‘Ekla cholo re’, free India’s 1st voter tells HP

Rohan Dua TNN

Kalpa (Kinnaur): When a 90-year-old will complete a twokm barefoot walk in the hills at 10,000 feet here on Sunday, it would be a giant leap for Indian democracy. For, he is independent India’s first voter. And, he says it would be Gandhi’s Dandi March and Tagore’s ‘ekla cholo re’ that would inspire him to take those steps to exercise his franchise in yet another election since his first vote way back in 1951.
    

Shyam Saran Negi, during his conversation with TOI, says: “Jaise Gandhiji chale thhe Dandi par. Aur jaise Tagore ne likha tha ‘ekla chalo re’. Vote daalenge apne wajood se, nange paaon chalke. Yeh virodh bhi hai aur adhikar bhi.”
 

    On October 3, when the EC declared polls, TOI had met Shyam Saran to kick off its Dance of Democracy coverage. “India is no longer the democracy it was in 1951 when I and the rest of Kinnaur voted. Corruption, scandals and money laundering have shaken my faith. Freedom has a reduced meaning now,” he had told TOI then. The same day the chief election commissioner had announced him as the first voter of India who had exercised his franchise on October 25, 1951.
 

    On Saturday, a few hours before he was to cast his vote for the 27th time in an election — both general and Vidhan Sabha — Shyam Saran was as emotional and involved about India’s future as earlier.
 

    “Public speeches in 1951 were focused on India’s development in agriculture, education, science and health. Now the focus is on unemployment and price rise. Why? Because politicians could not drive our economy,” said Saran.
 

    Last month’s bitter and foul exchange among visiting leaders in his state has only left Saran further disenchanted. “Did Modi, Sonia or Advani meet anyone? Did they inquire if people have adequate rations at home? They merely stood at a distance and traded charges. This country needs more of Gandhis and Hazares,” he said.
 

    Saran was surprised when he was approached on October 5 by both the BJP and the Congress. “After media reports, I got calls by several political leaders. But I said a big no. Yeh zameer bikega nahi kabhi. I will vote for the candidate not the party,” he said angrily.

SHOWING THE WAY: Shyam Saran Negi says he’ll vote for the candidate not for the party

This school brings down crime rate

Anahita Mukherji TNN

Murshidabad (West Bengal): Tom Sawyer, the mischievous young protagonist of Mark Twain’s 19th century classic, is an unlikely hero for a social activist from rural West Bengal. But Shabnam Ramaswamy, a feisty 55-year-old from Murshidabad, likens herself to Tom Sawyer in more ways than one.

Like Sawyer, who, when given the onerous task of painting a wall, convinced his friends of the importance of his job and had them queuing up to help him, Ramaswamy has visitors from around the world knocking on her door in Katna—a remote crime-ridden village in Murshidabad district—eager to pitch in and help her run an extraordinary school she began five years ago. The Adventures of Shabnam Ramaswamy could give Sawyer a run for his money.

Jagriti Public School has changed the face of Katna village. The school, which provides rural kids with quality education in English, has helped bring down the crime rates in the area. “Most crimes are committed because of the grinding poverty and unemployment in the region,” says Ramaswamy, who has no qualms in employing former criminals, including those who have attacked her in the past. Take for instance her driver, a jolly, strapping man in his forties who ferries kids from the surrounding villages to school. His loyalty towards Ramaswamy is unquestionable. It is near impossible to tell that he was part of a group of contract killers who lobbed handmade bombs at Shabnam and her husband 11 years ago at the behest of her uncle, a man she sacked for swindling money meant for the school.

The very spot where the school now stands was once the scene of a crime. One night, eight years ago, when Shabnam and her husband, senior journalist Jugnu Ramaswamy, first moved to Katna, they were shaken by the sound of a piercing scream along the lonely road near their home. Armed with torches, they traced the sound to a peasant who had been robbed and tied to a tree. That’s when the duo decided they wanted to build their dream school beside that very tree. It’s little wonder that Ramaswamy’s NGO, Street Survivors, won the Sanskriti Award for social achievement this year.

The school building, an ornate brick structure with a rustic feel, was designed by a Delhi architect and built by local masons.

Jagriti Public School has changed lives in the remote Katna village in Murshidabad district

Providing quality edu to tribal kids

Bandra Couple Gives Up City Life To Start School In Dahanu Village

Anahita Mukherji I TNN

Sogwe Village (Dahanu): Call it a case of reverse migration. While millions trade their homes in the village for life in a metro, two Mumbaikars decided to do the unthinkable. Bandra girl Michelle Chawla and her husband, Hemant Babu turned their backs on the big city lights and headed for a tribal village in Dahanu called Sogwe, where they have lived for the last eight years.

