By Molly Pathak
DIFFICULTIES STRENGTHEN THE MIND AS LABOUR DOES THE BODY.Through this blog post, I am going to tell you a story of four young boys, their individual struggles and situations that led them to come together for a common purpose i.e. ‘to rise up in life’.
This story takes off from ‘Hunnar Gurukul’ an artisan training school; located in a quaint village named Uttur, in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra. Situated by Kolhapur-Panjim highway, Uttur is fabulously spoilt by lush green trees and a wilderness that brings in positive vibes about nature’s undeterred bounty. I had visited Uttur in March 2019, to review the year-long skilling program. The temperatures had just begun soaring yet there was tranquility in the air and a deep sense of quietude which is necessary for holistic learning to prevail.
Hunnar Gurukul is an initiative of ‘Cause to Connect Foundation’, a Pune based NGO established in the year 2016, supported and nurtured by Lend A Hand India. Mr. Aniruddha Bansod, a passionate professional leads it.
Academic year 2018-19, was the first year of its project implementation. The first batch of students at Hunnar Gurukul consisted of eight boys who had not fared well in the formal education system but had an inherent aptitude for artistry. Through its one year course, the Gurukul had addressed their capacity gap between formal education and vocational skill training and saved these individuals from turning into migrant laborers. As the name suggests, Hunnar Gurukul is a residential program implemented through a well designed time table which includes activities for physical, personal and spiritual1 growth for the students.
Hunnar Gurukul imparts year-long practical vocational skill training in carpentry and masonry. Each session lasts for twelve months and the course is split into three parts i.e. – four months of concept based practical training, three months of production where students make real life usable models by applying the skills learnt in workshop and the last three months of on job training with a domain specialist. Upon completion of course, students are encouraged to explore options of placements and/or entrepreneurship. The Gurukul handholds its students in getting their first work/job orders in place.
Leaving behind the nitty-gritty of training and its components, which are otherwise available through reports and statistics, I concentrated on stories at the Gurukul.
As of March 2019; Gautam, is a gritty 17 year old, newest entrant into the Hunnar Gurukul. About 2 years ago Gautam used to beg at Kurla railway station in Mumbai. Physical abuse, hunger, destitution, helplessness, he had experienced it all in most horrible proportions and in great detail. He was rescued from that fearful existence by Snehalaya, an Ahmednagar based NGO. At Snehalaya he was clothed, sheltered and given a new identify, but educating him was a challenge because of his age and no prior background in formal education. To make sure that he wouldn’t fall back into the vicious circle of helplessness, he was brought in at Hunnar Gurukul to receive vocational skill training over mere literacy. Gautam is a student of carpentry.
His trainer says that Gautam speaks very less, is shy by nature but an avid learner. During an in-depth interview with Gautam, I found that he had experienced the greatest amount of trust deficit in his earlier life at Mumbai and hence remained isolated in the beginning. As time progressed, the positive learning environment, individual attention and care at Hunnar Gurukul helped him heal his past scars and open up to cheerfulness. On the day of the visit, after classes in the evening the boys had presented a song and dance program to express their happiness about having a visitor in their campus. Gautam had anchored that program with limited words but excitement that oozed out of his sincere eyes. Gautam’s case is a strong example of vocational education as an instrument for nurturing, healing and moving up towards better life conditions.
Three 18-21 year old boys, Rohan, Rohit and Rishi; slightly senior students of carpentry, were on the verge of completing their course at the time of writing this story. Having spent their childhood at Snehalaya, destiny had brought all three of them together for livelihood based vocational skill training at Hunnar Gurukul. They know nothing as to who their biological fathers were, all they know is that their biological mothers were into professions that ‘society would not accept’2 and hence they had been sent away by their own mothers to the shelter home at Snehalaya for a better life. As per their trainer, all the three boys have been exceptionally good students and have taken deep interest in learning and allied activities throughout their stay at the gurukul. During the visit I had an informal conversation with them to find out more about their well being and present state of mind. Through the conversation they shared that, at that point of time they were doing their internship with an architect near Velhe block in Pune district.
They also said that after completing their internship they would like to set up a small production shed and take basic job orders. Over and above getting details about their progress in training, I observed that something more than livelihood preparedness had developed between the three of them. I found that from being erstwhile orphans they had started living like brothers, they had become a family with the same dreams and aspirations. This was far much over and above the intended impact of both formal education as well as vocational skill education.
Having spent a complete day with the first batch students of Hunnar Gurukul; that evening as I left Uttur, I couldn’t help but wonder about the miracles that can be achieved if ‘education is imparted as service of the greatest order, accepted as gratitude and revered as worship’.
(The writer Molly Pathak, works as a Consultant with Lend a Hand India. She draws from the field and writes about the not so theoretical aspects of development which would have gone unnoticed if not said through stories!)
