Tag Archives: Moments

Carpe Diem!, The Journey!

Let’s break the monotony of cynicism!

I have been called a maniac many a times because sometimes when I speak, people would be like, ‘Kya bolna chahte ho bhai?’ I have had difficulties making people understand my view points quite often. Not that I could not communicate my thoughts but mostly because the person in front of me would easily mark me a maniac listening to what I had to say; quite literally. I thank  SBI Youth for India for giving me a platform where my voice was heard. Well, the setbacks haven’t stopped me from doing what I truly love. My love for people has always exceeded the melancholy of negativity which has surrounded the human race for so long now.

Well, it has been a while since I wrote on this blog, but I have been occupied a lot over the past month. Not only have I been enjoying; travelling to Bodh Gaya, a 3 day extended trip to Ahmadabad, a journey in a crowded passenger train, meeting a 94 year old man who has been running a school all alone without money, a 29 year old storyteller who changed my perspective towards life, a talk at Reserve Bank of India, and the stories my children create in a small village of Haripur Krishna, I have also been learning important life lessons.

Well, I am about to start something more wacky; something which will push me to the limits, even more. Not that SBI Youth for India has given the fellows less on the plate to push them to the boundaries; another addition will add on to the fun.

Over the past one month, I have been working on a storytelling project with the children. We have been telling our stories through different media; drawings, writings, abstract paintings, puppetry and so on. Now, we want to take it a notch above.

Before starting to work in this school at Haripur Krishna, I was told that most of the students haven’t even touched a computer in their lives. It is then I had decided to try and establish a mini computer lab in the school. The next thing which was in my mind is to teach students Life Skills through storytelling. The activities we do through storytelling not only sow the seeds of creativity in these young learners but also show them a world where imaginations are not discarded but celebrated.

In February, we had launched one magazine by the name of ‘Palak’. The origin of the name also has a very interesting story behind it. When Mr. Kumar Shaw (a storyteller who visited us) and I were discussing to give a name to our storytelling team for a group activity, we asked the children to suggest names for it. Some names that came up were ‘Ready’, ‘Khiladi’ and so on. Generally silent Khushi spoke this time and said, ‘Palak’. We liked the name then and there. I was really mesmerized by a class 5 student giving a beautiful name such as this. And, not only did she give the name; she touched her eyelids, gave a beautiful smile and said, ‘Palak’. It was a moment to remember for a lifetime.

Well, these are just a few of the stories that I have in my mind right now. There are more at the back of it. 🙂

We have recently launched a campaign to arrange for funds to create a little difference in the lives of these amazing children. I am glad to say that we have received your love and unconditional support till now. We have been able to arrange 20000 INR in a matter of 2 days with over 1000 views on the video shared on Facebook.

Please support us in this endeavour of ours to bring happiness in the lives of these children. In our madness of creating beautiful stories.

Go on the link to see our work and support us: Palak – ‘A Story’ in making for the children in rural Bihar

See the video of our work at:  Palak – Breaking the monotony of Cynicism

PS: I will make up for my absence by doing something more crazy. Watch this space for more! 🙂

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Carpe Diem!, The Journey!

Thank You Teacher!

During our childhood days, we always had that one teacher who was our favourite and the one who was not. We would wait with eagerness for the former to come to our class and find ways to bunk the class of the other. Remember those days?

As we grow a little bit older and start to judge ourselves as bold and cool, we would still wait for that one teacher whom we have grown fond of. However, as big as we think we are, we would sometimes try to belittle our other not so favourite teacher. We would make weird noises or thump our desks using our newly found strength or walk in and out of the class without permission. I, for one, was not a very notorious student but found it really fun when one of my classmates would put up such a remarkable show of ‘boldness’. Later, I was also involved in many such remarkable ‘acts’.

