‘Yours Sincerly’: From Dimapur with love, via potholes

DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 25 : It all started when they decided to study together after school on that warm September evening. Two 11-year-old girls, Jiana Jain and Khushali Sethi – close friends and classmates – were in the sitting room at the former’s house at Kalibari Road, Dimapur when they heard it on the television.

A news channel was on, and the anchor was narrating the story of how an 11-year-old boy suffering from cancer has sought financial assistance for treatment by writing a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
That was when the idea struck the two Class V students of Hope Academy, Dimapur. They, too, would be writing a letter to the Prime Minister!

But, unlike the other 11-year-old kid in the news, their correspondence with the Prime Minister’s Office was not a call for assistance for treatment of any ailments. The two 11-year-old girls wanted the most powerful man in country to know that “the roads in Dimapur are horrible” and “take action against this”.

Since Thursday night, their letter to Modi has gone viral on the internet. With an honest sincerity that only kids of their age are capable of exhibiting, the duo (in the letter) has invited the Prime Minister to “kindly” visit Dimapur.

“We are living in Jain Temple Road and if you visit our society you would be shocked. We would like if you take action against this,” the letter reads. While signing off, they have quite adorably misspelt “Yours sincerly”. It was dated September 12.

After completing the letter, they sealed it in an envelope and asked Jiana’s father, Pravin Jain to post it to the Prime Minister’s Office. The father told Eastern Mirror on Friday that he complied with their request simply because he did not want to disappoint them. “I posted it the next day and forgot about it. I did not take it seriously.” Khushali is the daughter of Sunil Sethi.

It was only when he received a message from the administrator of Hope Academy, Sashila Ozukum on Thursday evening that he came know the Prime Minister’s Office had responded to the letter. “Maybe it was the handwriting and the way they wrote it that convinced Modi that they were sincere and authentic,” he said.

The Prime Minister’s Office, in response, has written to the Chief Secretary of Nagaland directing the state government “for action as appropriate”. It has also said that reply may be sent to the petitioner and a copy of the same “uploaded on the portal.”

As of Friday night, the petitioners were yet to receive any reply from the state government. Calls made to Chief Secretary, Pankaj Kumar went unanswered. Text messages sent were also not replied. As for the “appropriate action”, the roads are – to borrow from the vocabulary of the two 11-year-old girls – still horrible.

The two girls on Friday said the letter was prompted by their daily experience of travelling to school on “horrible” roads. “I am happy that the children have done it. It is something that we as seniors could not do. Even the politicians and the bureaucrats should learn from them,” said Pravin Jain.