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रामोजी एक्सीलेंस अवार्ड समारोह के अवसर पर ईटीवी भारत ने पहचान द स्ट्रीट स्कूल के संस्थापक आकाश टंडन से बात की.
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00:00Welcome to ETV Bharat. I'm here with Mr. Akash Tandan. He's the founder of Pehchan, the street school based out of Delhi.
00:07Welcome to ETV Bharat, Mr. Tandan.
00:09You started Pehchan with just 10 volunteers and it was a very small number of children also.
00:16What was the spark that made you think, okay, this is something I want to do?
00:21Okay, so the story behind, usually people get motivated when they start.
00:25We were actually at our low. We were very demotivated when we initiated this whole idea.
00:33So I was, throughout the college early days, I was working in different social fields until one day where we, like we were a group of friends, we went for a survey inside a slum.
00:45And that time we realized that there were 10,000 people living in a slum adjacent to World Health Organization.
00:53So there's a building in Delhi, Central Delhi, World Health Organization.
00:5650 meters adjacent to it, there's a slum where there are 10,000 people who have zero health facilities.
01:04There's no electricity, there's no proper water supply, no roads, nothing.
01:09And the only thing that separates that WHO building and that slum was a drain that passed us by.
01:16So how is it that it was so overlooked?
01:18Exactly. So when we went to that, it was actually a curiosity that made us go and visit the slum that how can such a big area sustain 50 meters adjacent to a building which is such huge.
01:29Yeah.
01:30And not just that building. Within one kilometer, there was Delhi's CM office.
01:36Within 1.5 kilometers, there's Delhi Commissionerate's office.
01:39Within 2 kilometers, India Gate, Rashtrapati Bhawan.
01:42And within 5 kilometers, you'll find all the international embassies in Delhi.
01:48So that was the point when we went there and we were so disappointed that, you know, if all these people, if they can't help them, how can we?
01:55Yeah.
01:55We can't give them food. We can't give them medications. We can't do anything.
02:00And while coming back, we saw a few students, a few children, they were actually swimming in that drain.
02:06For them, that drain that was passing by, it was the only source of water.
02:10And that puts them at risk of so many diseases also.
02:13And when we came across them, we just called them out and we just told them that this is dangerous for your life.
02:20Because nobody there has actually told them that you can die if you swim in a drain.
02:24So they've not been taught basic hygiene also.
02:26So that was the first moment where we realized that, okay, just teaching them this basic thing that you will die if you swim here, can actually save their lives.
02:35And that is when we realize that whatever we have been doing throughout our lives, or whatever social work you do, you know, the day you stop contributing, the whole initiative will end eventually.
02:46The only impactful social work is when you work in terms of education.
02:52If you educate somebody, if you share your knowledge with someone, if you share skills with somebody, even if you stop someday, the knowledge that you have shared, the skills that you have shared will always stay with the person.
03:03It is never going to leave that person.
03:04It will only make that person better.
03:06So that day we decided that if we can't do anything, let's just spend some time with all these children and a lot who are staying there and just give them that basic life lessons.
03:17Okay, this is a good thing.
03:18This is not good.
03:19And from there, the whole journey started.
03:21I guess within first month, we had more than 10 children who started coming because they thought, okay, there's a group that comes.
03:28They give toffee, chocolate, notebooks, and they teach you good things.
03:31And for them, because they treat us that there's somebody who's coming from, you know, an upper class and they're coming and telling us something.
03:38So they had a different perception about the volunteers.
03:41Within first six months, we had more than 50 students coming to that location.
03:47Eventually, the people from the slum, they came in and they told that, okay, don't take lessons on the street.
03:54Because we started taking our classes adjacent to that drain only.
03:57Because most of the children, they used to play around the drain.
04:00So the slum, people, they gave us a location.
04:03They said, okay, this is not a respectful location for you because you're coming here and teaching our children.
04:08So we'll give you a place.
04:09So they gave us a small place inside a temple that was located in that slum.
04:14So that was our first center.
04:16And within first year, we had more than 150 students from all across the slum who started coming to these centers.
04:23And every weekend, they used to carry their notebooks.
04:26So many of them were, you know, they were daily wage workers.
04:29They used to put their stalls outside the metro station.
04:32They used to sell scrap.
04:34These are children who were daily wage workers?
04:36Yes, yes, yes.
04:36A lot of them were drug addicts.
04:38A lot of them, they were used to beg outside the metro station.
04:41But within a year, we had more than 150 students who used to carry, leave everything what they were doing.
04:48And so the classes used to start at 3.
04:50So by 2.30, everyone used to stand outside the center in a line holding their notebook that this is our time to learn.
04:57Oh, wow.
04:57So that's where the initiative actually, you know, started.
05:02So that's where I told you, it was not out of motivation.