My first day at a school where I have decided to do my project in alternate education for the next 10 months went rather magnificently. I had fixed a time frame of about a week giving the students of class 5, 6 and 7 curiosity generation lessons in basic computer education as well as storytelling. It was for the first time I was about to take a class of over a hundred students. I was not nervous but excitedly restless. I did not realize but it was the first time when I was a teacher to these students in the same way my teachers were to me. We discussed about some basic concepts such as what a machine is, different types of machines, how computer is also a machine and so on. The class ended when I told them a real life story of APJ Abdul Kalam which gave him an important lesson; we are all the same in the eyes of God, be it a Hindu or Muslim.

I was upbeat with the way class went and was ready the next day to to take one more. It was on this day that I met someone from the past. I met my notorious friend; a blast from the past!

A class of 100 students is hard to manage and when you have a student who is focused on putting up a show of ‘boldness’, it is even harder. So, here I was, trying to teach them how to use the computer when I heard a weird noise, a loud thump on the desk and frequent in and out of the class. I saw in him my friends and myself. However, I was different now. I was a teacher and he was my student. Initially, I decided to ignore him but slowly and steadily, he was able to put up a show as ‘remarkable’ as we used to pull off. It was getting difficult for me to keep the class under control. It was for the first time I truly felt myself in the shoes of my former teachers. Till today, I did not know how tough it would have been for my teachers to deal with me and my friends.

Teaching is a tough job. I realized it in just 2 days of time. Imagine a single teacher teaching 160 students everyday for 6 hours. At face value, it looks easy. But, it is not. If you do not believe me, please take a chance and volunteer at any Govt. school nearby. 60 students, 1 hour everyday. That is it. You’ll know.

The least we can do for our teachers is to not belittle them and have a feeling of gratitude. I never knew the most notorious student will give me such a lesson. Well, he is now responsible for making sure that everyone is seated in their places. 😉

PS: Thank you Sanjal Jaiswal for the perfect edit. 😉

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The Journey!

Fail, Learn and Plan!

Today, when I approached one of the Govt. schools in Bihar, with the plan that I had prepared as part of my fellowship SBI Youth for India, they invited me with open arms. They were curious to see what is that I wanted to do in their schools. However, this day hasn’t come with my share of failures.

The first school that I visited with my plan gave me important lessons in planning and management which I will remember for the rest of my life. I had almost everything prepared starting from the curriculum to the number of students. There was only one thing which I wasn’t sure of. My local mentor at my respective NGO suggested me to setup an enterprise model where the local youth be trained to provide computer education to the school children. I had a doubt regarding the payment method adopted for the model. A nominal fee is supposed to be collected from the students and the payment for the youth has to be managed from the same. I am always of the belief that education everywhere in the world should be on knowledge sharing basis. However, in today’s world, the amount of knowledge shared has become directly propotional to the money in your pocket.

So, here I was, sitting with the school teachers, headmasters and NGO officials with a plan of which I wasn’t sure of. But, I decided to give it a try. They all seemed to like the plan of combining Life Skills/Moral values education with Computer Education using storytelling as a medium. One of my storytelling session, Our Storytelling Class, also took place in the same school. Everything was fine until we came to the final point of discussion, the fee.

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The Initial Level Talks in the first school!

Since the fee structure was the least important factor which came to my mind while I was designing the plan, I took it a little lightly. I believe in a concept of participatory approach to the solutions which I encounter in daily life. So, I tried to apply the same approach in this situation as well. I asked the school authorities to discuss among themselves how much can a single child afford to pay? I gave them a number, 100 Rupee per month for a 4 month course, and asked them to debate on the same. I just wanted to try out this approach. I knew it might go either way but I thought, let’s try.

I went to the same school on alternate days, interacted with the students and teachers there. The students were very enthusiastic about the thought of computers coming to their schools. Within a short span of almost a week, I became friends with most of them. I have always loved being with kids. It was an enjoyable week.

