ICSE chops satirical short story ‘Jamun ka Ped’ from Class 10 Hindi syllabus

NEW DELHI: The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has removed notable Hindi writer Krishna Chander’s short story, ‘Jamun ka Ped’, from its Class 10 syllabus. The change comes just three months before board exams.

The short story written in the 1960s is a satire on the lengthy bureaucratic procedures that impede justice by allowing authorities to deflect responsibility. A series of officials fail to rescue a poet stuck under a tree. Ultimately, the buck stops with the prime minister.

The Council, a private school examination board, conducts the Class 10 Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) exams. The story has been a part of the syllabus since 2015. Its deletion was announced by the board on November 1.

‘Not appropriate’

The notice did not explain the board’s decision. However, it still caused quite a stir.

The Telegraph reported: “ Sources said officials of a particular state had recently objected to Jamun Ka Ped “.

However, Gerry Arathoon, secretary and chief executive of CISCE, told the same publication that the story was dropped because it was “not appropriate for Class X students”.

The November 1 notice had simply stated that the story in the prescribed textbook “will not be tested for the ICSE year 2020 and 2021 examinations”.

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