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'আমি এমন পৃথিবী চাই, যেখানে শিশুর জন্মস্থানের উপর শিক্ষা নির্ভর করে না'; সমাজ কল্যাণে এভাবেই ব্রতী রামোজি এক্সেলেন্স অ্যাওয়ার্ডে সম্মানিত আকাশ ট্যান্ডন ৷
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00:00Welcome to ETV Bharat. I am here with Mr. Akash Tandan. He is the founder of Pehchan, the street school based out of Delhi.
00:07Welcome to ETV Bharat, Mr. Tandan.
00:10You started Pehchan 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?
00:21Okay, 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.
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 is a building in Delhi, Central Delhi, World Health Organization, 50 meters adjacent to it.
00:58There is a slum where there are 10,000 people who have zero health facilities. There is no electricity, there is no proper water supply, no roads, nothing.
01:09And the only thing that separates that WHO building and that slum was a drain that passes by.
01:15So how is it that it was so overlooked?
01:18Exactly. So when we went through 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. Within 1.5 kilometers, there is Delhi Commissionerate's office. Within 2 kilometers, India Gate, Rashtrapati Bhawan.
01:43And within 5 kilometers, 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?
01:55Yeah. We 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.
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.
02:12Yes. And when we came across them, we just called them out and we just told them that this is dangerous for your life.
02:19Because nobody there has actually told them that you can die if you swim in a drain.
02:24So they have not been taught basic hygiene also.
02:26Yes. So 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.
03:02It is never going to leave that person. It will only make that person better.
03:07So 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 good thing. This is not good. And 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 come, they 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. Within 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 because most of the children, they used to play around the drain.
04:00So the slum people, they gave us a location that took it. This is not a respectful location for you to because you're coming here and teaching our children.
04:07So we'll give you a place. So they gave us a small place inside a temple that was located in that slum.
04:13So 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.
04:23And every weekend they used to carry their notebooks. So many of them were, you know, they were daily wage workers.
04:29They used to put their stalls outside the metro station or they used to sell scrap, but they…
04:34These are children who were daily workers also? Yes, yes, yes. A lot of them were drug addicts.
04:38There were a lot of them, they were used to beg outside the metro station. But within a year, we had more than 150 students who used to carry,
04:46leave everything what they were doing. And so the classes used to start at 3. So by 2.30, everyone used to stand outside the center in a line holding their notebooks that this is our time to learn.
04:57Oh, wow. So that's where the initiative actually started. So 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. So 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.
05:20But 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.
05:31These are lifelong learnings for them. Yes, yes. And you were already a working professional when you started Pehchan. Yes, 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... And gather people also, you've also mobilized...
05:48Yes, so we were already doing a lot of social work since our college days. And while we got into jobs, we still had some time.
05:55So we thought that, let's, let's, whatever time we have, let's give it back to the community. And as I said, like, see, every human, as a human, we all want to do some good work.
06:03Right. We just don't find the right platform to do so. So we just thought, okay, how can we help? How 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. What do you need to do is you need to just go interact with all these children
06:20and you need to just teach them some basic, basic life lessons, something that we have learned throughout life.
06:24We have to just share that knowledge. It won't cost us a lot. It won't take a lot of our time.
06:30It won't take a lot of our efforts. It's just basic interaction. And from there, the whole thing went on going. And here we are today after 10 years.
06:41And you're still a working professional. Yes.
06:43And the organization is also largely run by volunteers. Right.
06:46How do you manage to run such a huge organization in such a large scale? Purely, 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. We have around 1000 people right now who are working across 10 different centers.
07:08So just to give you a background, we not only teach the classes that we run. So these are centers and the basic definition, if I tell you of Pachanda Street School,
07:19it's a platform which connects the beneficiary to the person who's having resource. So any individual who wants to share their resources, their knowledge, their skills, they can come.
07:29There's no verification. There's no background check. There are no restrictions. Anybody, 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.
07:39For the beneficiaries, it is again, it is open for anyone and everyone. Irrespective of the background, their caste, their language, their gender, whosoever wants to learn from a four years child to a 40 year old woman.
07:53Okay, it's not just children, it can be grown-ups as well. Yes, yes. So 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. So they come for those sessions.
08:08We 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, whatever your expertise is, please come, share your knowledge, share your skills.
08:21And anybody who's looking for help, we just connect the right people. So what it gives us, it gives a lot of motivation.
08:27So when you work for a corporate, you work for salaries. There's an expectation that okay, I'll work, I'll put my effort, I should get something in return.
08:35Be it money, be it fame, be it appraisals, be it facilities. But 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, okay, can you teach English?
09:14Can you teach Hindi? Can you do this? Can you do that? It'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. We also have volunteers who are 65, 66-year-old retired professionals.
09:29They come and they spend time. So it is open for everyone. So 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. So it also gives them that motivation, that freedom to work.
09:47Trust factor that, okay, I am seeing what I am doing. I am seeing how my efforts are actually impacting on the ground.
09:54So the whole structure is made in a way wherein people feel motivated.
10:00And when people are motivated, you don't have to push them. It 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.
10:14So you have also said that education should help children create a life on their own terms.
10:20So could you share a success story? You have talked a lot about all the different things that people have learnt.
10:27So I am sure there must be many success stories also.
10:29So 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 when we initiated this.
10:42One of the students who was in the first batch, his name is Deepak.
10:47He 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 centre. I was having my laptop.
10:58He came to me and said, okay, what is this, Bhaiya? I said, this is a laptop.
11:02He says, what is a laptop? I said, it's a portable computer that you can carry wherever you can go.
11:06So 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.
