- 12 minutes ago
ಮಾನವತೆಗಾಗಿ ಸಲ್ಲಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠ ಸೇವೆಗಾಗಿ ರಾಮೋಜಿ ಎಕ್ಸಲೆನ್ಸ್ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿ ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸಿದ 'ಪೆಹಚಾನ್ ದಿ ಸ್ಟ್ರೀಟ್ ಸ್ಕೂಲ್'ನ ಸಂಸ್ಥಾಪಕರಾದ ಆಕಾಶ್ ಟಂಡನ್ ಅವರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಈಟಿವಿ ಭಾರತ್ ನಡೆಸಿದ ವಿಶೇಷ ಸಂದರ್ಶನದ ಆಯ್ದಭಾಗ ಇಲ್ಲಿದೆ.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Ramuji group proudly honours Sri Akash Tandan with the award of excellence in service to mankind may I request him to please join us on the dais Sri Akash Tandanji and I request Sri A. Revant Redigaru Honorable Chief Minister of Telangana to present this award for excellence in service to mankind.
00:20Sri Akash Tandan believed every child deserves dignity and learning. In 2015, he founded Pehachan, the street school. What began with 5 volunteers and 10 children is now 10 centres across Delhi NCR with hundreds of volunteers and over 1,000 children learning every day.
00:37With 5,000 young lives impacted and a 94% board exam success rate, Pehachan builds confidence, character and opportunity while its works in women's skill, health and hygiene uplift entire communities. For creating this volunteer-led movement of hope, we heartily congratulate you. Sri Akash Tandan.
00:57Welcome to ETV Bharat. I am here with Mr. Akash Tandan. He is the founder of Pehachan, the street school based out of Delhi. Welcome to ETV Bharat, Mr. Tandan.
01:09You started Pehachan with just 10 volunteers and it was a very small number of children also. What was the spark that made you think, okay, this is something I want to do?
01:20Okay, so the story behind, usually people get motivated when they start. We were actually at our low. We were very demotivated when we initiated this whole idea.
01:33So, 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 and that time we realised that there were 10,000 people living in a slum adjacent to World Health Organisation.
01:53So, there is a building in Delhi, Central Delhi, World Health Organisation, 50 metres adjacent to it. There is a slum where there are 10,000 people who have zero health facilities.
02:05There is no electricity, there is no proper water supply, no roads, nothing. And the only thing that separates that WHO building and that slum was a drain that passed us by.
02:16So, how is it that it was so overlooked?
02:18Exactly. 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 metres adjacent to a building which is such huge.
02:29Yeah.
02:30And not just that building, within 1 kilometre, there was Delhi's CM office. Within 1.5 kilometres, there is Delhi Commissionerate's office. Within 2 kilometres, India Gate, Rashtrapati Bhawan.
02:43And within 5 kilometres, you will find all the international embassies in Delhi. So, 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?
02:55Yeah.
02:55We can't give them food, we can't give them medications, we can't do anything. And while coming back, we saw a few students, a few children, they were actually swimming in that drain. For them, that drain that was passing by, it was the only source of water.
03:10And that puts them at risk of so many diseases also.
03:13And when we came across them, we just called them out and we just told them that this is dangerous for your life. Because nobody there has actually told them that you can die if you swim in a drain.
03:24So, they have not been taught basic hygiene also.
03:26Yes. So, that was the first moment where we realised that, okay, just teaching them this basic thing that you will die if you swim here, can actually save their lives.
03:35And that is when we realised 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.
03:46The only impactful social work is when you work in terms of education. If 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.
04:03It is never going to leave that person. It will only make that person better. So, 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.
04:17Okay, this is a good thing. This is not good. And from there, the whole journey started. I guess within first month, we had more than 10 children who started coming because they thought, okay, there's a group that comes.
04:28They give toffee, chocolate, notebooks, and they teach you good things. And 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.
04:38So, they had a different perception about the volunteers. Within first six months, we had more than 50 students coming to that location.
