Pratham
2:51:00 PM
A New
Experience
by Tanay
Kothari,volunteer
I never imagined that the lifestyles
of people could be so diverse, even in modern metros like Delhi. My recent
visit to rural schooling centres run by Pratham, India’s largest NGO, gave me a
new perspective of the world around me.
I started working with Pratham Books
in April ’14, after I wanted to use my skills to give back to the society.
Pratham Books is an organization with the aim of putting a book in every
child’s hands. They publish high quality story books for children at low prices
to make them accessible to children in rural areas.
After months of meetings, hard work
and night-outs, the seemingly ginormous task was finally complete. I had
created a framework, and used it to digitize our first book. This framework
would allow for future expansion, and further digitisation of books with
incremental effort. Using this, even a ten year-old can do so, the process
being as simple as drag-n-drop.
Our first book - Too Much Noise -
was finally developed by Dec ’14, following which we planned a visit to the
centres in rural areas to get feedback on our new product and if it could
really make a difference. Go to a school. Showcase the app. Get the
questionnaire filled by the children. Go to the next center. Repeat. A process
that seemed so simple was just about to change my life. On 20 Jan, I packed my
bag, printed the questionnaires, ready for my first visit. Taking the metro, a
rickshaw and then walking for 20 mins through narrow winding streets, got me to
my destination - a small rural schooling centre in East Delhi.
I stepped into the first classroom.
These weren’t like normal class rooms. Children of different classes sat in
groups of 5-6 on mats, each group being taught by a teacher. As soon as I
walked into the classroom, I was greeted with a resounding “Good Morning Sir!”
as all the children welcomed me in. Getting them all into a circle, I showed
them what the app had - a multilingual story with play-along text, in-story
quizzes and interesting facts about objects and people in the book. I could
sense pure delight on their faces as every tap on the screen surprised them.
Even simple things as swiping to turn the page left them awestruck.
All the
different actions which happened on the screen created a magical aura, and the
children’s happiness knew no bounds. I realized these were children who had
never had access to technology. To them this was magic; and I, the magician,
bringing to them this joy. This was a different kind of happiness that started
to bud inside me. Not the transient kind, but one that was destined to leave me
with a smile of satisfaction for time to come.
For two days, we went from one centre to another, meeting children of
all ages and every one of them was as excited as the rest.
At one centre, a
group of little girls decided to repay me for telling them a wonderful story,
and wrote a story with me as the main character - a brave warrior prince.
However small an incident, this was one of the things I will never forget.
They thank god and
their parents for every day that they are able to go to school, every new thing
they learn, every book they are able to read, and every small gesture done
towards them. This is one thing I could never have learned in school or in
textbooks, and neither could anyone else. It’s time today’s generation goes and
visits these places, broaden their horizons, and develop a sense of
appreciation for their life.
