This essay is close to my heart because the heroes of it are five children – Sona, Soobi, Sajjaad, Saabreen and Julekha. I started teaching elementary Hindi at AIDPRAYAS from September 2007. AID-PRAYAS had helped around 20 children to get admitted to Government schools, but the atmosphere in those schools is not conducive to proper development of mental and academic capabilities. Around that time we learned that our children could be admitted to the Nayee Disha, an English medium school run
by ex-servicemen. This was a big ray of hope for us. In order to get admitted to the school our children would have to clear a test. Our group of 10-12 young men and women went to this school on 15 August 2007 to celebrate Independence Day and we liked the school.
Thus began our journey of fatherhood. The first class began with the English alphabet. We focused our thoughts and efforts in figuring out ways of introducing difficult concepts of language and mathematics to the children. The fundamental aim of our class was to lay the foundation for becoming a good human being. For me, the three months from January to March were like a penance.
The test to enter Nayee Disha was in the last week of March 2008. I do not pray everyday, but for these children, on that day I knocked on God's door praying for the children's success. Although the children
could not perform very well because they have never experienced anything like the school atmosphere before, their accomplishment in learning how to read and write English in three months was commendable. Sona and Soobee were admitted to the 3rd class and Julekha, Sajjaad, and Saabreen to the 2nd class. We celebrated this success with a treat. We were all delighted and felt a warm glow of fatherhood within ourselves.
Today on 15th August 2008, Kanan, Vikas, and I visited Nayee Disha once again. But today we did not visit as mere volunteers, we went as guardians. Our children called out to their friends and introduced us to their teachers. It is difficult to express the joy of those moments. I cannot say
whether in this span of one year the country has developed, or if has tasted freedom, but Sona, Subee, Julekha, Saabreen, and Sajjaad have definitely experienced freedom.