05:04It was out of demotivation that, okay, we can't do anything.
05:07So let's just do something for the community.
05:10And I guess after 10 years, when we look back, whatever we would have contributed, like 10 years before, it would have just vanished.
05:19But today, when we look back, the skills, the knowledge that we have, you know, shared with so many, like thousands of students in the last 10 years, nobody is going to take it back from them.
05:32These are lifelong learnings for them.
05:33Yes, yes.
05:34And you were already a working professional when you started Pehchan.
05:37Yes, yes.
05:38So when did you feel like I should wait, not wait for somebody else to, you know, change things and do things on their own?
05:45So as I mentioned, I was...
05:46And gather people also, you've also...
05:47Yes, so we were already doing a lot of social work since our college days.
05:52And while we got into jobs, we still had some time.
05:55So we thought that, okay, let's, let's, whatever time we have, let's give it back to the community.
05:59And as I said, like, see, every human, as a human, we all want to do some good work.
06:03We just don't find the right platform to do so.
06:06So we just thought, okay, how can we help?
06:08How can we help?
06:09And eventually we came across this whole idea that, okay, it won't take much of our time.
06:14It won't take much of our resources.
06:16What you need to do is you need to just go interact with all these children and you need to just teach them some basic life lessons.
06:23Something that we have learned throughout life.
06:24We have to just share that knowledge.
06:26It won't cost us a lot.
06:29It won't take a lot of our time.
06:31It won't take a lot of our efforts.
06:33It's just basic interaction.
06:35And from there, the whole thing went on going.
06:38And here we are today after 10 years.
06:41And you're still a working professional.
06:43Yes.
06:43And the organization is also largely run by volunteers.
06:46Right.
06:46How do you manage to run such a huge organization, such a large scale?
06:52Purely, what are the learnings when it comes to working with volunteers also?
06:57See, first is, since it's a completely volunteer-based organization, we don't pay our volunteers.
07:03We have around 1,000 people right now who are working across 10 different centers.
07:09So just to give you a background, we not only teach the classes that we run.
07:14So these are centers and the basic definition, if I tell you, of Pachanda Street School, it's a platform
07:20which connects the beneficiary to the person who's having resource.
07:23So any individual who wants to share their resources, their knowledge, their skills, they can come.
07:29There's no verification.
07:30There's no background check.
07:31There are no restrictions.
07:32Anybody, whatever you are good at with arts, you're good with science, you're good with maths, you're good with English,
07:38come teach your subject.
07:39For the beneficiaries, it is, again, it is open for anyone and everyone.
07:43Irrespective of the background, their caste, their language, their gender.
07:48Whosoever wants to learn from a four-year child to a 40-year-old woman.
07:52Okay, it's not just children, it can be grown-ups as well.
07:57Yes, yes.
07:57So we have a lot of women who come to us and they say, okay, we want to learn basic English.
08:02Because when they go and they walk outside, there's a basic requirement that you need to speak a little bit of English.
08:07So they come for those sessions.
08:09We also run a vocational center where we teach basics of computers from Excel to PowerPoint to how to use Internet.
08:14So, again, it's a platform where anybody can come.
08:18Whatever your expertise is, please come.
08:20Share your knowledge, share your skills.
08:21And anybody who's looking for help, we just connect the right people.
08:25So what it gives is, it gives a lot of motivation.
08:27So when you work for a corporate, you work for salaries.
08:30There's an expectation that, okay, I'll work, I'll put my effort, I should get something in return.
08:36Be it money, be it fame, be it appraisals, be it facilities.
08:41But at the end of the day, as a human, I just mentioned, right, you all want to do good work.
08:46It's just that we don't either find time or write initiatives to put our efforts.
08:50So here, it's a motivation for all these people that without giving much of a contribution, without any restrictions, I as an individual, whatever my expertise is, I can just go and work.
09:02So it just gives that easiness, that freedom to all these people to come and do whatever.
09:09Because a lot of the times when you go and you work with an NGO, they'll check your background.
09:12Okay, can you teach English?
09:14Can you teach Hindi?
09:15Can you do this?
09:15Can you do that?
09:16It's okay if you can't.
09:17And also your qualifications.
09:18Yes, I'll tell you, the youngest volunteer who we have is a 14-year-old school student.
09:23He comes and he still teaches.
09:25We also have volunteers who are 65, 66-year-old retired professionals.
09:29They come and they spend time.
09:31So it is open for everyone.
09:33So it's a freedom that they have.
09:35And also we are keeping this platform so open that whenever a person comes, they have direct interactions.
09:41They see how things are happening on the ground.
09:43So it also gives them that motivation, that freedom to work, trust factor that, okay, I am seeing what I am doing.
09:51I am seeing how my efforts are actually impacting on the ground.
09:55So the whole structure is made in a way where people feel motivated.
