I was in Dehradun over the weekend....23rd-24th Feb 08 for a REACHA workshop.....for the launch of the onlineKHOJ programme through the website www.maitreya.wikidot.com. During the inauguration of the workshop a group of girl students from a Dehradun School presented a skit on garbage management. There were about 15 of them.....smartly dressed in their maroon tops and dark blue pants. Their hair was done up very neatly and all of them looked very fresh, alert and extremely energetic. I thought these girls were from one of the top well-known Dehradun schools. Well, I was mistaken!! They were representing the Him Jyoti School in Dehra Dun.....a unique boarding school which starts from Class VI. But, not everyone can get an admission here......the girl child has to be highly meritorious (judged through a State level entrance test ) and her parents have to be EXTREMELY POOR!! And here lies the greatness in this effort......the girls' parents range from rickshaw pullers, to coolies, to agricultural labourers to.....you name it....the most economically weaker sections of the hill society. When they started speaking.....I got my second shock of the day....their English presentation and diction was as good if not better than some of the well known Public Schools I have visited over the last 15 odd years in India.
The School currently has about 100+ girls as per the above qualifications. The Him Jyoti Society hopes to make this a 10+2 School by 2012. I met the Principal and congratulated
her. I also offered my honorary services to help develop the institution. The entire education is 100% free for the children.
As a squash enthusiast I was also able to get a go-ahead from the school Mentor Sri Sudarshan Agarwal, erstwhile Governor, Uttarakhand and the incumbent Governor of Sikkim, to get 2 glass walled squash courts constructed at the school.
As an educationists it is my belief that it is high time for us to scout, explore and harness our country's hidden 'gems' from the countryside.....be it academics or sports, the arts or the music. The 'fire in the belly' of these kids takes them to great heights.....they have seen poverty and so value anything they earn by dint of their talent and merit. Compare that with children from well to do families.....few of them have it in them to convert their hidden talent into genuine contributions for the society and the nation. The 'fire, the passion' is simply not there.
My dream school, perhaps, has been finally discovered. A new journey is about to begin....!
