"As a child, my ambitions were very different. But life had a different plan for me. I did my bachelor's in pharmacy and started working with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in December 2006. I enjoyed my work there. TCS also offered weekend volunteering opportunities through Tcs-Maitree.
My friend and I were looking forward to do something on weekends. That’s when Sion School initiative happened. A team of TCS employees volunteered on Sundays at a school in Sion. We taught English to 8th and 9th standard students. My friend went on for further studies, and I continued with this initiative on weekends. Working with students here was a very positive and motivating experience. I enjoyed what I was doing there.
I realized that I would love to be involved in teaching, but didn't know how. I was academically not trained to be a teacher. However, this passion to teach and the concern about the education system in India grew with my volunteering experience. I wanted to do my part to bring a change, however small.
In December 2013, I quit my corporate job and started looking for options for. I started volunteering with The Akanksha Foundation’s Shindewadi Municipal School. Later one day, thanks to a friend, I was introduced to Kranti, which works ‘to empower the daughters of sex workers and make them agents of social change'.
Kranti offers a personalized developmental program to the girls. I used to provide home schooling support to them. This changed my life in many ways and I realized teaching could be so much fun. You can teach critical thinking in so many different ways. #Education is ultimately about empowering kids to be independent - emotionally, financially and socially. I enjoyed the alternate education system. Through Kranti, I came to know about lot of people who are involved in making education more relevant and practical.
During my Kranti journey, I got in touch with an organization called Antarang Foundation that provides employability skills to build self-reliance. I have trained youth from different communities on employability skills and have seen their journeys.
Now I'm working with Happy Feet Home – a hospice that provides palliative care to terminally-ill children. Here I teach kids who are living with Thalassemia Major or HIV. The kids are in different age group and are different backgrounds. I help in their academics, conversational English, reading and writing skills. I hope to help them to increase their critical thinking ability. I'm still associated with Kranti and Antarang.
When I talk to my cousin about the work I do, he says “you would always become a teacher when we used to play in childhood, and you used to love being a teacher.” When I think about where I'm right now, I didn't plan this but it feels so right. It seems like it was meant to happen. I love children, I love being around them. Teaching gives me an opportunity to interact with them, understand them and love them"
"Dots are starting to connect"