10:00And when people are motivated, you don't have to push them.
10:03It automatically scales.
10:04People refer, because we have been working for 10 years, there are so many people who are now referring their younger sisters, brothers, their parents.
10:11Okay, you are free, please go and work, because I have worked, I know how they work.
10:15So you have also said that education should help children create a life on their own terms.
10:21So could you share a success story?
10:22You have talked a lot about all the different things that people have learned.
10:27So I am sure there must be many success stories also.
10:30So if we talk about success stories, we can talk whole night.
10:33But the one best, which is very close to my heart is the first student of, when we initiated this, one of the students who were the first, in the first batch, his name is Deepak.
10:46He joined when he was in third class.
10:49He came to us and he kept on learning, learning, learning.
10:52I guess this is pre-COVID.
10:54One day I was just working at the center.
10:57I was having my laptop.
10:58He came to me and said, okay, what is this, Bhaiya?
11:01I said, this is a laptop.
11:02He says, what is a laptop?
11:03I said, it's a portable computer that you can carry wherever you can go.
11:07So he says, okay, can I get one laptop?
11:09And I very casually mentioned that, okay, whenever you will pass your 12th class, I will give you a laptop.
11:14That was around 2017, 2018.
11:18Okay.
11:18Last year, this student, he appeared for his 12th exams.
11:23Just imagine a student coming from a background, no coaching, no tutions.
11:27He is the first in his entire family to appear for a 12th exam.
11:31He is the first in the entire slum to pass 12th exams.
11:35He got 86% in CVSC.
11:37Wow.
11:38Then we made him give his CVT exams.
11:41He cleared that.
11:43He got admission in Delhi University in the very first cutoff list.
11:47He is now in second year.
11:49When his results came out, the first call he made was to me.
11:53He said, okay, Bhaiya, I have got 86%.
11:55I told him, okay, go back, tell it to your parents.
11:58He called his father.
11:59His father's reaction was, hey, please don't disturb me while I'm working.
12:03Then he went back to his mother.
12:04He told his mother that, mom, I got 86%.
12:08The reply that she gave was, okay, that's enough of studying.
12:11Now get back to work and start earning.
12:13Even after when he cracked this Delhi University exams, we had to get back to his parents and
12:21we had to request them that, please give him three more years.
12:25Because they were convinced by the whole society that if he goes to college, they won't be
12:31able to control him.
12:32Everybody around him is earning.
12:34Just put him to work so that he can start earning.
12:37So it was, so all these people that are coming from such a background where education is
12:42treated as a privilege, that it is only for the privilege.
12:46You are not allowed to learn.
12:47You are not allowed to study.
12:48By the time you are an adult, go and start working.
12:52Start earning.
12:53So this is, I guess this story is very close to my heart because I have seen that child from
12:58third class to now he is in second year.
13:01And the best part is now when he is in college, he comes to our centers and every weekend he
13:05is a volunteer.
13:05He is one of the volunteers.
13:06He comes and he teaches everybody.
13:08He has now.
13:09He has come full circle.
13:10Yes.
13:10He has now, because prior to him there were a lot of senior students and most of them they
13:15used to drop out by the time they were in eighth or ninth class.
13:19Now there are so many families.
13:20So families who were criticizing him and his family, that why are you sending your child
13:25to college?
13:27This is not good for you.
13:29They are now sending their adults to children, to the centers, giving his example that if he
13:35can do it, why can't you?
13:36And we now have so many students in 10th, 11th, 12th who are coming to our centers because
13:41they believe that if he can do it, why can't we?
13:44Yes.
13:45So he is now an inspiration to all the people and thus just imagine the struggle.
13:49He is not struggling because he comes from a background where the family is pushing you
13:54down, your society is pushing you down, you don't have resources, you don't have proper
13:59resources, you don't have proper guidance.
14:01It's just a few volunteers are trying to help you.
14:04You give your exams, you are now in college and imagine the struggle the first time you
14:08enter in a college, the kind of competition you face.
14:12Yes.
14:12And still that student is now, you know, he is very actively learning.
14:16He has just cleared his first year exam, he is in second year.
14:19He is an inspiration to all the people including me.
14:21And he is a cycle breaker in his family also.
14:23Yes.
14:24In the entire community where they stay.
14:27Now to have such impact, you know, in this day and age, you know, there is so much social
14:32media buzz, everybody has a short attention span, even charities are driven by celebrity faces.
14:38Right.
14:39So how do you keep the focus on Paichan for the long run, how do you create impact?
14:46See, the beauty of this initiative is it is driven by volunteers.
14:50It is not driven by because we had some good influences.
14:54It is not driven by because we have invested a lot of money.
14:57It is not driven by that because we are generating some revenue.
15:01It is an option for volunteers.
