Update: Sorry for the deleted comments. I lost them during a server crash!
As a part of the Abhyudaya project, the PGDM participants at SPJIMR get an opportunity to mentor talented schoolchildren coming from economically weak backgrounds.
On 21 July 2009, we had a workshop on the mentoring process, which was conducted by the noted TISS alumni Ms. Pratima Havaldar and Ms. Kamini Kapadia. Later, a few of our batchmates were assigned the responsibility to mentor the schoolchildren mentored by our seniors last year. And on 26 July 2009, I and some of my batchmates were assigned the responsibility of mentoring the 45 kids new to this programme.
Each child selected for the Abhyudaya project is assigned two mentors. My mentee is Suraj, and I’ll mentor him jointly with the fellow SPJIMR participant, Shreyas Subedar.
Suraj with his balloon
Suraj studies in Std. VII, in the D N Nagar Marathi Medium Municipal School. His family lives in the Adarsh Nagar slums in Jogeshwari. His father is an insurance agent, and his mother works as a maid. Suraj has an elder sister, who studies in Std. IX, and a younger brother, Neeraj, who studies in Std. V. Suraj has won a couple of prizes in math exams, and has a win in an inter-school Yoga competition to his credit as well.
Suraj and Shreyas
Suraj
Shreyas and I met Suraj and his parents during a function organized at SPJIMR auditorium yesterday. Like other mentors, we talked with our mentee for some time, and then as a fun exercise, taught him how to build a tall tower using toy blocks.
Suraj with me
Later, the three of us interacted with the other children selected as a part of the Abhyudaya programme. We played Posham Pa* – when Suraj was caught, we asked him to sing. Although Suraj was a little hesitant initially, Shreyas and Aditi coaxed him into singing “Dhagala Lagli Kala”.
Suraj singing Dhagala Lagli
We reached Suraj’s home at 4 in the evening, and spent around two hours there. His modest but neat home is tucked away in a small corner of a slum in Jogeshwari. His mom welcomed us, and asked him to lay out a bedsheet on the floor for us.
After greeting the family members, we had a look at all of Suraj’s textbooks. It was nice to see that the textbooks had been given for free, under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. There are eight subjects:
- English
- नागरिकशास्त्र आणि प्रशासन (Civics and Administration)
- सामान्य विज्ञान (General Science)
- भूगोल (Geography)
- हिन्दी (Hindi)
- इतिहास (History)
- मराठी (Marathi)
- गणित (Mathematics)
Although I can read and understand Marathi pretty well, I am not a flawless speaker. Shreyas, who speaks Marathi fluently despite being a Gujju, came in handy this time!
During the function, SPJIMR had presented each kid with an Oxford School Atlas, an English-to-kid’s mother tongue dictionary, and few cusrive writing books. First, we asked Suraj to fill up a few lines in the English cursive writing book. Then, we decided to teach him how to use the English-to-Marathi dictionary.
After that, we came to Mathematics. His mathematics textbook uses several Marathi terms unfamiliar to us (कोण द्विभाजक for angle bisector, for example), but it wasn’t much difficult comprehending the text. We brushed up a few concepts such as line bisector, angle bisector etc., and taught him how to use a protractor to measure angles. Then, we had some fun with multiplication of two-digit numbers and indices.
Before leaving his home, we gave Suraj some “homework”: practising cursive handwriting, looking up two words in the English-Marathi dictionary every day, and some math exercises. Shreyas threatened Suraj with more homework for calling us “Sir” instead of dada (Marathi for brother)!
Suraj wants to be a pilot, when he grows up. I know that his plans will most probably change as he grows up, but joining Air Force might be a good option for him, if they don’t. As of now, we need to prepare him for the Std. VII scholarship exam — his success in this exam will not only help him financially, but will also boost his confidence.
Other plans I’ve for him are to teach him spoken English, to improve his computer skills, to get him to participate in more extra-curricular activities, to improve his academic performance, and to develop his personality in general. Too big of a task? We shall see.
* For the uninitiated, this is (or at least was, when I was a kid) a popular kids game in northern parts of India. Two kids join hands to form an arch, and the others pass under this arch. The kids sing:
Posham Pa Bhai Poshampa
Dakiye Ne Kya Kiya! (What did the postman do!)
100 Rupaye Ki Ghadi Churayi (Stole the watch worth 100 rupees)
Ab To Jail Mein Jaana Padega (Will have to go to the jail now)
Jail Ki Roti Khani Padegi (Will have to eat the jail’s bread now)
Jail Ka Pani Peena Padega (Will have to drink the jail’s water now)
…
[some nonsensical words to end the song]
At the instance the song ends, the kid currently under the arch is trapped, and gets some “punishment”.
