An earnest plea to all for a change to happen!

Dear all!

Season’s greetings and hope you are at your best!

If you are at the recipient of this email, it is to personally acknowledge that you have made a contribution to where I am today. I am also hoping that you’ve known me enough over our interactions to trust my intent and drive behind this email. This is a bit lengthy, but a personal email that I am sending for you to act on a deed much needed. For once I want to make something happen in my life so much despite all the excuses and for a good reason beyond myself.

As I ventured upon a challenge 7 months ago of becoming a municipal school teacher, as a part of Teach For India fellowship program, I thought how hard would it be to teach a class of 35 kids from a low income community. Rather funny. Today, as I spend my 7 months with my kids, I see the bigger picture. It is no more ‘I’, it is no more my ways, it is no more a fellow of “Teach For India”. It has been my students, my school, the parents, the teachers and that entire stakeholder’s who affect my student’s education. Past few months has been an enormous personal transformation for me, alongside with the huge learning; from my diligent peers, from my fellow teachers, from the ever concerned parents, from the industrious community people, and not to forget from my adorable-n-fearless bunch of students.

As I ponder upon the ways to create a learning environment for these kids from these low-income communities (living in slums amongst the unhygienic surroundings with a potential source for anti-social ailments and an average monthly parents income being 2500 Rs), I believe that these students have the right to attain the same quality of excellent education that each and every student in this country gets. When I took over the class in June, I was working with a notion that a large number of things would be possible under my locus of control and I can be resourceful. Though I have been successful to an extent I still feel there is a lot that can be done for these students. My students have been showing me all signs of improvement from the time they are working hard to be the best in my class. Now when I think, I say I will not do wonders here, but my kids will do wonders if the environment provided in the class and school can be more favorable for them to study in. Considering the fact that even the school environment is not the best, learning has been made difficult for them. As I look upon things with a higher sense of possibility, I think I can make my students do wonders, preparing them with the best material for learning and making them solve the best of books. Every penny counts for the parents to provide their children with the excellent study material and also the essentials. It’s hard for the parents and also the school to provide with such resources where the students are free to learn what they really want to and experiment on things.

As someone said nothing is free. So are the best of things that you want for these kids. So here’s the reason for the mail to you after a long time (in certain cases even after a few years), to try and seek your help in generating resources for improving the quality of education my kids receive. The resources can be anything, monetary, non –monetary or your valuable time. Anything would be highly appreciated by me and my kids. Primary motive behind my asking you is with an intention for providing my kids with the best of study material (Story books for class library, Reading comprehension books of several cadre, Xerox copies of everyday assessments, Writing exercise books etc.), teaching aids, for their educational trips; and at a larger scale for the improvisation of the school environment. Any help in this regard, I personally would be highly grateful to you.

Today as a low-income municipal school teacher I see reality. I do not see myself as the beaming hope of the nation. I see myself as a person who loves to see these minute changes happening in classes which one day will extrapolate into a revolution. Because I feel how much ever we give back to the society is very small compared to what we have received from it. And someone said “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves – who am I to be brilliant, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

After all we are here for something. Be a part of this change you all wish to see.

Thank you for your patience in reading my mail.

If you wish to contribute to my students in any manner please contact me. You can reply back this email or ping me at 9967485428.

All your help will be recorded and updated at my class blog http://mightysailors.blogspot.com/

Hope this New Year brings you all the luck and peace!

best,

Madhukar Banuri
Grade-3 Teacher,
Krantiveer Vasudev Balwant Phadke Municipal School,
Fatimanagar, Pune, India.
9967485428
http://www.teachforindia.org/