A bridge to many dreams
There are so many things that we come across daily but we just don’t give a good look at it and thus miss the beauty of it. But if you give a little attention to your surroundings you may get a new perspective to look at things.
I had such an experience lately, when I was heading home from Yamuna Bank Metro station. On the way outside the station, there were big black patches painted on the wall of the metro bridge. I was very amused to see that and was also curious to know about it. So here is the story behind it:
As the Delhi Metro rumbles from the Yamuna Bank Metro station, something extraordinary takes place under its tracks. The neighbouring slum children gather in front of a patch of wall painted black, under the bridge of Yamuna Bank metro station waiting for the one who gave them the opportunity to follow their dream. The man behind this rudimentary learning space is Rajesh Kumar (40), who is a shopkeeper at Shakarpur.
One fine day in 2008, when Rajesh was just walking to the metro station, he noticed few children weeding and picking flowers and some just playing in dirt, he then asked them which school they go to, to which he got no answer but just blank faces looking at him. Next day he went to their parents and asked them why the children were not in school, they complained that the school was too far and neither do they have resources to educate their children. He started arguing with the parents who wanted their children to help them at work instead of sending them to school and was able to persuade some of them. Next day he again went to the metro station bridge, cleaned and swept the area and started to teach a few student with whatever resources he had. Since then he have been coming regularly (5 days a week) for 2 hours, along with two other teachers who joined him in this noble cause. The teachers do not only provide their knowledge for free but also all the reading and writing materials, and the rugs the student sit on during the classes. Kumar starts at the basics and goes on to prepare the children for admission to government schools. He started with approximately 140 students, and 70 of them are in government schools now. “They still come here everyday. I manage to keep them ahead of the school curriculum,” Kumar says with pride.
In Rajesh’s words-“To change the future of these children, education is the only weapon. If they go anywhere in the world, if they have education, they can achieve anything. And without education, they can do nothing.”
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