by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 6, 2010 | Uncategorized
Wonder if you remember Mehajabi and her mom! The ones who lived in a room with a strange view. The one whose open heart surgery we sponsored some time back? Well she was back to visit and what a delightful girl she has become. But that is where the happy story ends. The last two years have taken a huge toll on this little family.
During the recent floods that ravaged Bihar, Mehajabi lost 3 of her siblings. The children had gone to spent their holidays with their grandparents. Only Mehajabi and her kid brother remained in Delhi. The waters came and wiped her entire family and whatever little land they had. The family was now truncated to four: Mehajabi, her brother and her parents. The father had lost his safe job in the small town madarssa ( Islamic school) he worked in and having no qualifications had no option but to work as a daily wage labour in Delhi. The mother took to cleaning homes for a pittance. The little brother was sent to a local private school and Mehajabi left to play and look after the tiny home.
But her mom had other plans for her and that is why she came to visit us. She wanted to put Mehajabi in the same school as her brother, only she did not have the means to do so. She needed our help. When we asked how much it would cost to educate this spunky girl the answer was: 200 rupees. We smiled and told her we would give her the money provided there would be be other child. Should that happen, we would stop all help.
She gave us her disarming smile and promised! Only time will tell whether she will keep her promise. Till then Mehajabi is off to school!
by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 5, 2010 | Uncategorized
My birthday was to be a quiet day after all the revelry on the previous night. For the past few weeks my life had been dictated by a little bundle of joy, my grandson, and moves like a clockwork orange: 1 pm lunch time, 2 pm siesta time and so on. And believe you me nothing can alter the pattern, I would never allow it to. When Agastya is here, only the granny lives! Anyway birthday or no birthday 2pm on April 4th was siesta time.
The ritual began. Setting the pillows, getting the favourite soft toy, trying to get the bundle of energy to lie down. As I was doing all this I heard footsteps. It was Popples who had come back from the market with my birthday gift: a small car to add to the collection on my desk, as it seems I get one each time he is home, and two key chains with God figures that will soon hang on my handbag. I hugged him and as I did, he whispered: can I sleep with you too? Of course was the answer. And we settled on the bed. At first he lay next to Agastya and murmured endearments to him. This simply melted my heart. This was something I had hoped and prayed for, to see my precious Popples and my priceless Agastya get to know each other and bond! As Utpal caressed and stroked the baby urging him to sleep, little Agy, seeing that this was not the normal afternoon drill, perked up and thought it was bonus play time. It was time to set things right and I shifted in the middle. While I patted the baby to sleep, I felt a little arm move across my body and hug me. It was Popples. Then a few kisses till slowly Morpheus prevailed and the little boys slipped into his arms.
The only one who did break the rule was me as I did not and could not go to sleep. The moment was too precious and I wanted to savour every moment of it. Initially it is was a pure sensory delight of having these two little boys I so love sleeping next to me but then my thoughts drifted and my mind went on overdrive. This was not just two little boys it was so much more. For me personally it was two souls who had changed my life and giving it a whole new meaning. Each in their own inimitable way had given an old biddy a new lease of life and fulfilled many dreams. They had added a spring to my gait and a song to my heart. But that was not all, as they lay next to me in deep slumber, they also proved beyond doubt that all schismatic attempts to divide human beings and hence society did not and could not have divine sanction. The Gods had made us all equal and love knew no barriers. And if man was the creator of such aberrations, then only he was the one who could redress the torts.
It was time we did…. Little Popples and tiny Agy juts showed us the way.
What a blessed moment.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 3, 2010 | Uncategorized
It was a party. One you could never imagine in your wildest dream. Would beat the Mad Hatter’s one hands down.
The guest list was unique and could never have been drawn by even the best event planner. Only the magic of pwhy could conjure that one! Age was no bar. You had one year olds and eighty years olds. Country was no bar. Social origin was no bar as some were born on streets and some were to the manor born.
There was little Agastya my grandson who sat with his big eyes and serious look wondering at what was going on. Then there was Utpal the miracle child who should have not been walking this earth but who beat all odds and today is in class III in boarding school. Young Kiran was there too, the lovely girl born on the very week we began our work and who is the best friend of our special class and little Ishaan whose mom and I actually began project why! These were the little guests.
Then there was the young boy born on a road side who became a teacher and then walked the ramp, the three wheeler driver’s son who always stood first and today is also a teacher with us. His name happens to be Prince and he is one! Next on the list were two young lads, both from simple homes and both teachers at pwhy. They had just come back from a 15 day tour of Rajasthan as special guests of our Enfances Indiennes friends and were still on cloud nine! There was of course my A team Rani and Dharmendra who have made me almost redundant as they steer the project with perfection. Two lovely volunteers Lorianne and Lewis added their charm as Lewis is a singer and Lorianne a wonderful lens woman.
