चंद्रावरची शाळा Chandravarchi Shala (The School on the Moon)

कवयित्री सांगते की येणाऱ्या काळात चंद्रावर एक शाळा सुरू होईल. या शाळेत नेहमीसारखे खडू आणि फळा नसतील, कारण सगळं काही वेगळ्या पद्धतीने चालेल.

At the start of the poem the poet imagines that in the twenty-first century a school will be held on the moon. Unlike our familiar classrooms, this school will have no chalk or blackboard. Right away the poem sets its playful, imaginative tone - the reader senses that this school will be completely different from an ordinary school on Earth.

कवितेत मुले शाळेत जाण्यासाठी बस किंवा सायकल वापरत नाहीत, तर छोट्या यानांतून जातात. शाळेचे दारही किल्लीने नाही, तर फक्त एक बटण दाबून उघडते.

In the next lines the poet says that children on the moon will not walk or take a bus to school, but will travel in little spacecraft. The school's door too will work in a modern way, opening automatically at the push of a single button. Through this the poet gives a glimpse of future technology and fires up children's imagination.

पृथ्वीवर मुलांच्या पाठीवर जड दप्तर असते, पण चंद्रावर तसे नसेल. तिथे हवा कमी असल्यामुळे मुलांना दप्तराऐवजी ऑक्सिजनचा सिलिंडर सोबत न्यावा लागेल.

Here the poet offers a fun yet scientifically grounded idea - there will be no heavy schoolbag on the back on the moon, because the moon has very little oxygen. So instead of a schoolbag, children will have to carry an oxygen cylinder. In this playful way the poet also slips in a real scientific fact.

चंद्रावरच्या शाळेत जेवणासाठी भाजी-पोळीचा डबा नेण्याची गरज नसेल. त्याऐवजी एक गोड गोळी घेतली की जेवण पूर्ण होईल, यामुळे डब्याची कटकटच राहणार नाही.

In these lines the poet touches on a very ordinary childhood annoyance - the daily lunchbox of vegetables and roti. On the moon, though, there will be no such fuss at all, because eating one sweet pill will be enough to fill the stomach. This idea is bound to make children laugh and find the poem appealing.

चंद्रावर पी.टी.चा तासही वेगळाच असेल. उडी मारली की परत जमिनीवर न येता मूल हवेत तरंगत राहील, कारण चंद्रावर गुरुत्वाकर्षण खूप कमी आहे.

Next, the poet playfully describes the PT class. On the moon, once a child jumps, they will not come straight back down to the ground but will keep floating in the air. This happens because the moon's gravity is much weaker than Earth's. Through these lines the poet presents a scientific fact in an imaginative way.

कवितेच्या शेवटी कवयित्री सांगते की या शाळेत फक्त बटणे दाबणे एवढाच अभ्यास असेल आणि चंद्रावर पोहोचले की मूल आपोआप पास होईल. शेवटी मुले फक्त चांदण्यांशी खेळतील.

In the final stanzas the poet completes this dream-like picture of a wonderful school. Here, studying will mean simply pressing different buttons, and just reaching the moon will count as passing. There will be no playground either - children will play only with the twinkling stars. In this way the poet closes the poem with a thoroughly playful, dream-like picture of a school on the moon.