Journey for a Dream

One of the biggest obstacle on the path of our vision is perseverance, the will to move ahead against the tides on a daily basis. It is difficult to be inspired at all times, not because we don't believe in it any more, but because failing consistently gets to us. The process becomes annoying and the purpose seems unachievable, more so in the event of failure on an elemental level. After a brilliant day one, my vision seemed a lot more closer. Everybody had reached the objective for the day without any major issue. The kids were inspired, some transformed overnight (as mentioned by the parent) and some found their 'I can' attitude. I was not only ecstatic, but also looking forward to continuing the flow. Anything lesser than this achievement was unacceptable. It is not okay to come down by a notch for any reason. I have excellence issues, it must be achieved at all times, especially when it involves the future of so many kids, the present of the families and the notio

Once I set my heart on something, I will do anything and everything to achieve it. Before you start on the path, assessing the magnanimity of the work is imperative. And when this assessment reveals that you will have to start over from the most elemental level, doing which may rid you of the initial goal you had in mind, it gets to every cell in the body. Change of plans, change of styles, change of an entire system of things I had put in place. The kids who I saw talking about values and importance of education, could not recognize letters, let alone frame sentences. It is very unfortunate that the future of this society is already facing issues because of the faults of others. I had hoped to start on a much more higher level. Only then could I have reached where I wanted to. But now, I had to start all over. With an inner turmoil of not being sure, I stepped into the class to push their limits. I wanted to make them realize their own potential than achieve my goals. What w

The story of us, our growth, failures, challenges and triumph, are known to us not because it was some remote part of DNA or brain cells but because we have been able to read and understand the knowledge of our forefathers. Our potential and hope too, rest on this knowledge that is communicated out. What use would it have been if Einstein couldn't have conveyed his theories to us? Rid of sleep, rest and maybe even consciousness at times, I stood in front of almost forty eager, bubbling and over enthusiastic kids. Watching over while they immersed themselves in writing the stories of their families, I wondered if anyone could be that interested in writing, especially when their language proficiency is not up to the mark. Most of these second graders cannot even recognize the letters in the alphabet and yet, I could see them making mountains move on their papers. It is said that writing is the highest form of understanding in humanity. It is this art that develops very slow

The concept of deja vu is not alien to any of us in the real world. It sends a sudden charge down your spine and makes your jaws drop. It is not that it is a very rare thing, but it never stops to awe us every single time. But something that is even more wondrous is getting to a peek into your past. It is not everyday that there is a sudden feeling of your world being turned inside out and laid bare in front of you! Extremely smart, annoyingly confident and pure challenge seeking attitude. These are but very few ways I would describe the kid sitting in the last row on my left side. With an air around him, he constantly assess his surroundings and gets away with the biggest of mischiefs. Pushed towards breakdown, he will just stop, rethink his plan and then with sheer ignorance of rules, start over with his talent show. Pretending to be in dire need of a toilet, he tries everything possible. From request to deceit to using his friends as cover. It is a common misconception t

A sense of weird nausea, a feeling of anxiety, a strand of optimism and an awful lot of excitement. As I entered the school premises, nostalgia took over. It was the same feeling I remember having had on the first day of my school. There was no sadness, or nervousness. Just a tiny speck of uncertainty which converted to silent observation of the surroundings, trying to gather as much and get lost in the crowd! Nobody ever knows what they're up to until they actually face it. You can plan all you want and rehearse for days together but time will always beat you to the line. Dynamism and patience are the key to any teacher's life, more so when your students are grade 2 kids who cannot focus for more than a few minutes. It is a daunting task to not just keep them all engaged in productive work, but also convince them that they don't need to tinkle every five minutes. Another major issue at handling them is the hyperactivity. As I greeted each child entering the class

As we come to the end of a tightly packed week, insanity takes over. The growing urge to be part of the polluted, suffocating and traffic filled civilization makes us restless. Even though we claim to despise the congested atmosphere, it is our comfort zone. It is one thing to love nature, go on treks, immerse oneself in the beauty of it all but a completely different thing to actually live there. For someone who is used to a bustling life of urban India, it becomes difficult to breathe fresh air after a week! What about the commitment to our vision? What about being the change for the million kids who are depending on us to deliver? One of the most important take away for the day was investing parents in the education of their child. We often hear statements that put the responsibility of educating the child on the teacher alone. What we don’t realize is that there is not much you can do when you hardly get five to six hours a day with the child. Also, nobody picks up skills, kn

There is no one who finds idleness exciting. Nobody can be idle forever. In my case, this period of idleness must always be small, especially on an intellectual level. I not only enjoy thinking of new perspectives and things, I also find peace in them. I am a curious person by default, I cannot be at rest all the time, I cannot sit in one place and repeat to myself things I already know. I have to obtain and understand more! Having worked continuously for so many days, I suddenly find myself sitting through sessions, staring into the walls. Not that the sessions are unimportant or the people aren't effective enough, it is just that I no more find myself attracted to defining and labelling my thought process. I do fully understand the importance but I also have a growing restlessness inside to start working on my teaching. Though it is not simple or easy to achieve the set goals, it is important to start on the path, lest be overcome by boredom. I am one of those who likes wor

