Things that money can’t buy – The Hindu, New Delhi 28th

Jan 2013,by

GAURAV VIVEK BHATNAGAR

Two engineers choose to teach kids than draw from high-paying jobs :

Till a year ago, Rahul Bhanot, a Computer

engineer and an MBA, was drawing around Rs.2

lakh per month working for an information

technology major, but he was not happy working

for unseen people. Today he is much happier

earning a Rs.14,000 per month stipend while

teaching at a municipal corporation Primary

School in Tughlakabad Extension.

He now commutes 20 km from Faridabad to the

school every day. While his business family has not been able to comprehend his decision,

they nevertheless respect it.

“I wasn’t really interested in Information Technology. After doing my M.Sc. from Coventry

and MBA from Nottingham in England, I worked for companies there as also for TCS and

IL&FS Education in India. But there was always something missing in my life,” says 33-

year-old Rahul.

Then through a friend he came to know about Teach For India, which has been working with

around 700 outstanding college graduates and young professionals towards eliminating

educational inequity in India.

“I joined TFI as a fellow and now I teach girls of Class III all the subjects barring the second

language. Our teaching style is not rote; it is more of conceptual learning. I hope to open my

own school based on these concepts on completing my two year fellowship,” says Rahul.

Another TFI fellow, Mainak Roy, too nurtures similar

ambitions. He also joined the second batch in Delhi last

year and now teaches girl students at a municipal

corporation Primary School in Sangam Vihar. “My father

till date cannot understand why I turned down offers

from leading companies to take up teaching. In India

teaching is considered the last avenue whereas in

developed countries like Finland, teachers are paid at par

with the best,” notes this B. Tech. in Electronics.

Mainak insists that the teaching they impart is not about marks. “One section out of four in

these schools is allocated to us and we teach our students in English. We also tell them things

about the outside world from our own experiences.”

For both Mainak and Rahul, who are part of the second batch in Delhi, the going was not

always easy. “When we went into the community, there was an element of distrust as we

were boys teaching in municipal schools after leaving highly paying jobs. But now the

appreciation for our work is there,” avers Rahul.

While the children and their families initially treated the school like a crèche – somewhere

they could stay safely while their parents were at work and one which also provided them

free uniforms, food and scholarships – the learning process brought about a drastic change in

them, they insist.

“One girl recently asked me if she could go with her family for a wedding in the family. I told

her it would be better if she did not as the final exams were approaching. She kept coming to

school. It was only after about ten days that she disclosed

that she had stayed back alone at home and most of the time

ate just eggs and bread. It is such dedication of these

students which makes our efforts all the more worthwhile.

Seeing the children progress before your eyes also gives

immense satisfaction.” says Rahul.

Mainak adds that for all the girls schooling is also a passport

for a better future. “There is one girl in my class who often turns up with a black eye. When I

asked her about the reason, she said her mother was burnt alive before her own eyes and now

she lives with her maternal aunt, whose son often beats her up. But despite all of thatshe tries

not to miss even a single class.”

Recently, he says, when as part of a critical thinking exercise he gave his class an exercise to

write the craziest things they could imagine with a sock – like being able to travel around the

world on wearing it – one girl, Shaheen wrote: “I hope that on wearing this all the parents in

the world have the money to send their children to school”. The touching words instantly won

her the first prize.

The two fellows say the students now feel freer to discuss various issues with them and in the

wake of the recent gang-rape case, they even asked them what the incident was all about.

“We did not discuss the issue with them but intend to get our female colleagues for a session

on such matters. Such interventions are important for their well-being and can look at

teaching them things like good and bad touch,” they say