A Teacher in West Bengal Climbs Trees to Get Internet for His Online Classes

As students, we’ve all looked forward to the days our professors didn’t take classes. However, in the disquiet created by the coronavirus lockdown, there have been mixed reactions. While some students are elated at the prospect of getting a long vacation, others are missing the routine and learning that came with the classes. Teachers, nevertheless, are doing their best to ensure that classes continue online through apps like Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

Some teachers, though, have gone above and beyond for their students. Take for example, Subrata Pati: a history teacher who has built himself a platform on the branches of a neem tree, from where he can access better internet connectivity to continue doing his job.

Pati, who teaches at the Adamas University and RICE Education in Kolkata, had to move to his native village of Ahanda in West Bengal’s Bankura district. But like much of India, his phone network here turned out to be patchy. He was then struck by the idea of moving upward in an effort to improve his connectivity. So, he climbed a neem tree.

Seeing the ascent do wonders for his internet signal, the 35-year-old set up a makeshift platform—made of bamboo, gunny sacks, and hay—tied to the tree branches with a little help from his friends. He now goes there every morning to teach his students, even taking food and water along with him on days he has multiple classes at a stretch.

"I have temporarily shifted from my Kolkata residence to Ahanda to be with my family in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis,” Pati told PTI. “That done, I couldn't have shrugged off my responsibility as a teacher. The internet network here is mostly patchy, so I had to look for a solution."

Now that this truly dedicated teacher has gone to great lengths just to get internet connectivity, his students have responded enthusiastically, and attendance is at an all-time high. “The students keep boosting my confidence. They have always been very supportive. They assured me that they would put in their best efforts to score well in my paper," he added.

Pati got the idea of setting up the platform from the machan (makeshift watchtower) that villagers build during harvest season to keep an eye on the elephants straying into their fields, which is a common practice in these areas. “Sometimes the heat and the urge to pee bother me, but I am trying to adjust,” he says. “Sometimes storms and thunderstorms damage the platform, but I try and fix it the next day. Under no circumstances, I would want my students to be inconvenienced.”

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