04:47Eventually, the people from the slum, they came in and they told that, okay, don't take lessons on the street.
04:54Because we started taking our classes adjacent to that drain only. Because most of the children, they used to play around the drain.
05:01So, the slum people, they gave us a location. They told, okay, this is not a respectful location for you because you're coming here and teaching our children.
05:08So, we'll give you a place. So, they gave us a small place inside a temple that was located in that slum.
05:14So, that was our first center. And within first year, we had more than 150 students from all across the slum who started coming to these centers.
05:24And every weekend, they used to carry their notebooks. So, many of them were, you know, they were daily wage workers.
05:29They used to put their stalls outside the metro station or they used to sell scrap.
05:34These are children who were daily wage workers?
05:36Yes, yes, yes. A lot of them were drug addicts. They were, a lot of them, they were, used to beg outside the metro station.
05:42But within a year, we had more than 150 students who used to carry, leave everything what they were doing.
05:48And so, the classes used to start at 3. So, by 2.30, everyone used to stand outside the center in a line holding their notebook that this is our time to learn.
05:57Oh, wow.
05:58So, that's where the initiative actually, you know, started. So, that's where I told you, it was not out of motivation.
06:04It was out of demotivation that, okay, we can't do anything. So, let's just do something for the community.
06:10And I guess after 10 years, when we look back, whatever we would have contributed, like 10 years before, it would have just vanished.
06:20But 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.
06:32These are lifelong learnings for them.
06:33Yes, yes.
06:34And you were already a working professional when you started Pehchan.
06:37Yes, yes.
06:38So, when did you feel like I should wait, not wait for somebody else to, you know, change things and do things on their own?
06:46So, as I mentioned, I was...
06:46And gather people also, you've also mobilized people.
06:48Yes. So, we were already doing a lot of social work since our college days.
06:52And while we got into jobs, we still had some time. So, we thought that, okay, let's, let's, whatever time we have, let's give it back to the community.
06:59And as I said, like, see, every human, as a human, we all want to do some good work.
07:04Right, we just don't find the right platform to do so.
07:06So, we just thought, okay, how can we help? How can we help?
07:09And eventually, we came across this whole idea that, okay, it won't take much of our time.
07:14It won't take much of our resources.
07:16What you need to do is, you need to just go interact with all these children.
07:20And you need to just teach them some basic life lessons.
07:23Something that we have learned throughout life. We have to just share that knowledge.
07:26It won't cost us a lot. It won't take a lot of our time.
07:31It won't take a lot of our efforts. It's just basic interaction.
07:34And from there, the whole thing went on going. And here we are today, after 10 years.
07:41And you're still a working professional.
07:43Yes.
07:43And the organization is also largely run by volunteers.
07:46Right.
07:46How do you manage to run such a huge organization, such a large scale? Purely, what are the learnings when it comes to working with volunteers also?
07:57See, first is, since it's a completely volunteer-based organization, we don't pay our volunteers.
08:03We have around 1,000 people right now who are working across 10 different centers.
08:09So just to give you a background, we not only teach the classes that we run.
08:14So these are centers and the basic definition, if I tell you, of Pachanda Street School, it's a platform which connects the beneficiary to the person who's having resources.
08:24So any individual who wants to share their resources, their knowledge, their skills, they can come.
08:29There's no verification. There's no background check. There are no restrictions.
08:33Anybody, whatever you are good with arts, you're good with science, you're good with maths, you're good with English, come, teach your subject.
08:39For the beneficiaries, it is, again, it is open for anyone and everyone.
08:42Irrespective of the background, their caste, their language, their gender, whosoever wants to learn, from a 4-year-old child to a 40-year-old woman.
08:53Okay, it's not just children, it can be grown-ups as well.
08:57Yes, yes. So we have a lot of women who come to us and they say, okay, we want to learn basic English.
09:03Because when they go and they walk outside, there's a basic requirement that you need to speak a little bit of English.
