Sunday, June 7, 2009

Taare Zameen Par - The Story (I)



I begin from where I had left in the last blog. It was for 3-4 months that we had been taking classes, but not with a lot of enthu. A lot of volunteers used to come and teach the students but they never used to return after 2-3 weeks.
In June 2008, 3 new volunteers AJ, AM and SH joined. I had my initial doubts about their continuity. After 2-3 weeks, I could sense here were the folks who would infuse the much needed stimulus into our activities. So they did.
Before, there was so much dependence upon me that if I was not able to come to Nai Disha, Sunday classes were invariably called off. I felt really guilty. With the oncoming Sunday AIMCATS(Mock CAT), I was really worried how will I be able to manage both. So, there was no escaping from the guilt pangs.
But, AJ, AM and SH gelled excellently into our team. I could realize the importance of working in a team. A team can overcome all hurdles only if all members work selflessly towards the all-important goal. In our case, the goal was the empowerment of the under-privileged students.
Before the trio joined, I was working in Nai Disha for my satisfaction. But, now, I could feel that we were actually shaping the grassroots of our society. Coming from a background where survival is the issue, it is very tough to dream.
Our limited teaching period of 2 hr on Sundays looked very limited in comparison to the regular classes on weekdays and Saturday. But, I could sense that we were making a big change to lives of the under-privileged students. We were teaching them to dream. The students were idolizing us(Funny…I know…But not from their context).
They wanted to come out of the shackles of insufficiency and limitations, they wanted to become like us. They wanted to make it big. Our bakar sessions had worked. Though not all of them would become a winner, but even if, 10 students take their studies seriously, our initiative is a success.
The team didn’t stop growing. Later, there were many new members in our group. I will cover their contribution and the various initiatives we took in our next blog.
PS – I have used initials to represent people, so that they don’t feel awkward.

6 comments:

Priya Gupta said...

Great work Amartya :)
Well , the next post can actually be about your performance in the closing class....and if u need a snap of it , take it from me :D

Amartya Singh said...

@Priya It can also be abt ur performance.It will be a video which I had recorded, if u hav forgotten. :p

Priya Gupta said...

dont mess up with me :P
otherwise u wont be able to see the IIM corridors ;)

Amartya Singh said...

Challenge mat dena...
warna sachi main video post kar dunga :D
im leaving noida on Sunde so u will have very less time...hahahaha....

Priya Gupta said...

maidaan chod kar bhaag rahe ho..jao baksha diya :P

DIPTI RANJAN PANDA said...

dude...great work indeed!!!It's really very tough to manage this thing in week days after hectic job schedule...
@Priya:- can you please put the snap and give the link in this comment area.we can see what he has done there,must be crying while leaving..