge, a 84-year-old man, appeared at a primary school in Eldoret, a small city in Kenya. This feeble-by-appearance, yet stubborn-at-heart Maruge at last got admission in the first grade in the school on 2004’s 12th January. Innumerable obstacles, countless hurdles couldn’t diminish Maruge’s spirit of learning. Being the oldest soul on the earth to register in a school, Maruge wasn’t only elected head boy in his school in 2005, but also, in the same year, he headed to New York having been invited in the United Nations 2005 World Summit to deliver a speech on the importance of education in the primary level.
Kimani Ng’ang’a Maruge’s breath-taking struggle and story was brought to silver screen in 2010’s Justin Chadwick directorial movie ‘The First Grader’.
Beautifully portrayed by Oliver Litondo, the character of Kimani Ng’ang’a Maruge, truly illustrated the never-quenched thirst for knowledge of a soul who was almost on the verge of his death and could expect nothing new in life. The goosebumps-worthy acting of Oliver Litondo in Maruge’s character brought the actor huge acclamation from the critics as well as from the audience. Popular British actress Naomie Harris played the character of Jane Obinchu, the head teacher of the primary school where Maruge got admitted.
The film beautifully depicted how despite being the announcement of free education for all from the government, Maruge faced immense impediment from every sphere of the system. However, the one who stood by his spirit from the very beginning was Jane Obinchu, the coloured little soul in the school. When everyone else was busy in finding an excuse as to why it was ridiculous for a 85-year-old man to join school, Obinchu stood by Maruge’s spirit from teaching him to even gripping a pencil correctly to taking extra care of him after the school hours.
However, filthy politics in the administration removed Obinchu from her duty and transferred her to some other place. In place of Obinchu, another teacher, recommended by the management, was appointed in the school, but exactly there comes an amazing twist in the story. The brutally exploited, broken and the marginalized tribal children of the school started revolting against the newly appointed teacher with all they had. Justin Chadwick has probably wanted to showcase it very allegorically how even the most exploited people can fight back in the most adverse situation.
At the climax, Maruge is seen to walk straight up to the Chairman of the Ministry of Education. In the meeting, Maruge, taking off his shirt, shows the scars on his back that Britishers left on him. The heart-wrenching dialogue of Maruge showing his scarred back “The British did this to me. The cracked my skull. We have to learn from our past. We must not forget. But we must be better. We need good teachers” simply gives goosbumps to us.
Moved by his words, Jane Obinchu was returnd to her old school where she gets an overwhelming reception from the students and Maruge.
At the end of the movie, Maruge receives an honorary letter from the President of the Republic of Kenya that brought him and his true companion-cum-teacher Jane Obinchu into tears.
‘The First Grader’ doesn’t shed any light on the death of Kimani Ng’ang’a, probably because, Justin Chadwick and the entire team of the project wanted to end the film with a note of never-ending hope.
History of world cinema had witnessed many stories on the teacher-student relationship with inspiring insights, but very few could bring the flavour from very laser-focused theme to a broader perspective of humanity. And, needless to say, ‘The First Grader’ successfully did that. Apart from bagging around a dozen of awards in different genres, the film is indeed a masterpiece that will treasured in the history of world cinema forever. There truly can’t be any better occasion than the Teachers’ day to witness this spectacular work of art.