After nearly a decade of working at community radio stations and documenting the oral history of the Warli tribals in Dahanu, the duo set up a pre-primary school for tribal kids in June this year.

Their aim? To provide quality education. The school uses a whole range of progressive methods of teaching that could give city schools a run for their money. While introducing English to these children, the medium of instruction at the school is Warli, a dialect of Marathi spoken by the tribals in the village.

The teachers at the school are sourced from the local community itself. Two teachers, Anusaya Sunar and Anil Gorkhana, are Warli tribals while another, Tina Surti is from a community of bamboo weavers in Dahanu. They were put through a course in early childhood education by Active Learning Centre, an organization that works in the education sphere.

“There’s a huge disconnect between students and teachers at government-run balwadis and zilla parishad schools, where the teachers are not from the local area and speak in Marathi. The kids don’t relate to the pure, Brahminical form of the language, as their dialect varies from it. We want to provide them with an education that is culturally relevant and at the same time, exposes them to the outside world,’’ says Chawla. Gadgets like laptops that may otherwise be alien to the village, have now entered the lives of these children.

For Chawla and her husband, starting a school isn’t a form of charity. Instead, they’re looking at a social entrepreneurship model, where parents pay Rs 200 a month as fee. Those who can’t afford it can apply for a scholarship.

The school attracts children from neighbouring villages such as Jamshet as well. So just why have a bunch of farmers, brickkiln workers and truck drivers—whose average family income works out to Rs 4,000 a month—chosen to cough up Rs 200 to send their kids to a private school when they have free government schools?

“The education here is very good. Our children get to learn English,’’ said Ganpat Dhinde, a construction worker from Jamshet. “In the zilla parishad school, the teachers only write reports, teach our kids a couple of songs and send them home. They don’t learn anything there,’’ adds Sunil Dhodi, a farmer from Jamshet.

The village sarpanch at Sogwe, Lahani Tandel, has supported the school and even went house to house telling the villagers that if they were willing to spend money buying cellphones, they could just as well set aside Rs 200 a month on education.

While the school currently caters to pre-school kids in the age group of three to five, Chawla and Babu plan to start a primary school as well. And unlike most folks, they even plan to enroll their own daughter Ira in the same school along with the tribal kids, once she’s of the right age to join.

Michelle Chawla with tribal kids at her school at Sogwe, a village in Dahanu

IITian scores with lassi bar

Hemali Chhapia | TNN

Mumbai: Walk into hostel rooms on any IIT campus and you’ll probably find every other aspiring engineer glued to his computer screen, feverishly setting up a website. Prabhkiran Singh is a different story; he is a civil engineering student busy whipping up chilled lassi every evening after class.

The 20-year-old from Punjab who came to IIT-Bombay three years ago, didn’t find a decent lassi joint in the city, and hence would rely on his mother’s recipe every time he craved one. That marked the birth of Khadke Glassi — now a stall set up on a computer trolley, operating after classes at IIT close.

The Rs 10,000-venture now has a fan following of close to 500 on Facebook and apart from IIT students, alumni and faculty, residents of Powai, crowd around this little corner every evening. Though 20-dayold, Khadke Glassi is now profit-making. However, like any new undertaking, it has weathered not just ups and downs, but several wrong starts and break-down of financial plans.

How crazy are Mumbaikars about lassi? Where would the best raw material be available at the cheapest cost? Start small or take off really big? These were some of the questions that Singh and Himanshu Dhiman, the initial two promoters, faced. They bought a heater so that milk could be set to curd in the hostel room. Every evening, the duo would make 15 to 20 glasses of lassi and ask friends to review it. Fifteen days later, in November 2009, they started the stall. It’s not your run-ofthe-mill lassi. Flavours include black currant, strawberry and chocolate. You can have it with or sans ice cream.

Sceptics had an obvious question: “Why did you come to IIT if you wanted to sell lassi?’’ Singh and Dhiman were always interested in the food and beverages industry; both love cooking. “Also, my dad’s venture failed miserably and he wanted his sons to join college and take up a secured job. Hence IIT,’’ added Singh. A few days after this lassi bar started, Dhiman quit; two of Singh’s friends help him. “Initially my friends teased me, saying that all I learnt in life was to make lassi. Now they are proud of me that I got out of the hostel room and started doing something I love.’’

