In November 2016, Padmanava Sen (Asha central project team member) visited Asha darshan schools.
In his words —–
It was my first visit to North East. I have never heard of Rangiya (few stations away from Guwahati). My expectation was simple- to spend 2-3 days in some schools supported by Asha for Education, Silicon Valley chapter. It is my 25th or so Asha visit, did not expect much difference. However, I ended up spending 8 days in Tamulpur village near Rangiya and felt quite refreshed before heading to Tawang, Arunachal.
This area is quite close to the Bhutan border. I could easily enter Bhutan by foot and many locals fill up their tank in Bhutan. The demonetization happened the day I reached Rangiya. I spent 5 days in different schools playing academic games, trying to figure out ways to improve the quality of education. It was very lively interaction to say the least. Some villages have more Bengalis than Assamese. Some villages have mostly adibasi population. Some villages have mostly Boro whereas few villages in the Bhutan border have mixed population. There is one thing common – they all dance very well!!
Now what are the challenges in running school here
a) Different languages people speak
b) Decades of conflict have caused a lot of issues in the infrastructure. Govt schools were not there in multiple villages.
c) Violence among different groups were not uncommon few years back. Now things are apparently quite peaceful.
d) Elephants come down from the mountains almost every day. They ruin the vegetable and paddy field in some villages. So “bhago” is the word after 4 pm every day.
Put your children in these settings and imagine how they will concentrate on studies where electricity is scarce and elephants keep making a mess.
But the landscape is very beautiful coveted with tea gardens, mustard fields and paddy fields. It was quite fun to interact with kids in these settings. After spending time in all schools, I could also spend one day teaching Class 7 and 8 kids. But my best experience was the dance experience with the kids.
Another thing I noticed in these schools is the bonding between the teachers and kids. I think the learning becomes perfect when you can explain your problems freely to your teacher.
There was a dance drama named ” Mukti” during the events. I felt only education can create a nice path to forget all the conflicts, make the infrastructure better and make this new generation free from social and politics-driven chains.
They also spread the message of peace among different cultures and religions.
I could attend the children’s day event and be a judge for the dances and vocals. At the same time, I had more chances to dance in the tunes of “O Seni Mai”.
Apart from all the judging, posing, dancing —- I taught a bit too. This is the proof 🙂
Asha Darshan runs schools mostly in Assamese and Boro medium. The Boro medium students do not have much option of higher studies in mother tongue so they have to learn English and Hindi fast. Ditto with the Adibasi school in Sonmani (it is amazing how they have the same script as the adibasi in Ayodhya hills). There is no computer education anywhere. Glad to see teachers being trained to use computer. Next will be the kids 🙂
While I look back at these selfies, I feel the positive energy created by Asha Darshan among these kids. Not only kids from different languages, different cultures are dancing in the same stage changing the history of conflicts and differences, they are creating a better world every moment they smile.
