Educating India

Manjudidi works in our house as a house-help. Her 12-year-old daughter would accompany her once in a while. I realized one day that she wasn’t attending school and instantly thought of a day in class when our teacher spoke about how children from poor households didn’t attend school because of a lack of money and facilities. She encouraged us to think of one-to-one education where one literate person could teach an illiterate thereby contributing to nation-building. I felt privileged to find this opportunity at hand and rushed to confirm the possibility with Manjudidi and my mother. They both were more than pleased to and happily said ‘go ahead. I ran to the market to fetch some basic books and a notebook for her. We started the very same day with Hindi and English alphabets and stories. As days passed, I got more and more engrossed in teaching my new friend. Though a little difficult initially, my friend learnt fast. Today, my friend attends regular school and I am very proud of her.