Not all 4 letter words are bad, coz HOPE is one of them!!!

Our first batch at St.Xaviers is a mixed lot. Almost all the students work during the daytime and attend night college. Some are from Mumbai while some have come to the city for work reasons. Most stay with their parents while some rent the space with friends while a few are put up at their relatives.

We conduct our sessions every weekend that is when both - students & us - have a day off. Saturday in the evening and Sunday on mornings.

Before this batch began on the 9th december we did a screening round with the students, and we enrolled all those who had turned up. Their levels varied - some were realtively well placed with spoken English while some only spoke in Hindi, nonetheless we felt that a serious effort on our parts and we shall be able to do justice to the hopes of those who turned up.

31 students attended the first session, and over the past month this number has settled at 27. Of these 27 students some are extremely hardworking - what drives them to put in extra hours is the hope of a better lifestyle. And these promising young men & ladies, bring us to their premises every weekend and on many weekdays too (beyond our office hours).

These students do all kinds of jobs like - office assistants, courier boys, data entry operators, salesmen etc. Their average monthly income is in the range of INR 2000 - 3000 and mind you, almost all work for around 8-10 hours a day.

There are a few kids here who are really inspiring - smiling, energetic and enthusiastic despite their difficult daily routines. One amongst them is a canteen boy.

This boy works in a government canteen in Bandra. He hails from Udipi in South and is in Mumbai for the obvious reason. He works 6 days in a week from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, then rushes to attend evening college from 5:50pm - 9:20 pm in VT. He stays in the same canteen with 60 others (yes, the number is correct!!!). He along with his canteenmates sleep on the dinner tables. Other than him no other canteen boy attends college (apparently they are not interested - I feel they have given up on hope).

This boy is extremely hardworking and its really amazing to see him put efforts despite so many constraints (I usually have my bed ready if i come late - i stay with 3 others - i always have variety in my dinner - i never had to work to pay my fees - but still many times i have not done/ did not do what is/was expected of me).

He is currently in his second year of senior college, however he can barely converse in English (remember he works in a government canteen where there is hardly any scope of speaking English).

In a years time he would have the "COVETED" Graduation degree from the Mumbai University. However i wonder without being able to speak English will he ever move into a better paying job even though he is a graduate? And invariably the answer is NO!!!

A commerce graduate waiting tables in a government canteen in Mumbai - This hot headline will ensure the sale of a few more copies of the daily tabloid.

There are definitely many more like him, not only in Mumbai but also in other Tier I cities of India. However there is possibly a very strong reason to this situation (qualified young men stuck in undeserving jobs).
Mumbai is a very expensive place to stay. By working in a canteen he has a shelter, that too in the safe company of his friends. A similar place elsewhere will cost him upto Rs 1000 after sharing the rent. Thus he cannot leave this job for a few hundred more because the rent will more than offset his additional income.

Thus what is necessary is a substantial increase in his current income. Also in order that the fire in his belly does not exhaust he needs to discover this income avenue (a stable mothly inflow of a decent salary) much sooner than later.

And this is possible, very possible. You complement his graduation degree with the ability to speak correct English and suddenly you add a completely new dimension to this kid's life. This biased Service economy (Biased because it considers only those who get a readymade bed to sleep on while it ignores those who sleep on canteen tables) will now want to embrace him with open arms because now he would have discovered the much soughted employability!!!

And now for the heartening part -

Over the past 1 month (9 sessions), this boy has shown tremendous improvement. Though he is not yet up to the mark, he has developed the confidence to come up and address his friends (IN ENGLISH),he makes an attempt to converse and attends all the sessions regularly. He has improved much faster than our expectations and my team has the faith that he would definitely reach where we want him to be.

We have a few promising students in this class but this fella is my Hero. If we are able to pull him out from his current standing and allow him an opportunity in the high paying Service Economy,all this effort will be worth its every minute, every penny, every fear and every hope.

We do not want to relent and we shall not relent because we want to see the day when this boy places an order and not takes one. What a fine day it would be - perhaps the finest of our lives - and come it will, and trust me ...very soon

I shall sign off for the day on this hopeful note.

Its saturday tomorrow and i look forward to meet our guys and see them improved over the last week.

All in hope for a better tomorrow. Let Insanity Prevail

Do good guys & take care.

Regards,
Pranil