I remember my first day at Asha Kiran. Standing at the entrance of the single 12 'X 14' feet room, I looked inside with curiosity. There were fifty odd kids, aged between five to twelve years, sitting on plastic mats spread on the ground in a single large group. They had slates and chalk pieces in their hands and they were busily copying numbers written on the blackboard that was fixed on a wall. Their were three plastic chairs in three corners of the room, on each of which three teachers were sitting. Each of the teacher was surrounded by a cluster of children showing their slates to her to get them checked.
Nina, the teacher who was the teacher-in-charge, came to me smiling. As I introduced myself to her, she asked me, "Do you want to help?"
When I replied in affirmative, she briskly ordered a child to place a plastic chair on the fourth corner and led me to it. "You take charge of the children who are lagging behind. This is Tina, this is Pooja, this is Soni and this is Raza Ul. And yes, you can take Yogesh too. He has just come from his village in Bihar and is a bit lost around here. Children, this is your new teacher, her name is Vandana. Go to her with your slates." And she busily sauntered off to her own chair. I took me a few moments to adjust myself to the new setup. As I sat in my chair and looked at the little faces looking at me expectantly, I knew, I was at the right place.
When I took my chair, I found myself surrounded by a few other kids besides the ones specially assigned by Nina. They were an enthusiastic lot, each wanting to have something written on his or her slate which they could copy and show it for approval. As I sat among the kids the first day, I looked at their faces and tried to remember their names. Gradually, over a period of time, I got to know them and their individual traits. Some children just stood out of the crowd. Like little Feroza, who had a mind of her own and would do just what she wanted to do. If I tried to get her to learn to write the numbers on her slate when she wanted me to draw a sketch of a flower on it, she would look at me with disapproval, take her slate from my hands and saunter over to the farthest corner of the room to another teacher. She would agree to let me teach her anything, only if I taught her what she wished to learn on that particular day. If I did not agree to that, then I could go and sell my wares elsewhere! Then there was Tina, who adopted me as her favourite teacher and became highly possessive about me. She would sit on the mat as near to me as possible, almost clinging to my legs while she would do her work. She was so eager to please me that she would happily do double the work I would assign to a child usually, just to get my approval and a smile. Pooja was the shy one- after finishing her task, she would keep looking in my direction continuously till she caught my eye and till I called her to me by name to show me what she had written on her slate. Jitendra was the creative one. After completing his work, he would decorate it with flowers and patterns on the borders.
Asha Kiran, run by a local NGO, is a school for slum children. Most of the children who come here are from the lowest strata of the society. Some are offspring of house-maids and others' parents are migrant labourers from Bihar, Orrisa or UP, working on daily wages at various construction sites of the city. In search of livelihood people from the villages of these states come to the city. After reaching here, they organise a shelter in the shape of a jhuggi with the help of some bamboo poles, tarpuline sheets and jute rugs and then pick up whatever job they can lay their hands upon to feed and clothe themselves. Education is pretty low on their list of priorities. Asha Kiran caters to the children from such families.
I learnt later that in the initial days, it had been difficult to get these children into the school. Since the parents are mostly illiterate, they are not bothered about providing any education for their children. Food and shelter is all they can provide them. The school volunteers went around persuading them to send the children to school. They were explained that their children would be safer in school in the care of responsible adults rather than on the busy roads where they used to play all day. What is more, the children would be provided some nourishing refreshment in the school in the form of fruits, milk etc and they will also be taught to read and write and count. After considerable effort, the idea appealed to the parents and they started sending their children to school.
The education in the school is absolutely free as are the books, copies, stationery items, school uniforms and shoes. Because of the lack of space and resources, there are just two classes in school- the beginners and the seniors. The beginners are taught counting, Hindi and English alphabets and the seniors are taught addition, subtraction, forming words etc. Since the children are there for different amounts of time and are at different levels of competence, the teachers have to take into account the individual capabilities. One has to know that this particular child has count only up to fifty, while the other has learnt to subtract with borrowing. Since the teaching has to be so individualistic, volunteers are always welcome to help out. Besides the academics, the children are educated about health and hygiene, manners and moral values. They are taught crafts and music- something they really enjoyed.
As time passed, I came across many people who had come forward to help this fledgling school. There was this lady who used to come to Asha Kiran for an hour before proceeding to work full time in a bank, to train the amateur teachers in teaching of languages. And there was a beautician, who would periodically herd all the girls in the school to give them a decent and neat haircut. There was no dearth of people who contributed with goodies to entice the kids to stay on in the school-they would bring for the kids school uniforms, stationary, toys and eats.
The two years that I spent with Asha Kiran children before moving to another city on transfer, was a rewarding one. The sight of children smiling and greeting me as I entered the room in the mornings was a joy to behold. The hours that I spent there were the best part of my day. Over the couple of years, I saw the children grow and become more articulate in expressing their thoughts in words. Most of them, after they had spent about a year getting the informal education in Asha Kiran had been enrolled in local municipal schools for a formal one. Even after that they had continued to come to their old school to get some extra help with their studies.
Asha Kiran and its children have remained to this day, a precious memory to me.
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