Then there was a lovely group of people from many parts of France who had come all the way to share in the celebrations. People from different walks of life who believed with me that every child had a right to blossom and bloom. They had come to renew their support and commitment to my swan song.
And then there was my family, who has stood by me like a rock, who had shared all the moments of joy and sorrow, even those that were never expressed. The ones who have believed in me even when I faltered. My lovely daughters, my son-in-law and the one I chose to be my partner.
It was a perfect meeting of heart and hope. The culmination of 10 years of a wonderful and thrilling journey and it could have just been a celebration of this very fact. But that was not the case as hope is eternal and cannot and should not be walled in the confines of a human life. Hope lives on. Two wonderful souls were also present and they held the key to the door that would enable us to anchor our work in time. It was a privilege to have Deepika and Manav with us and to know that they too were willing to believe in our dream of planet why, or should I say planet hope.
I stood there humbled and proud. Was I really the one who had orchestrated this night, a true night to remember? And if the answer was indeed yes, then I feel no guilt in giving myself a silent pat on the back, not forgetting however that the journey is far from over and that I do have miles before I sleep.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 2, 2010 | Uncategorized
There have been some interesting reactions to my previous post.
One said: Spoken like a dedicated, bold and truly concerned teacher.Can feel the anguish and frustration beneth these words.Any thing given in the hands of these politicians has no future. This should be more of a reason for more of Project Why. Because we know that ultimately the responsibility lies in the hands of those who have passion and dedication.
Let me share the experience of Vizag. Last June (sometime) the court gave a directive to close all the private schools not having registration with the Education Department. It turned out that these schools were actually catering to the working class children whose parents have a dream to give better education than the Govt. schools can provide. Parents being gardner, domestic help, drivers, peon, watchman small vendors etc., where both mother and father work hard to meet the education expenses, suddenly in the middle of the session found their children siting at home. They had already paid the annual fees for which they had saved the whole year and now arranging the similar amount at such short notice meant going to the loan sharks or letting their children loose a year. The drama went on for almost two months.A counter petition was filed and the relief came in the form of these schools exempted for the present academic year from closing.
There are always two sides of the coin, though these schools may be violating some norms on the other hand they are filling the gap created by the same system.
A few years I would have reacted differently as I was still a neophyte in the world of Education in India, and was still trying to build impossible castles in the air. Those were the days where I propounded with almost illogical passion the case of the common state run neighborhood school where all children would learn together. That was when I felt all private schools were anathema, just teaching shops that were in for quick buck. I remember how vehemently and angrily I fought the poor parents who had opted to send their wards to the small private schools in the vicinity schools that bore names like Mother K school or SK Convent. I urged them to stop wasting their hard earned money and put their kids into the municipal school and send them to pwhy! Many did and their kids did well.
As time passed, I slowly came to realise that what was making their children do well was the time they spent at pwhy and the fact that parents slowly were claiming some form of ownership to the project. And I also understood that when they did send their children to so called private schools, this is juts what they did: claimed ownership to the education of their children. Government schools , because of their sorry state were no longer respectable and acceptable centres of learning. The penny fell when I read a remarkable book by James Tooley called the Beautiful Tree. It is the story of how the poorest people of the world are educating themselves: simply by creating small parent funded private schools. Maybe this is the answer, at least till the state gets their act inti some semblance of order. And this is also what we had wanted pwhy to lead to. We wanted it to be an example for parents to emulate as only then could ‘more’ pwhys be created. The present model that depends entirely on donations could never withstand the test of time or be replicated.
Sadly, this is perhaps where we failed. Maybe it is because of the stigma attached to the word NGO. Maybe it is because we gave to much for free in the initial days in the hope of being accepted and valorised. Maybe we should have charged a fee for day one itself! Too many questions that need answers, but maybe it is too late for some!
The other reaction was very close to my heart though it may not seem so at first It said: One doesn’t need nationalised schools. but one must have one school system for all. and that one system has to be about merit and everyone who do badly in that one common system…hard luck to them…let them all then be devoid of all reservation. 10 years of education is the only place reservation should be applied. all our children must start at the same starting block….after that…let them all proceed as per their calibre.
