Anuradha

Hazaribagh, June 3: She’s one half of the Maoist Power Couple lodged at Jai Prakash Narayan Central Jail near Hazaribagh Lake.

But while rebel leader Ravi Sharma (52) throws a fit — make that a so-called indefinite hunger strike — demanding “better food and television”, wife Anuradha (47) placidly does what she used to before the couple were arrested on October 11, 2009.

Anuradha used to teach women cadres of CPI(Maoist) in Andhra Pradesh. Now, behind bars since the past 20 months, she teaches 18 children of women inmates.

The couple are an instance of that rare breed — the middle class rebel. Ravi, an agriculture scientist, was head of the central committee of Maoist military group and a member of the outfit’s special area committee till his arrest. Anuradha was an employee of a nationalised bank in Hyderabad in 1988, but left her job to join the rebels’ Andhra Pradesh outfit. She was heading its women’s wing when they were arrested near Hazaribagh Wildlife Sanctuary on Ranchi-Patna highway.

The couple had been touring Jharkhand and Bihar when they were arrested. Later, the police said Ravi was one the chief masterminds behind the beheading of Francis Indwar, inspector (special branch), near Namkum, and the highway heist of around Rs 1 crore of ICICI Bank money.

Jail superintendent Uday Kumar Kushwaha said among the 2,000 inmates, there were currently 108 women and 24 children.

“Literate women prisoners take these classes. Anuradha is a postgraduate, so when she expressed her desire to teach children, we were glad. She got the nod in January,” he said, adding that if she found peace in doing something positive, nothing could be better.

Anuradha’s class has no fixed time; she takes it daily according to her convenience.

Jailer Narendra Kumar added Anuradha took the help of pictoral books and pictures of animals and fruits to help children grasp better.

“She has told us she is satisfied with her role as teacher in the jail. It’s a also good way for her to pass her time inside the high walls of the central jail,” he said.

Apparently fond of tots Kajal Kumari, Reshmi Khatoon, Soni Kumari, Meena, Mumtaz, and others, all aged between three and six, when they badger her with questions, she answers them with a smile.

On May 24, Ravi’s hunger strike had thrown jail officials in a tizzy. But Kumar said Anuradha had a “cool head on her shoulders”.

“She never created any trouble for us after coming to this jail in 2009. And as a teacher of these children, she is contributing positively. From a Maoists leader to a teacher of kids, it’s a change of heart,” he told The Telegraph.

Well, she used to teach Maoist inductees too. Only the lessons have changed.