My Journey at Vidhya Vidhai

There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled.

There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled.

You feel it, don’t you?

~ Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī

We often have so many questions in our mind before traveling to a new place. I too had many as I was traveling from Delhi to Chennai. However, one thing was sure that while I will be in Chennai for a month I will keep my mind and heart open for as many experiences and learnings I could get.

These doubts and confusions slowly fade away as I started working with Vidhya Vidhai and most importantly when I visited a partner school of Vidhya Vidhai. It was a low-income school in North Chennai (Tondiarpet).

I was very excited to meet the kids and had pre-planned my sessions. However when I observed the dingy classrooms and the constant nuisance due to the noise coming from the main road made me a bit restless. The activities I initially planned needed a spacious room where movement could be possible. Luckily I got the computer lab for my classes; it was a slightly bigger room but not as big to accommodate 50+ students comfortably. Vidhya Vidhai team advised me to plan activities in such a manner that they are not dependent on space.  

In a span of 3 weeks, I got the opportunity to interact with classes 6 to 9, approximately 500 students per week. I observed the school for a few days and tried to understand the needs of the kids. I realized the kids needed more support to enhance their conversation skills especially in English and also need to build a deeper understanding about the what\’s happening around them. The kids came from a different socio-cultural background, therefore, it was necessary to have certain values imbibed in them that could make them a better version of themselves.

Initially, I thought the language would be a barrier, but this thought proved to be wrong because language can never be a barrier, its sole purpose is to communicate. Imagine, life would become much easier if we all knew how to communicate irrespective of the fact we knew a common language or not. New challenges daily welcomed me however I was able to push myself harder to become stronger and more creative to find solutions. At the end of the day, while sipping tea with Ram and Regila, I would discuss these challenges and they would guide me just like a true guardian would do.

I knew I was here for a short span of time, therefore, I kept simple goals in my mind. I chose certain values which could be inculcated in the kids and also I decided by the end of the month I will try to create a conducive environment where kids would initiate and love to converse in English. I introduced the ‘three mantras of life’; Gratitude, Appreciation, and Apology. I began by dividing the class into smaller groups.

I remember a very interesting incident happened during Class Election in 8B while giving her leader speech a girl started crying and when I asked her the reason she said she has to say sorry to her friend because she has hurt her. That day I was grateful and sure that I am going in the right direction.

While we were doing an activity about ‘Our likes and dislikes’. This boy after a lot of encouragement said he doesn’t like his father because he would beat him daily. Later after some days during a session about values he got emotional and said that his classmates tease him because of his father name. After a conversation with the class, they apologized to him. Towards the end of the class, he came to me with some tears in his eyes and said Thank you. I was happy because finally, I was able to create a safer environment where he felt connected and could trust people.

I was overwhelmed when after a session on Gratitude the entire class come and say thank you for making them smile or for helping them.

While being there I realized why educational transformation cannot be done in isolation, schools being the center of learning has to be transformed in a qualitative manner. The needs of the student as well as teachers must be catered with care. The most interesting observation was the initiative by Vidhya  Vidhai to develop a closely knit relationship between Schools Leaders and teachers, where the work done by teachers is valued and appreciated so that in return she is motivated to perform better.

In Vidhya Vidhai I observed keeping in loop all the factors related to education and continuous learning leads to a holistic change.

They made me realize, we shouldn\’t blame the child for its capability. Lack of a suitable learning environment and the dearth of honest efforts are the reasons.

The last day of my intervention in the school has made a special place in my heart. I cannot forget the teary eyes, hugs, and kisses I got from the kids. I feel blessed I was able to experience pure innocent love.

                                                                                                       -Madhiha Mussarat