Real life hero - Subodh Bedre - we need laks of his kind.

An engineer with a passion for teaching

Ketan Tanna I TNN

Reshma Shinde from Aptech is busy packing her bags to leave for the US on a prestigious assignment. Nothing out of the ordinary one would say. But Reshma’s story is truly extraordinary.
Just a few years ago, the 20-year-old—a first generation literate in the family—used to attend New Sion Municipal Secondary School near Gandhi market in Sion. No one was very surprised when Reshma had to drop out of school in her final year owing to an economic crisis—she had to take up a job at a PCO to make ends meet. However, she knew it from the very beginning that working at a public phone booth was not what she would do for the rest of her life—she had bigger dreams.
Ambition pushed her ahead and soon she got in touch with Subodh Bedre, an engineer, who besides running his own business, has been volunteering in the municipal school for the last eight years.
Recognising the youngster’s dream to better her life, Bedre helped her join a coaching class so that she could take the Std XII exams. By the time she completed her exams, Reshma wanted to do more. Bedre helped her join Aptech at a concessional rate. She was so good at her work that the institution offered her a job in her second year and now, the girl is preparing to leave for the US.
Incidents like these add a little bit of more happiness to Bedre’s life. He has been quietly teaching maths, science and English to municipal school students as a volunteer with two NGOs—Each One Teach One and S R Charitable Foundation. He is among the handful of dedicated people who have been teaching without a break. For the father of two young boys, teaching children was not new. “Teaching has always been a passion and when I was in college I used to give lessons to neighbourhood children. Later, when I wanted to do more, I approached the Society for Service to Voluntary Agencies (SOSVA) which told me about NGOs who needed volunteers. I was then assigned to start teaching at the school,’’ the 41-year-old engineer said.
Initially, Bedre started with English classes because the immediate requirement was for a Marathi-speaking teacher who knew English. Gradually, he moved on to other subjects and takes classes in Std VII and VIII. Now, he spends around an-hourand-a-half every day at the school. Nearly 20 to 30 students attend his classes besides the regular BMC classes. There are of course other volunteers, most of whom are paid an honorarium. Since Bedre has his own business, he says he does not need to be paid.
Circumstances made him opt for engineering—his father died and the family business needed him. If he had an option, he would have gone into academics but that was not meant to be. Now that he has two small businesses that are doing well and a supportive wife, Bedre says teaching these children is not financially taxing. “However, what is tough is waking up early in the morning. But one gets used to it. Moreover, if I was not teaching the municipal children, I would have wasted those hours sleeping and getting up late,’’ he said.
A sense of loss bogs down Bedre when bright students are forced to give up their studies because their parents need them to work or to get married. “I remember this one girl, Babita, who was brilliant at maths and science. Her mother married her off at an early age and now she doesn’t come to school anymore. Unfortunately, many of these municipal school children have single parents, they are either living with a mother or a father. Some of them live with relatives and cannot but have to drop out of school,’’ he says.
Another thing that troubles Bedre is that many of the children, especially girls, suffer from night blindness. They cannot see clearly even in the late evening because of the condition caused by malnutrition. “And I thought such things happened in the backward areas of our country,’’ he says. “But things have improved somewhat after the BMC launched their mid-day meal scheme.’’
(Subodh Bedre can be contacted on 9324268562)
ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com

GOOD SAMARITAN: Subodh Bendre is a volunteer with two NGOs and has been teaching several subjects at various municipal schools