Notes:
1spiritual here means the specific quest present in human beings that makes them seek a better living than the present and a spirit to fight in the face of adversity. It is in no way related to religion. It refers to the drive or eagerness in a human being to excel in a particular task/work/activity.
2 ‘professions that society would not accept’ = commercial sex workers
Names of students have been changed to protect identity.
Shir Aniket Navgire, founder of A V Electricals interviewing students for internship
Sonali Chavan is a 11th standard student of Rajiv Gandhi E-learning School, Pune. She belongs to a conservative lower middle-class family and is a first-generation learner. She resides at Indhira Nagar and her father work as coolie with local contactor in the fabrication sector and her neighbors are no different. She has been taught that field like electrical and fabrication are man’s job since early age, but determined to overcome such limitations and pursue her passion in it, she enrolled herself for an MSFC course along her friends. Today, she is doing an internship in the electrical and fabrication domain and inching closer to make her dreams a reality.
Supriya is 11 th standard students who belongs to lower economic background. She is one of the sincere student. She feels that MSFC is dream come true course. She has seen poverty since childhood wanted to earn to overcome it. But due to financial constrain she will not able to opt for any course after 12th standard to become self- dependent. She will be not be able study further that is the reason why Supriya focused on MSFC classes. She realized that MSFC trainer taught us fabrication, basic engineering, this will give opportunity to earn for fulfill her basic needs and save some money for her further education.
Now, Supriya is one of the girls who’s doing an internship with AV Elevators. After completion, she will be working as an electrician and fulfill her dreams. This might just be her first step of success.
Snehal ( Right side) is another MSFC student, who is also doing an internship with AV Elevators, Pune. She is in 11th grade. As an electrician intern, she assisted senior electrical to install elevators in two weeks. She was initially not interested in studies and never aspired to work for any company. But, MSFC seeded an interest into her as she’s now being able to taste her own fruits of success and experience the results of whatever she is working on,this eventually led her to develop an interest in electricals. Today, she strives to pursue further studies so that she can become an engineer.
Glimpse from working site
क त्याचे सामर्थ्य हरवून हतबल होतो. ‘मी एकटा काय करू शकेन? जग बदलण्याचे सामर्थ्य माझ्यात आहे का? असे प्रश्न त्याला भेडसावत राहतात. या प्रश्नांची उत्तरे पाहण्यासाठी इतिहास चाळला तर डोळ्यांपुढे येणारे पहिले नाव म्हणजे विष्णुगुप्त अर्थात ‘चाणक्य’. इतिहासातील सर्वात रक्तरंजित काळात भारताला सावरणारा एक शिक्षक होता. केवळ ज्ञान आणि निष्ठेच्या जोरावर आपल्याला एक नव्हे तर तीन श्रेष्ठ सम्राट; सम्राट अशोक, चंद्रगुप्त मौर्य आणि बिंदुसार; बहाल करणारा एक शिक्षक होता.’ ‘शिक्षक सामान्य नसतो. निर्माण आणि प्रयोग हे त्याच्या मांडीवर खेळतात’. या शब्दात पुरंदरे सरांनी उपस्थित शिक्षकांना स्वतःचे सामर्थ्य आणि महत्व पटवून दिले. १९९१ साली प्रसारित मालिका ‘चाणक्य’ मधील ठराविक चित्रफिती सादर करून त्यांनी त्यांच्या व्याख्यानाला दुजोरा दिला. उपस्थित शिक्षकांनी त्यांच्या व्याख्यानाचे टाळ्यांच्या कडकडाटात स्वागत केले.
लेंड-अ-हँड इंडिया द्वारे सुरु करण्यात आलेल्या शिक्षण मंथन कार्यक्रमाची सातवी बैठक दिनांक २३ डिसेंबर २०१५ रोजी आयोजित करण्यात आली होती. याकरिता प्रमुख वक्ते म्हणून भोर जिल्ह्यातील केंजळ या गावातील जिल्हा परिषद शाळेचे मुख्याध्यापक श्री. जे. के. पाटील यांना आमंत्रित करण्यात आले होते. जिल्हा परिषदेतील या शाळेमध्ये प्रायोगिक तत्वावर ज्ञानरचनावाद आणि कृती आधारित शैक्षणिक उपक्रमांवर भर देऊन सदर उपक्रम राबवण्यासाठी पाटील सरांनी प्रयत्न केले आहेत. सदर शाळेतील अनुभवावरून पुढे भोर तालुक्यातील इतर ३० शाळांमध्ये हा पॅटर्न यशस्वीपणे राबविण्यात आला व आता हा कृती आधारित शिक्षणाचा प्रयोग संपूर्ण राज्यात गिरवण्यास सुरुवात झाली आहे. सदर उपक्रमाकरता निवृत्त शिक्षण अधिकारी श्री. प्रकाश परब यांचे मार्गदर्शन लाभले आहे. 