It was a day when we were supposed to meet NGO’s field volunteers (people who work directly in the field). In the meet, we discussed my intervention as well. Mr. Rajesh, who is working with the same school where I have been going, told me that my experiment has failed. He suggested that I go with a plan with even the minute details worked upon. Coming from a field worker, I could have ignored his advice. But, I couldn’t. I knew that he was right. I actually thanked him for the blunt truth that he told me. It takes courage to speak up the truth, no matter where you are.

Over the course of next few weeks, I went back to my original idea and dropped certain points in the plan of which I was even a little skeptical. After almost 10 days of turmoil and frustration of designing the plan again, I was ready.

The presentation today lasted almost 45 minutes describing as to what I want to achieve through my intervention. The teachers’ participation enthralled me with optimism. They were firing questions and I was ready for almost every one of them. It was an enriching experience, an experience which taught me how to plan well.

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The Second School meet with Head Master and Teacher. One of the most fruitful presentation till date!

There are exciting days ahead. I am ready to fail; not ready to not try.

PS: Post written on 19th January, 2016.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Poetry, Articles, The Journey!

Our Storytelling Class !

If any of you have been following my posts lately on Facebook or blog, you must have seen me surrounded with kids. Now, some of you might think that I teach these students or I am just interacting with them. I am doing both, actually. But, I am doing something more, I am learning, from them.

It was a day of one of my storytelling sessions with these kids. I told them a story of a girl who was very good at almost everything she does, be it, Math, Sports etc. However, there was one thing which she couldn’t do, no matter how hard she tries. When her teacher would ask her to draw a perfect shaped circle, she couldn’t make it. She will do one mistake or the other every time she tries. Her teacher would scold her, tell her to try hard, to focus, but the girl started to believe that she will never be able to make a perfect “Gola”.

One day while she was sitting in her room depressed, she decided to try her hands one more time at drawing the perfect “Gola”. She tried and failed. In her frustration, she decided to tear apart the piece of paper. As soon as she was about to tear the paper apart, she saw the irregular shaped “Gola” coming to life. It grew bigger and bigger and slowly his eyes became visible. Then, his nose, ears and finally, his mouth also became visible.  The girl couldn’t understand what is happening with her. She got frightened and a thought came in her mind that she might be dreaming. She pinched herself on her hand to wake her up.

“That is what they do in movies” she thought.

But, it seems that she wasn’t dreaming after all. It was absolutely real. She has now started to get worried. It was then that she realized that the piece of paper is still in her hands. She decided to tear it apart, in the hope of destroying the creature that has come alive. Just as she was about to tear down the paper, she heard a sweet timid voice murmured.

“Please do not tear me. I am here to help.”

The sweet voice melted the girl’s heart and she decided to not tear the paper down and listen.

“How can you help me?”

“If you help save me, I will teach you how to make the perfect me.”

The girl wondered how did this creature know that she was struggling to make the perfect circle (Gola). Nevertheless, she had come to a point where she wanted to try everything just to bring the perfect shape alive.

“Save you from what?”

“This is not the real me. I am equally fat everywhere and now I am irregularly shaped. If you do not rub me and draw me again, I will always live my life like this and other Golas will laugh at me. If you save me from laughter today, I will tell you the magic trick to make a perfect Gola.”

The girl wanted to learn the magic trick which could end her agony. Thus, she rubbed off the “Gola” and drew him again. It was still irregular. But the girl was not frustrated anymore.  She rubbed him off again, drew again. For the whole night, she did the same practice again and again but it was still not perfect.

Just before dawn when she had almost given up, she tried for the 1001st time. And this time, she found a perfect shaped Gola.

The girl couldn’t be more happy. She was jumping with joy and laughing with her long lost soul.

“Thank you for saving me” Gola said.

“It is okay. Now, please tell me the magic trick.”

“You already know.”

“What? But you didn’t tell me?”

“I did not. But you learnt.”

