Imagine an India Free of Poverty and Filled with Love.
Divya is one of India's 320 million children.
PUNE
VAIDUWADI
Divya was born in Vaiduwadi community, in Pune.
She grew up in poverty.
Her father was a security guard - and drank too much.
Her mother was mistreated by her in-laws.
Her home was so small that when she needed to take a bath, she had to ask everyone to step outside.
She was surrounded by bad language and fights in her community.
And school was no escape.
Her first experience of school, at grade 2, was of being hit with a long scale.
Teachers would take off a student's clothes if they hadn't done their homework, and Divya remembers being made to stand in her undergarments in the classroom.
There was a lot of hitting and rote-learning. And no extra-curricular activities. Students who did well were focused on and students who were struggling ignored.
Divya started to slip.
Of the world's 385 million children living in poverty,
30% - close to 115 million - live in India.
​
That didn't happen to divya.
She escaped the reality that most of her friends would face.
Back in grade 3, when most kids were spiralling down a hole, when learning gaps were widening, Divya transferred to KC Thackeray School.
In grade 5, she met her first Fellow, Dhiren.
Suddenly, newspapers opened her mind to the world. Learning was more than textbooks.
​
And teachers never touched kids. It was here that Divya realised that her childhood experiences of violence, humiliation, abuse and being ignored were wrong.
Dhiren listened to Divya. He tried to understand what was going wrong. Divya's relay of learning continued. Her drama teacher, Ratan, introduced her to acting.
Her school principal, Shalini, showered her with love and warmth.
​
Her Fellows - Manoj, Sririam and Ashwath (grade 7) and Arjun and Puneet (grade 9 and 10) taught her differently. She was introduced to audio-visuals and encouraged to sit for scholarships.
She learned measurement with a bucket and water. They introduced her to role models, with the hope that their stories would help her develop her own identity and value system.
Divya remembers a student in class who couldn’t speak English, and how, with patience, Sriram would switch between Hindi, English, and Telugu to help her understand. Arjun made her "love history." And Puneet showed her "two sides of love - the stubborn, stern side as well as the fun side."
And slowly,
​
She learned consciousness - to understand herself and reflect to become better.
​
She learned critical thinking - to set ambitious goals and use her own thoughts to do what is needed.
​
She learned curiosity, communication and the power of voice - to ask questions and stand up for herself.
​
She learned collaboration and creativity - to work with others to co-create solutions.
​
She learned courage and compassion - to see herself as a leader, not just for herself but for the people around her.
Divya graduated from school.
She went on to Garware College of Commerce.
​
She joined the theatre group Umang and was one of the leading actors in The Greatest Show on Earth, raising her voice against the atrocities that children face as part of the education system.
And when she applied to, and got into the
Teach For India Fellowship, she had the courage to move cities and accept the offer despite family pressure to do otherwise.
She is a proud 2020 Teach For India Fellow.
Let’s connect Divya’s story to our new Leadership Development Journey 2.0
and look at where Divya grew to on our new Student Vision Scale.
“In 2019, Divya graduated from college.”
“In grade 5, Divya’s Fellow spent time helping her understanding her needs.”
“Divya is a proud 2020 Teach For India Fellow.”
“Through high school, Divya reached out to mentors for help regularly.”
“In grade 2, Divya didn’t realize that hitting was an act of injustice.”
“In 2019, Divya shared her story at the Greatest Show on Earth.”
Look at how little actions in the 8cs through her journey helped her grow on the Student Vision Scale.
I used to learn how to do Mehendi and would draw mehendi designs on all my project covers because I used to think Didi would love it.
​
Sometimes we would do role plays in front of teachers and that’s how I got interested in theatre.
Creativity
Communication
My school life wasn't easy as I was a chubby kid and I got teased a lot and I’d cry a lot. I’d cry but I would also fight for myself and complain to teachers.
Doing group work in class showed me what collaboration means and how much value people working together builds.
Collaboration
Consciousness
Rehearsing for the Greatest Show on Earth, we should share our stories in a circle. I would reflect on what each person needed from me to be their best self - because each person was going through something or had a journey of their own.
Curiosity
At home, when I was asked why am I doing something that nobody has done - I asked them why not?
Compassion
I remember Deepak - he used to share his own stories with me and would sometimes cry - he put a lot of faith in me and shared a lot. I slowly started feeling and understanding what he was going through and understood how he felt loved in our group. This taught me to listen with love.
Courage
Puneet bhaiya was teaching and some boys were being very vulgar and making a bra out of a napkin, which made me very uncomfortable. I was very scared and started crying as those boys were sitting next to me. But Puneet bhaiya encouraged me to share so I told him.
Critical thinking
Dhiren bhaiya always encouraged me to share my knowledge and learn in the process and would always encourage me to teach the things that I was good at.
Every child deserves to live in an India free of poverty and filled with love. An excellent and equitable education is our best route to this India.
Dhiren Achtani,
Advisor to the CEO and
Head of Advisory Office,
Sanabil Investments
And here are Divya's Fellows today.
Ashwath Bharath
Director, Firki
Arjun Chakravorthy, Phd
Assistant Professor,
OP Jindal University
They still remember Divya.
“ I would always remember her as a very courageous and righteous individual who would never shy away from speaking the truth.” - Arjun
“Divya had big handwriting (nice to have in math class where one needs children to write neatly) and she didn’t give up on me as a teacher :)” - Dhiren
​
Today, they work across the puzzle of educational inequity - for all children.
​
Dhiren Achtani
Advisor to the CEO and
Head of Advisory Office,
Sanabil Investments
We build a movement of leaders who work together to ensure low-income children attain an excellent and equitable education.
This movement of leaders starts with you.
Teaching.