For Shinde, failure was a stepping stone to success

Prafulla Marpakwar | TNN

Mumbai: Students who are depressed can follow this friendly piece of advice from union energy minister Sushilkumar Shinde. “Suicide is not the answer, build up your will power. Even if you fail in one examination, that’s not the end of the road, as you have another chance to appear in the same test. One day, you will definitely achieve your goal,’’ Shinde said.

Seventy-year-old Shinde’s childhood was marked by struggle. His parents were very poor, as a result, he was unable to pay his fees. His teachers came to his rescue.

“My parents were very poor. They would to tell me to give up education and get a daily wage job, but I insisted on studying in school. My teachers were very cooperative,’’ Shinde said.

Despite his financial situation, Shinde somehow managed to appear for the SSC examination in 1961. On the day of the result, Shinde was declared ‘fail.’ He did not give up hope and appeared for the same examination in the following academic year, but again, he was declared unsuccessful. “Then I had twooptions, either to give up education or make a third attempt. I chose the latter option with great determination. I passed the matriculation examination in the third attempt,’’ Shinde said.

Even after clearing the SSC examination, it was not smooth sailing for Shinde. “Getting admission in college was a difficult task because of my financial condition. But again my teachers helped me,’’ Shinde said.

Shinde not only graduated in arts, but later, also cleared his law examination. For a while, he practised in a Mumbai court and then joined the police force as a sub-inspector. “It was during this time that I got interested in politics. I quit the PSI job and joined politics,’’ Shinde said.

Even though he is a Dalit, Shinde was rarely elected to the state legislative assembly from a reserved constituency. He was first elected to the assembly in 1974 in a by-election and in the same year, inducted into the cabinet. In his political career spanning well over four-anda-half decades, Shinde held key positions, including chief minister of Maharashtra and governor of Andhra Pradesh.

Shinde is never embarrassed by his poor academic performance. “It’s a fact that my academic career was really dismal, but I don’t feel the need to hide this. I advise students not to be disheartened by failure in an examination. If you have will power, success is in store for you. Of course, there may be some delay,’’ Shinde said.

It is a fact that my academic career was really dismal, but I don’t feel the need to hide this. I advise students not to be disheartened by failure in an examination. If you have the will, success is in store for you
Sushilkumar Shinde | UNION
ENERGY MINISTER

PRIMARY EDUCATION

EDUCATING Ammi and Abba

The Tanzeem-e-Walidaen works at enlightening Muslim parents as a prelude to schooling their children

Mohammed Wajihuddin | TNN

In an airy first-floor room at suburban Vikhroli, around a dozen middle-aged couples are listening attentively to a bespectacled man holding forth in chaste Urdu. Ibrahim Abedi talks passionately, his speech laced liberally with Quranic commands and couplets of the revered poet Allama Mohammad Iqbal. At the end, he hammers home a basic point: “Don’t let your children go astray. Hand them over to our custody.

No, this isn’t a dharma guru’s discourse to his devoted disciples on parental care. Rather, it’s an adult education class with a difference—one which parents of poor Muslim students attend to equip themselves to deal with the vicissitudes of their first-generation-learner children’s academic lives. Conducted by the Tanzeem-e-Walidaen (Parents’ Association), a group which reaches out to needy children through their parents, its unusual inasmuch as methods go: while many NGOs work directly with disadvantaged children to keep them in class, the Tanzeem first drills some discipline into parents through motivational talks and counselling by clinical psychologists.

“There’s no point spending time and energy on kids whose parents are not motivated,’’ says Abedi, Tanzeem-e-Walidaen’s general secretary. “Since 1997, we have guided over 15,000 students. Around 75% of them have cleared the SSC exams. That means we have substantially checked the drop-out rate among the targeted group.’’

Since the Tanzeem confines its work to parents who send their wards to municipal schools, its volunteers scour civic schools in minority pockets like Bhendi Bazaar, Kurla, Govandi, Mumbra and Bhiwandi. Once the back-benchers are identified, the organisation approaches parents. Why municipal schools? Apart from the concern about poor kids dropping out and “swelling the number of unemployable and unemployed angry youth’’, there’s another reason: a municipal rule says that no child till the fourth grade will be failed, and by the time the children reach fifth grade, many of them are hopelessly unfit to be in higher grades. It is here that the Tanzeem intervenes.

