Building Self-Reliance & Dreams: Monthly Rolemodel interaction at GMPS
With intent to introduce children to people from different walks of life and their professions, the students of GMPS, Dollar’s Colony interacted with storyteller Vikram Shridhar and Ashwin Karthik, India’s first software engineer with multiple sclerosis on August 24, 2019.
Sharing her experience, Shilpa, organiser and volunteer who documented the entire programme said- “We prepared for this event weeks in advance and reached out to Ashwin Karthik and Vikram Shridhar and both of them were happy to participate! They were keen to know about our activities in school. Ashwin even shared a video of his interview telecast on a popular television channel that gave us a better understanding about his work.”
“We were surprised to see our guests arrive very early at the school. Though the programme was scheduled for 10.30am, Vikram was there by 9.30 AM and Ashwin by 10AM. They came on their own and we only had to guide them to find the location. Students are served meals at around 10 AM, and our guests got an opportunity to interact with them and also understand how the school functioned. I explained and introduced them to the work books used in school. Our guests were keen to know more about our work in the school,” she said.
The programme began around 10.45 AM with Vikram sharing a story. He used a little trick to connect with the students. He began reciting alphabets and numbers in English. To catch the students’ attention, he intentionally made mistakes and the kids promptly caught those mistakes and kept correcting him. With this exercise, he was essentially trying to break the ice and send out a strong message that it is common for anyone to make mistakes and he too can make mistakes.
Vikram narrated the story of two sparrow sisters. These sisters shared a special bond and both of them were very close, but as they grew they lived their own lives. Thus conveying the message that it is important to be there for our family and loved ones, and it is wise to be independent and self-reliant. “It was a fantastic story and because he is a performer, the kids were with him through and through. They were repeating after him and enjoying every moment, “said Shilpa.
Once Vikram completed the story, Ashwin took over. Ashwin began by asking what they learnt from Vikram’s story and every child had imbibed a different message. Ashwin too stressed on the need to be independent and self-reliant in life. “Everyone has a life of their own. While it is important to stand by your friends when they are in need, every child must build their own skills”, he said, as he went on to explain about his life, challenges, how his best friend and mother have been pillars of support along with family members and well-wishers.
The narration about how his friend Bharat helped him was very touching and children listened intently. Behind Ashwin’s success is his best friend Bharat — a personality of immense inspiration. Bharat epitomises friendship. He gave up four crucial years of his life, just to be able to write exams for Ashwin. He was present and students loved seeing him.
After his session, the children got an opportunity to ask Ashwin questions and they were quick to ask him about his favourite actor, how he commutes to work, challenges he faces on day to day basis and so on. Ashwin patiently answered all questions. This was followed by a felicitation to both the stars. The children presented handmade greeting cards to the guests.
BACK TO CLASS ROOM
Once the event was over, Shilpa went back to the class and asked the students for their impressions and feedback. Many children were inspired by Ashwin and wanted to be exactly like him. “They understood that physical disability is not a hindrance in life. They understood the need to be self –reliant and no matter what your dream is, you can live that and make a living out of it. Children found the friendship of Bharat and Ashwin very inspiring and everyone pointed at their best friend and said they are going to be friends forever,” said Shilpa.
Special thanks to Volunteers who worked in making this event a success: Amarjyothi, Vasumathi, Roopa Nagavara, Shanko Bag and Ayush. If you resonate with our work, want to implement this model in your community, want to support this initiative, support crowdfunding campaign, or just want to drop in some encouraging words, we invite you to write to us at jaideep@tarkeybein.org :) Thank you Deepthi for scribing this story!