The reason why I clamour for a common school is two fold: one is because I was the product of one, albeit not in India, and the other is because I cannot quite see how we can have that elusive and desired school system when ALL children can start at the same starting block, because this can only work if all children learn together, irrespective of their social origins.
by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 1, 2010 | Uncategorized
This our class of 2010! It is a matter of pride for me to write about them on the very day the children of India have finally got the right to education after waiting for sixty three long years. This class beat all odds and made it in spite of all those who took almost four generations to get their act together.
Today everyone is taking the kudos for this land mark legislation or as our Minister calls it “tryst with destiny”. The Government in power, the politicians, the educationists et al. I feel a little uncomfortable at all this as I wonder why it took 22630 days for the powers that be to realise that the future of any country lay in the tiny hands of its children. I also feel uneasy at the tortuous route that we as a nation chose to take to get to this day. Why did we allow our state run schools to run into a state of such despair that even the not so privileged had to go for the private option thus opening the gates for a new and very lucrative business: education! Were not our erstwhile leaders in various fields proud products of the government school system? That we allowed schools to become a lucrative option somewhere spelt the doom of the very free and equitable education for all we have so painstakingly brought about. Wonder why we chose this road and allowed this to happen?
We can celebrate to day, and have cause to but the battle is far from won. There are huge hurdles and they will soon appear. Let me share some. The new law states that no child can be failed till class VIII. How will be ensure that children get from class to class with the right knowledge. This needs sound systems and committed teachers. We all know the real situation! The Act is supposed to ensure education to 22 crore children (6 to 14). Out of these 1.1 crore are not in school. And the moot question remains: who pays the bills? Let us not fool ourselves, nothing will change overnight.. let us hope it does not take another 20 000 days to get where we want. And I am not even venturing into questions like what about those under 6 and above 14.
As I said, we chose a convoluted road to get to this day. Had we walked another path, the one that seemed to have been chalked out by our past leaders, we may have been able to realise the dream of a level playing field kind of education. A quick perusal of the city shows that there are state run schools in every nook and corner, with prime land. It is another matter that the buildings are often dilapidated. Had these schools been made into centres of excellence, the journey would have been easier. Today the road chosen to provide supposedly inclusive education for all is to force private schools to reserve 25 5 of seats for the poorer children. Reservation again, it seems that we as a nation can never get over this word. Now the private schools are up in arms and in court. We are talking business here and not education ideals, who will pay for these 25%. Then if the system mooted is followed it will take 12 years for a school to have 25 of poor kids as we start in 2011 with class 1. That is another 7665 days.
I read an interview with the Minister of Education and my heart skipped a beat when he said in answer to a question on the common school, something many of us think is the answer to education for all: Obviously we can’t nationalise education. As you know that we have neither the will nor the funding. The will Mr Minister, not the funding. One always finds funding if there is a will. Rad the interview and you will agree that the day when all children of India get their constitutional right to Education is still very far away.
And yet it does not take much to change things on the ground. Our valiant class of 2010 and their committed and passionate teacher is proof of the fact that if there is a will there is alwya a way!
by Anuradha Bakshi | Apr 1, 2010 | Uncategorized
Recently a friend wrote a short note in the memory of the loss of two of her dear friends. It was a touching note reminiscing about rites de passage that had always been shared and she reminded us that this one too awaited us all. The wisdom was in accepting it and preparing for it in the best manner possible.
I must admit that of late I have often found myself thinking of my final curtain call. Life is made of a plethora of rites de passage, and each bring a new awakening and take us one step further on the road of life. But the last one is different. It is the final high note of the symphony of your life, the one followed by eternal silence. And yes the wisdom is to accept that it is inevitable and that to prepare for it is the best we can do.
It is true that this realisation comes in our twilight years and is often heralded by some event or the other. It can be the sudden and unexpected loss of a dear one or it can be much gentler, like the slow realisation that time that was once your friend and moved slowly, suddenly becomes frenzied as days seem to pass at lightning speed, barely allowing you to catch your breath. This takes me back to my university days when one tried to comprehend the theories of Bergson on time and its duration. We all remember how time sometimes hangs and sometimes simply flies. When we were young this duality of time was associated to pleasant and unpleasant experiences, today it seems otherwise. As age advances time seems to take wings.
This is perhaps a gentle reminder from the Gods that one must put one’s house in order and do it pronto! I just realised mine is a little larger than the conventional ones. So it is time I pulled up my boots and got to work. There is no time left to think, ponder, deliberate or reflect. These are luxuries that are no longer my due. It is time to act and act fast even if it means making some mistakes or slipping a few times. One can always retrace steps or apply some soothing salve. The house has to be set in order. And that above all means that pwhy has to be protected and given a life long lease. The wisdom lies in making the right choices even if they are not the ideal ones. Let us not forget I am now in the queue!