09:07So they come for those sessions. We also run a vocational center where we teach basics of computers, from Excel to PowerPoint to how to use internet.
09:14So, again, it's a platform where anybody can come, whatever your expertise is, please come, share your knowledge, share your skills.
09:21And anybody who's looking for help, we just connect the right people.
09:25So what it gives is, it gives a lot of motivation.
09:27So when you work for a corporate, you work for salaries.
09:30There's an expectation that, okay, I'll work, I'll put my effort, I should get something in return.
09:36So, be it money, be it fame, be it appraisals, be it facilities.
09:41But at the end of the day, as a human, I just mentioned, right, you all want to do good work.
09:46It's just that we don't either find time or write initiatives to put our efforts.
09:51So here, it's a motivation for all these people that without giving much of a contribution, without any restrictions,
09:58I as an individual, whatever my expertise is, I can just go and work.
10:02So it just gives that easiness, that freedom to all these people to come and do whatever.
10:09Because a lot of the times when you go and you work with an NGO, they'll check your background.
10:12Okay, can you teach English? Can you teach Hindi? Can you do this? Can you do that? It's okay.
10:17And also your qualifications.
10:18Yes.
10:18You have a social volunteer.
10:19I'll tell you, the youngest volunteer who we have is a 14-year-old school student.
10:23He comes and he still teaches.
10:25We also have volunteers who are 65, 66-year-old retired professionals.
10:30They come and they spend time.
10:31So it is open for everyone.
10:33So it's a freedom that they have.
10:35And also we are keeping this platform so open that whenever a person comes, they have direct interactions.
10:41They see how things are happening on the ground.
10:44So it also gives them that motivation, that freedom to work.
10:47Trust factor that, okay, I am seeing what I am doing.
10:51I am seeing how my efforts are actually impacting on the ground.
10:55So the whole structure is made in a way where people feel motivated.
11:00And when people are motivated, you don't have to push them.
11:03It automatically scales.
11:04People refer, because we have been working for 10 years,
11:07there are so many people who are now referring their younger sisters, brothers, their parents.
11:11Okay, you are free. Please go and work because I have worked. I know how they work.
11:15So you have also said that education should help children create a life on their own terms.
11:21So could you share a success story?
11:22You have talked a lot about all the different things that people have learned.
11:27So I am sure there must be many success stories also.
11:30So if we talk about success stories, we can talk whole night.
11:34But the one best, which is very close to my heart,
11:37is the first student of when we initiated this.
11:41One of the students who was in the first batch, his name is Deepak.
11:47He joined when he was in third class.
11:49He came to us and he kept on learning, learning, learning.
11:52I guess this is pre-COVID.
11:55One day I was just working at the center.
11:57I was having my laptop.
11:58He came to me and said, okay, what is this, bhaiya?
12:01I said, this is a laptop.
12:02He says, what is a laptop?
12:03I said, it's a portable computer that you can carry wherever you can go.
12:07So he says, okay, can I get one laptop?
12:09And I very casually mentioned that, okay, whenever you will pass your 12th class,
12:13I will give you a laptop.
12:14That was around 2017-2018.
12:18Last year, this student, he appeared for his 12th exams.
12:23Just imagine a student coming from a background, no coaching, no tuition.
12:26He is the first in his entire family to appear for a 12th exam.
12:31He is the first in the entire slum to pass 12th exams.
12:35He got 86% in CBSE.
12:37Wow.
12:38Then we made him give his CBT exams.
12:41He cleared that.
12:43He got admission in Delhi University in the very first cutoff list.
12:47He is now in second year.
12:49When his results came out, the first call he made was to me.
12:53He said, okay, bhaiya, I have got 86%.
12:55I told him, okay, go back, tell it to your parents.
12:58He called his father.
12:59His father's reaction was, hey, please don't disturb me while I am working.
13:03Then he went back to his mother.
13:05He told his mother that, mom, I got 86%.