Teacher's profession is considered the most noblest of all. And yet, we somehow always discourage our kids from taking it up as a career. We look at it as a last resort, as something that failures do. How do we expect great results from our kids when we don't allow great teachers to get into the field? Having said that, our immediate goal must be to train the existing teachers to at least sustain learning if not improve it drastically. One of the most important aspect that determines a student's understanding of concepts, is curiosity. If there is no sense of need from the student's side, whatever we teach goes over their heads. When we talk to our friends or interact with anyone in general, we provide new information by first grabbing their attention. This works in a classroom too. We must always pique their curiosity, explain as to why they need to learn something before we get down to actual delivering of the lesson. This helps in holding the student's atte

What is the one elemental thing that sets me apart from those whose life still revolves around making ends meet? What is that one thing that was given to me that I leveraged in my growth? Why was I given that element? These were some of the questions that wriggled inside my head for a long time, the search for the differentiating element. Every child has the potential to become someone in future regardless of his/her current situation. There is a sense of possibility in that child’s future. We may never find any evidence or non-evidence of this but we cannot work on factual data when it comes to the future of the society. Notwithstanding the individual growth that the child may have, he/she deserves every right at the chance. Limitations that constrain this belief in the child plays a major role in conditioning his/her mind from a very early age. We all know that more often than not, a child who is constantly ridiculed for being slow, will remain (or become) slow. Values and

Quality education is not just the passing on of knowledge. It is a very intricate and complex aspect of the student's life and future. The ability to learn new things cannot be imbibed by teachers who just provide students with the information from curriculum. It needs someone who can inspire and persevere. Teaching, is leadership. According to various reports, India is one of the most backward countries in terms of quality education being provided to its students. Most of them are not at their grade level. Some unfortunate factors that determine the quality of education and the number opportunities that a child receives are based on its place of birth, caste, sub-geography (Urban or Rural) and gender. The disappointing thing about this is that it is just a chance. There is no real logic in giving someone the extra facility for having been a biological accident in a different place. If we cannot overcome this and leverage our demographic in ushering the society into an empowe

Every human relationship begins with trust. It also is a huge part of human interaction. If you cannot get this right then everything that follows is null and void, useless! It is also true that trusting someone blindly is risky and may lead to serious issues in future. So where then do we draw the line? We have always been taught not to talk to strangers. When we grew up, we understood that we have to talk to new people to extend our circle. But, the first lesson of not talking always stuck. So I pushed myself to talk to others but maintain a distance, not readily trust them. For someone who fails to connect with people on most levels, it is not very easy either, to trust. At one point it becomes physically impossible. The quality of humans that sets us apart from other species is that of empathy. A society is built on the basis of common empathy and mutual respect. This creates an environment of collective growth and sustains the civilization. But the belief that every huma

Only truth and no hope, is a recipe for failure and only hope and no truth, for fantasy. Finding a perfect balance between these two things is what life is all about, facing the truth and hoping for a better tomorrow. I have always been a bit cynical about the rosy idea of a brave, empowered and new India. Was it really possible? Could we overcome such intricately woven, multi-faceted issues? Would those people persevere? On a roller coaster ride already, I was looking forward to yet another insightful day when I entered the hall for a session. The kids, who danced yesterday, were invited to interact with us and share their experiences. Coming from difficult backgrounds, these kids scaled mountains. Hardly entering their teens, they travelled cities to perform and speak to people. One particular thirteen year old girl sweept my feet off the floor and then made me jump through the roof! At her age I was probably gnawing at furniture and drooling over maha-lacto candies. Speak

Contradictions when seen first hand, bring with it a feeling of inner turmoil. More so when it is in one single day! Having had ended the previous day on a hopeful note, I prepared myself to going into a community to meet a kid. But I was yet to figure out what I wanted to bring back. Under constructed on the outside, and delicately detailed on the inside. Tiles, TV, cooler, furniture, almost everything that a middle class well to do family can have, was here in the apparently poverty ridden community. Greeted by excited kids, I could not help but wonder about the situations that lead to such ostensible lives. While we were settling down in our buses to return, a few kids aged not more than thirteen years started misbehaving with the girls sitting inside.  Shell shocked at the sheer audacity and confused about how to react to tiny kids acting like absolute hooligans, she shut the window. This incited an entire volley of stones, gravel and garbage being hurled at us, by children w

Lying down on a hot bed, I always tend to think what I did wrong that the universe has conspired to put me on it. Losing ₹60 to an unknown egoistic recharge guy early in the morning at the Pune railway station is not really a good start to the day! It probably is a warning sign. As I started to the railway station from home, the fear of the unknown haunted me. No knowledge of what lay ahead, the people I would meet, the sheer number of opinions I would have to absorb. I was optimistic nevertheless. When you have staked your entire life on something and set out on the path, there is no turning back. Entertaining second thoughts is absolutely out of the question. I was looking to connect with another person who was attending the Teach for India training, to maybe get some closure and it is not often that you meet someone who shares the same wavelength as you. But, the fellow with who I travelled in train met me halfway and I believe we had an amazing time together. She has inev