“Don’t loose faith in India” were my father’s dying words. Both my parents were true patriots and loved their country with rare passion, a passion that they instilled in their only child. I fell in love with India from the stories I heard at their knee.
I am a proud Indian at a proud Hindu. My mother made sure I knew all about my religion. She celebrated each and every festival in the faraway lands we lived in. I never doubted my faith even when nuns in erstwhile Saigon (now Ho Chin Minh City) wanted to convert me. They offered me a double promotion! I was 12
Much water has flown under the bridge since then but my love for my country and the belief in my faith have never wavered.
Don’t lose faith in India were the last words my father chose to say to me and it is because of those words that I am writing this blog.
When I turned 40 I decided to open Project Why to honour my parents and because I believed that every child deserves the best. It has been a beautiful journey and it renewed my faith in my country as I found in this India all the values that my parents had talked about: generosity, respect for elders, for traditions etc.
But today I feel that faith wavering and I am plain angry. That is why I write these words.
In the past few weeks we have been privy to many aberrations and invaded by cockroaches! What started as a genuine student movement turned into a free for all platform with politicians eager to hijack the movement. And they did succeed. Students and children were quickly forgotten. All that they wanted was the resignation of the education minister as if that would solve all.
During the one month protest in the centre of Delhi everything that should not have happened did happen. With the craze for social media and the latest popularity of reels, everyone wanted a part of the cake and everyone wanted to go viral, never mind the content. We saw some terrible reels insulting our PM and others, insulting Hindu Gods all amidst a bacchanal atmosphere were all was permitted. Soon there were more bad elements than students and the decision to march to the Parliament ended in unnecessary, ugly and brutal violence.
It has been over a month and we are still witnessing the consequences of that violence.
The movement was said to look at the education scenario and bring the much needed change. As a person deeply involved with education I was happy that someone at least was talking of education. So much change is needed but sadly that is not the true agenda of our cockroaches! Post the agitation, some so called leaders of the CJP (Cockroach Janta Party) decided to visit schools in different parts of the country. They did aggressively, without any permission, throwing their weight around having ensured that the press was in attendance. And when met with resistance and complaints, they quickly played the victim card and went running to seek help from the courts and they got a rap on their fingers. You cannot enter a school at your whim and fancy, let alone take pictures! You violate the right of children and the POSCO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act .
What really angered me was that one soon realised that no one was really interested in the children of India or their education. All that the CJP leaders did was to regurgitate the figures of the Niti Ayog. Never did I hear of any road map or any plan. All one heard was unnecessary, empty and useless noise. And what is worse is that every card was played in the worse way possible: Hindu muslim, high caste low caste and so on. Switch the. TV on and you will see what I mean. No one is talking about education reforms. All that one can see are political games with every one wanting their share of the pie.
There are 248 million children enrolled in school as I write these words. 124 million attend government schools, There are two given realities that we cannot ignore: that children cannot wait for changes to happen and that with the advent of AI the job scenario is changing at a the speed of light. One salutes the government for the new education policy which seems to address the challenges of AI but my humble question is how long will things take to percolate to the remotest school and where are the resource persons. By the time everyone gets their act togetherI wonder how many batches would have passed out with useless knowledge.
In all the brouhaha about changes needed in the education system I have not heard one concrete proposal, one small idea that would benefit the children.
Many would ask what gives me the right to blabber about these issues. My simple answer is: working with underprivileged children for the past 26 years. I always walk the talk..We at Project Why have remained in touch with reality and kept our approach flexible and in tune with the happenings in the world. We have modified our teaching to include all the skills needed in to succeed in today’s day and age. It is an uphill task with a lot of resistance from the teaching staff as everyone wants to remain in their comfort zones. It took the use of the carrot and the stick approach to get things done our way. Today all Project Why children are learning English and computers from class I and we have incorporated all XXI century skills in our every day classes. My Project Why children will be able to accept every challenge that comes their way. Will write more about our approach in another post.
So my question to everyone including our ‘dear’ cockroaches is: will someone take the bull by the horns and ensure that EVERY CHILD gets what he or she deserve. In my humble opinion what is that what is needed is an interim programme that starts today till everything falls in place. I do not see any of this. I only hear strident voices bashing each other.
I just hope that some sane voices emerge and prevail.
I would also like to write about the what transpired between protestors and the police. It is important to understand that they have a job to do and are doing just that. The senseless beating of police in uniform was deplorable. My father taught me to respect the uniform and till date I will get up if any police officer enters my office with his cap on and I m 75.
Institutions need to be respected in any society worth its name. True there may be wrong doings but anarchy is not the way to handle the situation. We are a democracy and if you do not like the present ELECTED government then stand for elections and bring the change you seek but insulting the PM is not the way to go. To me the insults are a poor reflection on who we have become as parents, teachers and elders. Sadly unlike earlier times, there is not much for children to emulate. Children learn by watching what elders (parents, teachers and those in power) do and what they are seeing now is bad language, insults, violence and so on. No one is showing them a solution or a better way to go.
So please take a moment to think and find out solutions that work starting TODAY. Children cannot wait. They grow every minute.
Last but not the least let us talk religion. What I always liked about the Hinduism my parents taught me was its all encompassing nature. As a child my parents always allowed me to fast with my muslim friend, got to church with my christian one and celebrate Sabbath with the jewish ones. It never made me less of a hindu. But today, in the name of sensationalism and the quest for social network visibility, al is kosher. Bash Hindu Gods and traditions seems to be the flavour of the day. This has hurt me immensely as this is in no way what I was taught.
The divide and rule approach inherited from the British has been perfected by today’s politicians and this will ring the death knell of all we held as true.
I urge every one whose heart beats for India to wake up and. see the writing on the wall and for once move out of your comfort zones, stop been armchair protestors and come out and say what you feel.
Even if I wavered for a bat of an eye lid, my faith in India is strong, my heart beats for India and I will not lose faith in my country. So help me God.
PS The picture you see above is that of the Yamuna children in their new centre. They are the true children of India. Their parents grow vegetables on the banks of the river and we ran a centre for them in the midst of fields. These are children no one cared for and yet they are the brightest, kindest and grounded children of Project Why.Today their fate is uncertain. Of the over 100 kids we had earlier only 26 have joined are new centre. Their future is fragile and uncertain. We will continue to hold their hands for as long as possible.
These are the children that need your help and support.
Sadly they are the forsaken ones.