The parents are first told why they need to enroll their kids in special classes conducted by the Tanzeem’s teachers. They are also told that poverty should not be an excuse to take their kids out of school. A few sessions later, parents learn that their seemingly dull kids too could excel if guided properly. Examples of successful people, who also had humble beginnings, are given. Parents are free to voice their doubts and inhibitions, if any. “At our initial meetings, we heard parents complain against teachers who failed their children,” says Ali M Shamsi, the Tanzeem’s president. “We asked the parents to evaluate their own conduct.’’

As a pilot project, the Tanzeem “raided’’ the slums of Kurla, held meetings with the parents and adopted over 200 children, incubating them for five months. “As the word spread, people started coming to us with requests to coach their children beyond the fifth grade as well,” says Sheikh Abdullah, president of the Tanzeem’s Kurla unit. “We didn’t do that but guided them to other organisations which helped them financially.’’

The result has been overwhelming. Kids who didn’t know the three Rs even in the fifth standard are showing rapid progress. “My daughter didn’t even know how to write her name when we brought her here. Now she is in college,’’ says Qamruddin Khan, a factory worker. “My other four kids were also coached and are doing well academically.

Most of the parents are poor— tailors, taxi drivers, labourers at construction sites and factory workers. “I probably wouldn’t have sent my three daughters to college had these people not convinced me. They guided me and my children at the right time,’’ says a visibly obliged Ansar Patel, a BEST employee and father of three. Patel’s elder daughter Sajeda, now a third-year BA student, recalls: “I was very inhibited and couldn’t even go out alone. Their training equipped me with the confidence to do my things on my own.’’

BACK TO SCHOOL Poverty is not an excuse to deny your kids education, parents are told

Gurus work nights to better grades

Himanshu Kaushik | TNN

Mahuva (Bhavnagar): It’s 10 pm. As Asarana village sleeps, a school wakes up in this part of Bhavnagar district abuzz with students, their hair neatly combed and ready with bags and notebooks.

A group of zealous teachers with a conviction to inject academic brilliance into students of this village have helped launch this unique night school at the government-run Gyanjyot High School at Mahuva. Students are flocking to this new initiative.

It all began a couple of years ago when Anand Seta, principal of the school, thought of extra coaching classes for students after they fared poorly in the boards. He discussed the idea with other teachers — D D Modhera and A U Rajyaguru — who agreed and decided to be part of this extra curricular activity.

At the night school, classes begin at 9 pm, when students assemble with their tiffins, eat together and then settle down to study. At midnight, they spread mattresses and sleep on the school premises with their teachers and the principal. In the morning, they sweep the ground, water trees and head home to get ready for regular school as teachers get ready for extra classes for girls between 8 am and 12 noon, just before school begins.

Thus, as results of the class X board exam in other schools here have hovered between 17% and 30%, Gyanjyot High School saw a 90% success rate last year. “In class VIII, I could not even read and now I am very good in mathematics and science. Three teachers take turns in teaching mathematics, science, English and Gujarati,” said Amit Kalsaria, son of a pan shop-owner who wants to become an engineer.

Mahesh Varia, son of a farm labourer, who dreams of becoming a doctor, added: “My father can hardly afford schooling expenses,so these revision sessions are a boon.”

Anand Seta, principal of Gyanjyot High School, conducts a special class for boys, which begins at 9 pm

NGO Inc.

Gone are the days of people with a philanthropic bent, the kinds who would don khadhi kurtas, carry a jute bag and knock on doors of prospective donors asking for donation! Today, the NGO (non-governmental organisation) sector, with increasing professionalism, enhanced career growth opportunities and its transformation into a structured ‘industry’ with clear fundamentals (read: upliftment of the society), has turned into a hotspot for career aspirants

Viren Naidu

Experts say that the development/NGO sector, today, is in a transition phase. It is no longer unorganised. NGOs are ensuring transparency, accountability and good governance. Naresh Chaudhary, COO, Smile Foundation who puts forth the above adds, “Due to investments by international organisations in India and proactive participation of international donors, NGOs are becoming more professional and
structured. Today, the development sector is at par with any other customer service industry. It is helping bridge the gap between supply (resources) and need (social issues). Even the donors have become more responsible, wise and proactive. The donor today is an investor and not a mere giver.”

Priya Zutshi, manager, communications, CRY who has been a correspondent with a leading national news channel before moving in as a communication manager with CRY says that using the same professional skills that were earlier being used only to strengthen a certain company’s bottom-line are being used to make the world a better place for children and this, for her, is rewarding enough to make it a viable career move.