15:03Hey, you want to do social work, we are giving you the best platform to work, come work.
15:07So when you get the right platform and when you go, when you feel that satisfaction, that
15:11motivation, you go and tell people that, you know, I am working with this organization
15:15and these are my students.
15:17This is how wonderfully I am working here.
15:20So more than influential thing, it is like a word of mouth, it is references that we are
15:26getting and it is, and obviously it is because of the volunteering work.
15:31We don't have to push people to work.
15:34People come and they push themselves because that is their motivation.
15:36That is what they always wanted to do.
15:40You know, there are, I guess, more than a lakh NGOs in India, but there are very few where
15:46you generally find your satisfaction, where you go and you actually feel that, okay, now
15:52I am working at a place which generally is helping people consistently and because when
15:59people come to us, they have seen how we manage things.
16:03Ten years, it is, apart from the one year of COVID, we haven't taken any break.
16:09Classes, centres, students, every student has an ID card.
16:12So it is not like we randomly go to slums and we pick ten people and we start teaching,
16:16just because we have to post some pictures.
16:18Every student has an ID card, we have our own curriculum, there is an attendance structure,
16:23there is a proper volunteer training.
16:24So everything is tracked, everything is monitored and when you come on ground, when every time
16:29you have same set of students, more than a job, it becomes your responsibility.
16:37And also, the kind of structure we have, unlike a school, we don't have 40-50 students to
16:44one teacher.
16:45Right.
16:46Our volunteer is to student ratio is hardly one is to three or one is to four, which means
16:50every volunteer has only three or four students with them for three to six months.
16:54So they get the right kind of mentorship also.
16:56Yes.
16:57So it is more than teaching, it is mentorship, wherein the volunteer connects with the student,
17:02they understand their language, they understand their background and once that connection is
17:06built, the input comes automatically.
17:09Then more than their students, it becomes like they are my family members, they are my
17:12younger siblings.
17:13So how I treat my younger siblings, they start treating the student that way.
17:18And that connection actually then reflects into they going out and telling it to ten people,
17:23their family, their relatives, their schools.
17:24We have so many people who have now started sending their younger siblings to our centres.
17:30People go and promote it to their colleges that, hey, you know, I am working here, you
17:33should also join.
17:34We get so many referrals from college students, from senior people who have now started working
17:38but they have younger siblings in colleges.
17:4080% of the volunteers who we have, they are college students right now.
17:44So there are a lot of young people who are volunteers.
17:47Yes.
17:48Most of the people are young.
17:49That's another thing I wanted to ask you now.
17:52As you receive the Ramoji Excellence Award, what is your message to younger people who
17:57want to work with street children?
18:00I guess two, three points only.
18:02First, find your objective.
18:07A lot of people are confused that we want to do good things, we want to do some social
18:11work but we don't know where to invest.
18:13So find your objective like where do you exactly want to work, right?
18:18Like there are hundreds of social issues where you can work.
18:22But as I mentioned, education is the only thing that will sustain even if you start contributing.
18:27So whatever you are doing, whatever social work is of your interest, at least put some
18:32of your efforts in terms of educating somebody.
18:35Even if you want to, if you can't come on ground, it's okay.
18:38It is not always necessary that you have to work on a larger scale, that you have to work
18:43for thousands of people.
18:45Even if you work for one person, like there is a saying, each one teach one.
18:49So find people around you, whosoever it may be.
18:53Educate at least one person in your life because as an individual you cannot change the world.
18:57People who say we can change the world, I don't trust them.
19:00You cannot change the world, but yes, you can change the world for at least one person.
19:05So identify that person, identify that person, whosoever it could be, your maids, children,
19:11your guard, your driver, anybody around you, right?
19:15So start small, it's okay.
19:17If you can't work directly, contribute to the causes.
19:21Maybe just sponsor education.
19:23I can't work but okay, I can pay the fee of a child.
19:26It's not much.
19:28So if we don't contribute in educating, again, even if we have thousands of schools and colleges
19:33in India, the kind of education we are giving, there is a disparity, there is a lack of connection.
19:43So I guess everybody…
19:44Learning by road, not as much holistic.
19:46So however big buildings, however big developed countries you make, if your students are not
19:52educated properly, if your children, till that time we will believe that education again
19:57is a privilege and it is only for the privileged, it will remain a problem.
20:02And we should make it a habit and also a belief that education is the basic right of everyone.
20:10And anyone if you see around who is lacking this basic right, come forward and help them.
20:17That's how you will make a better country, that's how you will make a better society and that's
20:21how you will make a stronger community for yourself.
20:24And on that note, congratulations for winning the Ramoji Excellence Award.
20:29Thank you so much.
20:30And we wish you all the best with Tehchan.
20:32Thank you for joining us at ETV Bharat.
20:34Thank you
20:58Thank you very much.
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