“Practice. That is the trick.“

When I stopped telling this story to the students, they were all filled with ecstasy and looking up to me with amazement. You never know, maybe, some of them will try to make their own “Gola” someday.

What did I get? I learnt. By telling these kids stories, I learnt the satisfaction of giving, the joy of being with them. I am sure that I will learn more.

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The Storytelling Class!

 

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A kid trying to make a perfect Gola!

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Poetry, Articles

The Second Time – Part 3 (The Conclusion)

Read the previous part of the story here: The Second Time – Part 2 (The Past)

“Yes. I do remember the first time we met. How can I forget those cuts on your hand?” Pranav said.

“Do you know why I got those cuts on my hand?”

“You never told me.”

“When I first talked to you, the comfort that I felt was something that I had never ever felt before with anyone else. I saw through you by just talking to you. I saw in you a person whose heart is as pure as a new born baby and who has the mind which has the capability to conquer the world. So, when Anamika told me that it was you who is the reason of all the misunderstandings between us, I did not believe her. It was not you. It was me. But, I couldn’t say what I felt to anyone. How could I? But, I was sure of one thing.  That is, you could never be the reason of anyone’s sorrow, especially the reason of my sorrow. ”

(Pranav felt his whole world has shattered in front of him. He remembered the time when Priya would ask her not to drink enough to do something for which he’ll be ashamed of. He neglected her advice. He neglected that she is the one who had seen him through.)

“Over the course of last 5 years, I did nothing but surrender to you. I did nothing but believed in you. And today, I see all of that being undone. I am not hurt because you cheated me. I am hurt because our ‘love’ lost.”

“I know that I have let you down, Priya.”

“You have let our love down.”

(Even in a situation like this, Priya did not resort to ugly conversations that generally might happen during this period. That was her uniqueness. She is someone who will maintain her calm even during the most trying times. Her heart was crying but her words, soothing. During their earlier days of relationship, when Pranav would ask her how she managed to find courage in the most difficult of situations, she would say, ‘There is a thing about courage. You will find it at the most unexpected places, during the most unexpected times.’)

(Pranav had now realized what a big mistake he had done. It was evident when he mustered all his courage to tell both Priya and Rumita what he’d been up to. Rumita had cursed him of cheating and literally asked him to never see her again. He had never tried as well. Priya, on the other hand, told him why she loved him. Was it love or madness?)

(It was at this time that Priya did something which no one in her situation might think to do.)

“Why do we fall, Pranav?”

“What?”

“As a child, when we’d try to stand up for the first time on our own feet, we generally would suffer a big fall. At that moment, our parents would tell us to try one more time. They would clap, smile, make faces and do everything in their capacity to get us back to trying. As a result, we try once more and we start walking. This is the first lesson we get how to live our lives.”

“I love you, Priya. I am sorry. I cannot take back what all I have done. But, please tell me, how do I make all of this better for you and our love? ”

“Learn your first lesson.”

“Try once more, Pranav. You have taken the fall and now, you need to try and stand up. As for me, I will be there to give you a hand. I will be there to bring you back on your feet. ”

Pranav felt numb. He started crying his heart out and it was almost impossible to console him. He never imagined that his betrayal of Priya would give him a lesson that he desperately needed to learn. He never imagined that a simple act of forgiveness could give him peace.

“I love you, Priya.”

“I know that you love me. Now, will you please wipe off your tears?” 🙂

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5 years down the line as Pranav was in Priya’s home sitting in front of her father, Priya said, “Dad, this is Pranav, and I wish to marry him”.

She paused, laughed and said with all her heart, “He is the most courageous person I have even known”

“Courage is not to do what seems right at the moment but to to do what is forgiving. Pranav realized that one act of forgiveness from Priya made him what he could never be;courageous.”

(Most often we take love for granted. But some people amaze us by their unconditional love and support. These people will be there with us when we‘d fall down. These people are different women in our lives; mothers, daughters, girlfriends, or wives. Love them. Just love them.)

 

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