This photo is from a day before Diwali.

6 months ago I asked our maid, press waala, security if their kids went to school. Everyone said yes. Then I started asking if they went to English medium. Everyone said yes. Then I asked if their kids knew English?

Everyone said no...

So started a small initiative to teach their kids English. A short journey full of joy and learnings.

Kids parents had phone but didn’t have WhatsApp on phone. So we used our buildings security guard to call and take confirmations. 19 kids and 1 adult enrolled.

Finding a good teacher was an issue. We started with a freelancer doing 1 hour class twice a week but soon realised that it is not enough. So moved to Speakwell institute which agreed to reduce their normal price to half and also sent a teacher at the building.

We started by-we will do it free. our maid said, sir free mat karo, log seriously nahin lenge (people won’t take it seriously). So we set it at 500/kid/month. Many had 3 kids. The problem: I can only spare 500/month. Which kid should I educate? This was a real constraint to them.

Residents in the building came together to find the rest. People didn’t have time but most were open to contributing money. One realisation was - many people in the position of privilege want to do more - they don’t have a trusted channel and time. This is an opportunity waiting

A few people objected. The kids will scratch our car. This is a safety issue. I also didn’t know the answer to this till the first class happened. These kids were the most well behaved I had seen. More than our privileged kids. They valued the opportunity and were keen to learn.

Where will the course happen? We started with the refuge area on a floor. Over the course of 2 months we shifted 3 diff refuge areas because the occupants on that floor complained of safety. In the last leg we ended up using the gym during afternoons.

We had to do what we could in summer vacations. During regular days kids didn’t have time to do the course. Bcoz they spent 6 hours in school and 2-3 hours in tutions after school. A schooling system which keeps letting them down even though parents invest 30-40% of their income

Our building manager Rekha handled daily stuff. From other residents I had always heard that she was not great at her job. But this she did with all her heart. She arranged food, heard out the residents. She made it happen. It tells me how having a purpose changes everything.

These kids have big dreams. Someone wants to go abroad, many want to become teachers, some doctors and engineers. From the refuge area they would look at other buildings and point out where they would like to stay when they grow up.

We achieved mediocre results. Kids could do basic conversation in English by the end. They didn’t become fluent. But they became confident. One promise I took from them was to watch cartoons in English. And if they don’t find anyone to talk to - then talk to Google, Siri or Alexa