Today, Zutshi is working alongside a team of professionals who previously held jobs in highly respected corporate firms and quit in pursuit of helping children in need. Because of the fund flow and also pressure to bring results as well as pressurefrom donors, there is now a more scientific and established methodology to solve issues and problems in the social work industry. A lot of emphasis is placed on planning and monitoring, say experts involved in the development industry. Arbind Singh, founder of Nidan (a NGO that works towards the empowerment of the poor) who is one of the experts adds, “The practices and methods of the business enterprises are applied fully in social work, except for not making profit. Mere norms are no more important; written rules defining financial management, HR, investment policy, project planning and monitoring and so on are important.”

Singh enlists why a career in this industry is a lucrative move: 1) There is good ‘salary’ today, 2) there is a large opportunity to express oneself through work, workshops, seminars and trainings and 3) there is a lot of variation in the type of work you want to pursue– so if you want to work directly on the ground or if you want to play a supportive role in planning and monitoring or work in a donor agency, you can.

But unlike the other sectors that offer good pay packages, ensure career growth and provide several opportunities to hone one’s skills, does this sector do any of that? “Majority of the organisations are non patriarchal, so the growth prospects of an individual are only limited by the talent you showcase at work. The remuneration also depends on the organisation with which you are working as a lot of them now pay according to the set industry standards,” says Zutshi. Anuradha Sawhney, mentor for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India says, “Most NGOs do offer better pay packages, especially those NGOs working in the human sector. We offer our staff medical, retirement and insurance benefits.” Therefore, if you have the willingness to contribute towards the betterment of the society, this sector will provide you a lot of opportunities and much more!

GOODWILL HUNTING
How can a person go about looking for a job in this industry? There are different types of organisations working in different geographies and on different issues and across different scales- there are small to big to large NGOs as well as specialised organisations.There are some that only provide funds to others.There are some who only provide technical support and then there are those that are issue based.Singh who explains the above suggests that a candidate has to choose between:

a) what geography he/she likes to work – South,North or state, urban/rural,etc.

b) the organisation setup– larger the organisation smaller the role,smaller the organisation larger the role.

c) issues- children,micro finance,social security,education,health and so on.

d) type of organisation – grassroots,technical support agency,donors,multilateral institutions like UNICEF, UNDP,etc.

MYTHS SHATTERED!
Chaudhary enlightens us by drawing the line between myths and facts:

Myth 1:It is all about volunteering.

Fact: The sector is getting organised and people working here are true professionals.

Myth 2: NGOs are money minting agencies.

Fact: NGOs have set examples that they are transparent and adhere to good governance policies.

Myth 3: They are meant for retired people.

Fact: Today, the policies in NGOs are much structured and in place. Many youngsters are joining the sector.

Myth 4: Many people think the association will help them get only a tax exemption certificate.

Fact: It is high time people realise their Individual Social Responsibility (ISR), stand up and contribute in the development process.

ALL FOR A GOOD CAUSE

A ray of hope for kids with special talents

Prathmesh Kher I TNN

Mumbai: The Rotaract Club of Mithibai College organised Kiran...A Ray of Hope!, a talent show for physically and mentally challenged children, orphans and underprivileged kids. Unlike most other shows, Kiran was not a competition but a platform where the children could showcase their talents.

Held at Bhaidas Hall in Vile Parle (W), the show started at 3 pm with a group of orphans performing the musical The Entertainer. “We had 177 performers from six schools. This is the fourth anniversary and the response has been growing each year. We hope to get more performers and a bigger crowd next year,’’ said Sowmya Warrier, chairperson of the organising committee. A group of participants, who are in the care of a charitable institute, had come all the way from Valsad in Gujarat.

Radha, the parent of a child with cerebral palsy, said, “When we watch our children enjoy their performance, it brings us more joy than any award in the entire world can.’’

These kids shoot some great sights

Anahita Mukherji I TNN

Mumbai: Camera in hand, Mohammad Mustakim, a municipal school student from Govandi, on Tuesday captured the patterns made by the sun’s rays—which filtered through a canopy of leaves—on a man taking a nap at the Horniman Circle Garden. Gayatri Shinde, another civic school student from Powai, was busy taking pictures of butterflies and birds at the garden. Rahul Kshirsagar, the son of a painter who lives in a Bandra slum, said he thoroughly enjoyed shooting the ducks in the garden pond.

They were part of a group of civic school students who received lessons in photography from noted city photographer Shreekant Malushte. The initiative was taken by the Sangeet Kala Academy, an organisation set up by the BMC education department to encourage underprivileged students. Malushte taught photography to 15 students on Tuesday and will teach another batch on Wednesday. He has been conducting such classes on a regular basis.