13:08The reply that she gave was, okay, that's enough of studying.
13:11Now get back to work and start earning.
13:15Because, and even after when he cracked this Delhi University exams,
13:19we had to get back to his parents and we had to request them
13:22that please give him three more years.
13:25Because they were convinced by the whole society
13:28that if he goes to college, they won't be able to control him.
13:32Everybody around him is earning.
13:34Just put them to work, put him to work so that he can start earning.
13:37So it was, so all these people that are coming from such a background
13:41where education is treated as a privilege,
13:44that it is only for the privilege.
13:46You are not allowed to learn, you are not allowed to study.
13:48By the time you are an adult, go and start working, start earning.
13:53So this is, I guess this story is very close to my heart
13:56because I have seen that child from third class to now he is in second year.
14:01And the best part is now when he is in college,
14:03he comes to our centres and every weekend he is a volunteer.
14:06He is one of the volunteers.
14:07He comes and he teaches everybody.
14:09He has now, yes, he has now,
14:12because prior to him there were a lot of senior students
14:14and most of them they used to drop out by the time they were in eighth or ninth class.
14:19Now there are so many families,
14:20so families who were criticising him and his family,
14:24that why are you sending your child to college?
14:27This is not good for you.
14:29They are now sending their adults to children,
14:33to the centres, giving his example that if he can do it, why can't you?
14:36And we now have so many students in tenth, eleventh, twelfth who are coming to our centres
14:41because they believe that if he can do it, why can't we?
14:44Yes.
14:45So he is now an inspiration to all the people
14:47and thus just imagine the struggle.
14:49He is not struggling because he comes from a background where the family is pushing you down,
14:55your society is pushing you down, you don't have resources.
14:58You know, you don't have proper resources, you don't have proper guidance.
15:02It's just a few volunteers are trying to help you.
15:04You give your exams, you are now in college and imagine the struggle.
15:08The first time you enter in a college, the kind of competition you face.
15:12Yes.
15:12And still that student is now, you know, he is very actively learning.
15:16He has just cleared his first year exam, he is in second year.
15:19He is an inspiration to all the people.
15:21And he is a cycle breaker in his family also.
15:24In the entire community where they stay.
15:25Now to have such impact, you know, in this day and age,
15:31you know, there is so much social media buzz,
15:33everybody has a short attention span,
15:36even charities are driven by celebrity faces.
15:39Right.
15:39So how do you keep the focus on Pachan for the long run?
15:45How do you create impact?
15:46See, the beauty of this initiative is it is driven by volunteers.
15:51It is not driven by because we had some good influencers.
15:54It is not driven by because we have invested a lot of money.
15:57It is not driven by that because we are generating some revenue.
16:01It is an option for volunteers.
16:03Hey, you want to do social work?
16:05We are giving you the best platform to work.
16:06Come work.
16:07So when you get the right platform and when you go,
16:10when you feel that satisfaction, that motivation,
16:12you go and tell 10 people that, you know, I am working with this organization
16:15and these are my students.
16:17This is how wonderfully I am working here.
16:20So more than influential thing, it is like a word of mouth.
16:24It is references that we are getting.
16:27And it is, and obviously it is because of the volunteering work.
16:31We don't have to push people to work.
16:33People come and they push themselves because that is their motivation.
16:36That is what they always wanted to do.
16:38You know, there are, I guess, more than a lakh NGOs in India,
16:43but there are very few where you genuinely find your satisfaction,
16:50where you go and you actually feel that,
16:51okay, now I am working at a place which genuinely is helping people consistently
16:58and because when people come to us, they have seen how we manage things.
17:0310 years, it's apart from the one year of COVID, we haven't taken any break.
17:09Classes, centres, students, every student has an ID card.
17:12So it is not like we randomly go to slums and we pick 10 people and we start teaching
17:16just because we have to post some pictures.
17:18Every student has an ID card.
17:20We have our own curriculum.