11:19Last year, this student, he appeared for his 12th exams.
11:23Just imagine a student coming from a background, no coaching, no tuition.
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, I have got 86%.
11:55I told him, okay, go back.
11:57Tell it to your parents.
11:58He called his father.
11:59His father's reaction was, hey, please don't disturb me while I am working.
12:02Then he went back to his mother.
12:04He told his mother that, mom, I got 86%.
12:07The reply that she gave was, okay, that's enough of studying.
12:11Now get back to work and start earning.
12:15Because even after when he cracked this Delhi University exams, we had to get back to his
12:21parents and we 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
12:31be able to control him.
12:33Everybody around him is earning.
12:34Just put him to work so that he can start earning.
12:38So all these people, they are coming from such a background where education is treated
12:43as a privilege.
12:44That 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.
12:54This is, I guess this story is very close to my heart because I have seen that child
12:58from third 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.
13:06He is one of the volunteers.
13:07He comes and he teaches everybody.
13:08He has come full circle.
13:10Yes.
13:11He has now, because prior to him there were a lot of senior students and most of them
13:15they used to drop out by the time they were in eighth or ninth class.
13:18Now there are so many families.
13:20So families who were criticizing him and his family that why are you sending your child
13:26to 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?
13:37And we now have so many students in 10th, 11th, 12th who are coming to our centers because
13:42they 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, you know, is
13:54pushing you down.
13:55Your society is pushing you down.
13:56You don't have resources.
13:58You know, you don't have proper resources.
14:00You don't have proper guidance.
14:02It's just a few volunteers are trying to help you.
14:04You give your exams.
14:05Now you are now in college and imagine the struggle.
14:08The first time you enter in a college, the kind of competition you face.
14:12Yes.
14:13And still that student is now, you know, he is very actively learning.
14:16He has just cleared his first year exam.
14:18He 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.
14:33Everybody has a short attention span.
14:36Even charities are driven by celebrity faces.
14:39Right.
14:40So how do you keep the focus on Paichan for the long run?
14:45How 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.
15:06Come work.
15:07So when you get the right platform and when you go, when you feel that satisfaction, that
15:12motivation, you go and tell 10 people that you know, I am working with this organization
15:16and 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.
15:24It is references that we are getting.
15:27And it is and obviously it is because of the volunteering work.
15:31We don't have to push people to work.
15:33People come and they push themselves because that is their motivation.
15:36That is what they always wanted to do.
15:39You know, there are, I guess, more than a lakh NGOs in India.
15:43But there are very few where you genuinely find your satisfaction.
15:49Where you go and you actually feel that, okay, now I am working at a place which genuinely
15:56is helping people consistently.
15:58And because when people come to us, they have seen how we manage things.
16:0310 years, apart from the one year of COVID, we haven't taken any break.
16:08Classes, centres, students, every student has an ID card.
16:12So it is not like we randomly go to slums and we pick 10 people and we start teaching.
16:16Just because we have to post some pictures.
16:18Every student has an ID card.
16:19We have our own curriculum.
16:20There is an attendance structure.
16:22There is a proper volunteer training.
16:24So everything is tracked.
16:25Everything is monitored.
16:26And when you come on ground, when every time you have same set of students, more than a job,
16:34it becomes your responsibility.
16:36And also the kind of structure we have.
16:40Unlike a school, we don't have 40-50 students to one teacher.
16:45Our volunteer is to student ratio is hardly one is to three or one is to four.
16:50Which means every 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.
16:58It is mentorship wherein the volunteer connects with the student.
17:02They understand their language.
17:03They understand their background.
17:04And once that connection is built, the input comes automatically.
17:09Then more than their students, it becomes like they are my family member.
17:12They are my younger 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 10 people,
17:23their family, their relatives, their schools.
17:25We have so many people who have now started sending their younger siblings to our centres.
17:29People go and promote it to their colleges.
17:32Hey, you know, I am working here.
17:33You should also join.
17:34We get so many referrals from college students, from senior people who have now started working,
17:39but they have younger siblings in colleges.
17:4180% of the volunteers who we have, they are college students right now.
17:44Oh, so 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, as you receive the Ramoji Excellence Award,
17:54what is your message to younger people who want to work with street children?
18:00I guess two, three points only.
18:03First, find your objective.
18:07A lot of people are confused that we want to do good things, we want to do some social
18:12work, but we don't know where to invest.
18:14So find your objective, like where do you exactly want to work?
18:19There 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're 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
18:44for thousands of people.
18:45Even if you work for one person, like there's a saying, each one teach one.
18:49So find people around you, whosoever it may be.
18:52Educate 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.
19:00And you cannot change the world, but yes, you can change the world for at least one person.
19:05So identify that person, whosoever it could be, your maids, children, your guard, your driver,
19:13whatever, anybody around you.
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, we are, you know, even if we have thousands
19:33of schools and colleges in India, the kind of education we are giving, it's, there's
19:39a disparity, there's a lack of connection.
19:42Yes.
19:43So I guess everybody…
19:44It's learning by road, not as much holistic.
19:46Yes.
19:47So however big buildings, however big, you know, developed countries you make, if your
19:52students are not educated properly, if your children, till that time we will believe that
19:57education again is a privilege, and it is only for the privilege, 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'll make a better country.
20:19That's how you'll make a better society.
20:21And that's how you'll make a stronger community for yourself.
20:25And on that note, congratulations for winning the Ramuji Excellence Award.
20:28Thank you so much.
20:29And we wish you all the best with Pachan.
20:30Thank you for joining us at ETV Bharat.
20:33Thank you for joining us at ETV Bharat.
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