“Photography is a skill that can help these children earn some money,’’ said Malushte, retired head of the physics department at Maharashtra College. The children also aimed their cameras at the urban landscape around the Asiatic Library. Some of the civic school teachers even posed on the library steps for the kids.

SAY CHEESE: A teacher poses as BMC school students get photography lessons

Obama would have loved dinner date with Gandhi ... (so would have I)

Washington: US president Barack Obama has said that given a chance he would have liked to have dinner with Mahatma Gandhi, whom he considered a real hero.

Obama expressed his desire in response to a question from a student Lilly during his discussion with 9th graders at Wakefield high school in Arlington, Virginia where he, accompanied with the education secretary, gave a national speech welcoming students back to school. Obama called for students to take responsibility and to learn from their failures so that they succeed in the end.

“Hi. I’m Lilly. And if you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be,” Obama was asked by one of the students. “Dinner with anyone dead or alive? Well, you know, dead or alive, that’s a pretty big list,” Obama responded amidst laughter. The next moment he was serious.

“You know, I think that it might be Gandhi, who is a real hero of mine,” Obama said. “Now, it would probably be a really small meal because he didn’t eat a lot,” he said amidst laughter. But Mahatma Gandhi is someone who has inspired people across the world, he said.

Terming the iconic figure as the source of inspiration for many, Obama said “he (Mahatma Gandhi) is somebody whom I find a lot of inspiration in. He inspired Dr King (Martin Luther), so if it hadn’t been for the non-violent movement in India, you might not have seen the same non-violent movement for civil rights here in the United States.”

“What was interesting was that he ended up doing so much and changing the world just by the power of his ethics, by his ability to change how people saw each other and saw themselves — and help people who thought they had no power realise that they had power, and then help people who had a lot of power realise that if all they’re doing is oppressing people, then that’s not a really good exercise of power,” Obama said.

Mahatma Gandhi has always been a source of inspiration for Barack Obama. “In my life, I have always looked to Mahatma Gandhi as an inspiration, because he embodies the kind of transformational change that can be made when ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things,” he wrote in the ethnic India Abroad newspaper last year. PTI

BACK TO SCHOOL

Almost 25 years after they passed out, students of A B Goregaonkar English School come together to do their bit for the institution that cemented their formative years, reports Vikas Hotwani

Sandeep Hardikar maintains a busy schedule, working almost ten hours a day, five days a week. However, after office hours, the 39-year-old’s work is far from over. He scans Orkut and Linkedin, sends out e-mails and makes phone calls. On weekends, when others unwind, he scours unknown neighbourhoods and goes knocking at stranger’s doors. The purpose of his chase: to touch base with 60 students of class X-D of A B Goregaonkar English School’s 1985 batch. “The idea was to bring the batch together and collectively initiate a plan to contribute towards the school’s betterment,” says Hardikar.

After months of persistence, Hardikar managed to reach out to most students, some from as far as US, Singapore and London. “It wasn’t easy though. There were no mobile phones back then, the landline numbers had changed, people had moved out of their old homes, so the school records couldn’t help much. Some women had adopted a different name after marriage making them almost untraceable,” he recounts.

Now that most classmates are in the loop, next on agenda for them, is to mobilise efforts for the school’s development, as a gesture of gratitude for everything that the school did for them over many years. Shripad Desai, Hardikar’s classmate says, “Our school, despite its humble resources, was undoubtedly one of the most proactive in motivating students to think beyond the curriculum. The soft skills we have today is the result of excellent teachers back then.” In fact, every year on August 15, Desai takes his son to the school’s project exhibition, partly out of nostalgia, and partly to have his child see what other students have come up with.

Of the many initiatives in the pipeline, one is to ask each student to contribute a small sum of at least Rs 100 every month for the school’s benefit. “Even if 50 students contribute, that’s Rs 60,000 annually. Not that it would solve all the problems, but it can certainly make a difference,” adds Hardikar. Repair work of the school premises, better seating facilities for students and advanced teaching aids are some of the current suggestions. “The final plan, however, will be decided in tandem with the school authorities,” he says.

Mid-October is when these ex-students, now working professionals, will come together for a reunion and facilitate their teachers and simultaneously, zero in on the action plan for the coming months. “The most important task at hand is to not to restrict ourselves to a particular class and pool in ex-students from other batches and divisions as well. More the resources, the better for our school,” smiles Hardikar.

Students of class X-D, 1985 batch