17:21There is an attendance structure.
17:22There is a proper volunteer training.
17:24So everything is tracked.
17:26Everything is monitored.
17:27And when you come on ground, when every time you have same set of students,
17:31more than a job, it becomes your responsibility.
17:37And also, the kind of structure we have, unlike a school,
17:42we don't have 40-50 students to one teacher.
17:45Our volunteer is to student ratio is hardly one is to three or one is to four,
17:50which means every volunteer has only three or four students with them for three to six months.
17:54So they get the right kind of mentorship also.
17:56Yes, so it is more than teaching, it is mentorship, wherein the volunteer connects with the student.
18:02They understand their language, they understand their background.
18:04And once that connection is built, the input comes automatically.
18:09Then more than their students, it becomes like they are my family members,
18:12they are my younger siblings.
18:13So how I treat my younger siblings, they start treating the student that way.
18:17And that connection actually then reflects into they going out and telling it to 10 people,
18:23their family, their relatives, their schools.
18:24We have so many people who have now started sending their younger siblings to our centers.
18:29People go and promote it to their colleges, that, hey, you know, I am working here,
18:33you should also join.
18:34We get so many referrals from college students,
18:36from senior people who have now started working,
18:39but they have younger siblings in colleges.
18:4180% of the volunteers who we have, they are college students right now.
18:44So there are a lot of young people who are volunteers.
18:47Yes, most of the people are young.
18:49That's another thing I wanted to ask you now.
18:52As you receive the Ramoji Excellence Award,
18:54what is your message to younger people who want to work with street children?
19:00I guess two, three points only.
19:02First, find your objective.
19:07A lot of people are confused that we want to do good things,
19:10we want to do some social work, but we don't know where to invest.
19:13So find your objective, like, where do you exactly want to work?
19:18Like, there are hundreds of social issues where you can work,
19:22but as I mentioned, education is the only thing that will sustain
19:25even if you start contributing.
19:27So whatever you are doing, whatever social work is of your interest,
19:31at least put some of your efforts in terms of educating somebody.
19:35Even if you can't come on ground, it's okay.
19:38It is not always necessary that you have to work on a larger scale,
19:43that you have to work for thousands of people.
19:45Even if you work for one person, like there is a saying,
19:48each one teach one.
19:49So find people around you, whosoever it may be.
19:52Educate at least one person in your life,
19:54because as an individual you cannot change the world.
19:57People who say we can change the world, I don't trust them.
20:00And you cannot change the world,
20:02but yes, you can change the world for at least one person.
20:05So identify that person,
20:07identify that person, whosoever it could be,
20:10your maids, children, your guard, your driver,
20:13anybody around you.
20:15So start small, it's okay.
20:17If you can't work directly, contribute to the causes.
20:21Maybe just sponsor education.
20:22I can't work, but okay, I can pay the fee of a child.
20:26It's not much.
20:28So if we don't contribute in educating,
20:30again, even if we have thousands of schools and colleges in India,
20:35the kind of education we are giving,
20:38there's a disparity, there's a lack of connection.
20:43So I guess everybody...
20:43Learning by route, not as much holistic.
20:46So however big buildings,
20:48however big developed countries you make,
20:51if your students are not educated properly,
20:53if your children...
20:55Till that time we will believe that education again is a privilege,
20:58and it is only for the privilege,
21:00it will remain a problem.
21:02And we should make it a habit
21:04and also a belief that education is the basic right of everyone.
21:10And anyone, if you see around who is lacking this basic right,
21:15come forward and help them.
21:17That's how you will make a better country.
21:19That's how you will make a better society.
21:21And that's how you will make a stronger community for yourself.
21:24And on that note,
21:26congratulations for winning the Ramoji Excellence Award.
21:29Thank you so much.
21:29And we wish you all the best with Tehchan.
21:32Thank you for joining us at ETV Bharat.
Recommended
17:09
|
Up next
1:56
3:44
Be the first to comment