Category Archives: slums

Poverty and Education: A Vicious Circle of Cause and Effect

 Today while working with the students, I was just thinking whether the education would be able to remove the miseries and poverty of their families. Immediately a question arose in my mind, what if some of the children do not complete their education or are compelled to leave in between due to any reasons? Then I started thinking and thinking and after some time, appeared to reach some conclusion and promised myself to assist these less affluent children to complete their education so that they could break this vicious circle.

 

Poverty as a cause leads to illiteracy and also illiteracy generates a property in its turn. As such it is apt to say – poverty is not only a cause to illiteracy but also poverty is an effect of illiteracy.  

 

It is a vicious circle that goes hand in hand. We can understand this problem in this way.  Circumstances of poverty in a family affect education. It is just possible that a student, due to poverty will not get higher education as compared with the children of more well off people in the society and his lower education would compel him to do menial jobs which would be less rewarding leaving him and his family again in poverty. This example shows that though due to poverty a student could not get higher education. As such poverty is the cause of illiteracy. Also due to his lower education, he could not become able to earn a lot for himself and his family which has left the family in poverty.  As such while imparting education it is also an important to factor that the children receive a complete education in the field which they opt for so that in future this vicious circle could be broken.  

 

It appears to be true within the context of the entire world that unless and until these children do not receive complete education, they would not be able to break this vicious circle and let us join our hands to assist these innocent children and make this beautiful planet poverty and illiteracy free.

 

Anubhuti Jain

Ek Koshish one attempt

 

 

Nature: Ambiguous of All


Summer vacations are going to expire very soon. All children are busy in completing their home works before the schools open. Of course, they are not as lucky as other children of the rich people who spend their summer holidays at mountainous terrains. Prior to this year, I used to visit the mountains in every summer vacations and have seen the beauty of Greater Himalayas and have had so many unique experiences which sometimes are still haunting me – What is Nature, Who created it, How is it healing, what can it have its impact on one’s inner and outer life, whether god and nature are the same and if so, who created god? All these questions coupled with strange and unique experiences are unsolved and are still unanswered in spite thousand and thousand years after human creation.
All of a sudden, when I was taking a class of the children for the purpose of getting their homework completed, I asked one question from one student, named Ravi- what is nature? There was a pin drop silence and every child was looking at one another’s face. Ravi who was a student in 6th standard was looking down at earth with his face and eyes blank as if he knew nothing. After a few seconds, I took the lead and just to ease out the atmosphere, I asked another question- what are trees, mountains, clouds, wind, rain, stars, sun, moon, etc.  Still, there was silence. Though I had asked a very basic question these children were unable to answer. The question was why? It appeared to me that they were so ignorant that they could not resemble themselves with nature. Then to break the silence, I told them these are Nature. Nature is like our mother, that cures our miseries and paves the way for our growth. I was just talking about the goodness and motherly traits of nature, in the meantime, Rakhi, a girl child, spoke extempore
Agar Prakriti hamari mata hai, toh bhookamp kyon atta hai aur hamare ghar gir jate hain aur bahut log maare jatein hain
(If nature is our mother, why earthquake comes and pulls down our houses and many people are killed).
I was shocked to hear such a response from such a small child. I called her near to me and asked very politely as to why she thought so. Her mother had told her that an earthquake had come recently in the region of Nepal and its surrounding parts of India and many of her relatives were killed. I had no answer except hugging that girl. In front of my eyes, I had my good memories which I had lived with nature during my several trips and on the other hand what the girl child had spoken with such anger against nature.
Children are always true as they do not adopt dual standard while putting forth whatever is in their inside. It is true, Nature may be furious but the question is why? I am still haunting to find the answer and reply to that child!
Anubhuti Jain
Ek Koshish one attempt

Illiteracy: The Root Cause of Poverty and Slavery

I am working with this wonderful NGO for the last 2-3 years. The prime motive of this NGO is – imparting education to the children coming from the down most strata of society. This NGO works for the growth of those who can never dream of getting the education like us. It is a wonderful experience for me to teach these children. It is of immense pleasure to play with them, to listen to their thoughts about life! It is a new world for me and has changed me as a human being. It is not only peaceful but also seem to provide meaning to my life as well when I am with them. It is really soothing and exciting to see them growing in such a different atmosphere. Alas, everyone, the world should contribute like this to eradicate illiteracy and poverty from this beautiful earth.

Illiteracy is the real cause of poverty and slavery which results in human miseries. If we the well off people pay a little attention to these people, I am sure wonders can happen on the earth…

But I unable to understand why no one thinks about the causes of such illiteracy and why nobody thinks about solutions to this gigantic problem…?

Anubhuti Jain

Ek Koshish one attempt

Children from Poor and Inhumane Background Going School for the First Time

Children from Poor and Inhumane Background Going School for First Time
 Dharam Veer
Kiran
Nancy
Mangal Kumar
Pradeep Kumar
Yash Kumar
Priyanka
Ek Koshish feels immense pleasure to write this blog that our constant efforts to make the children coming from the very very poor and inhumane background of society, eligible to take admissions in an English Medium Modern School.
Ek Koshish has been providing coaching and training continuously to 23 children since long for making them capable of receiving proper education at public schools so that they become successful in their lives and be equally placed in the society and get rid of the curse of poverty and inhumane livings. Out of these 23 children, seven children shown in the photos above have qualified for admissions in Dr. Karam Vir Public School, an English Medium Public School at Faridabad. Ek Koshish has fully sponsored their entire admissions and monthly tuition fees and other expenses to be incurred on their education (uniforms, bags, books and other stationery, etc) as their parents could not have afforded any of their expenses. Most of the parents are daily wage earners and seek work on a daily basis. They also belong to farfetched areas where life is too tough and harsh having always lack of even basic amenities and facilities and no education at all.
It was a matter of proud for the entire team of Ek Koshish to see the parents of children so happy on the occasion of admissions of their children. They were very excited to see their children going for the first time to any school. It was visible on their faces that they could believe to see that their children would be admitted in an English medium public school in which children of the rich class also take education. During the discussion with them, the parents of these children told that as far as their memory goes back, no one in their entire family had ever gone to any kind of school what to say of public school. All parents of these children are illiterate knowing no alphabet (except one i.e. father of Yash who attended primary school in a village up to 2nd standard in the village). The parents of these children have now started dreaming to make their children Engineer, Doctor, Government officer, etc. May God bless them to see their dreams turning out to be true!   
To see the ecstasy, joy and happiness and other mixed emotions of happiness (which is very difficult to express in words) on the innocent faces of these children, on the occasion of their admission, was really a great moment in our lives which one can really equate with ‘bliss’. 
The entire team of “Ek Koshish” is very very thankful to all who have contributed in this “one attempt” and further hope that the same co-operation shall be rendered to us for all such humane efforts dedicated to society. Ek Koshish is highly thankful to its volunteers especially Mrs. Sunita and Mrs. Daisy who have contributed a lot by putting their much-needed efforts to make these children capable of public schools. We are also thankful to Mrs. Sunita who has in addition to her other efforts, taken the responsibility of Kiran also. 
Ek Koshish One Attempt

India Celebrates Dussehra Festival : Victory of Good over Evil

India Celebrates Dussehra Festival : Victory of Good over Evil
Dussehra is one of the most popular and one of the most celebrated festivals of India which is celebrated with great fanfare, joy and enthusiasm. In India as per local calendar it is also called Vijaydashami being falling on the 10th day of Ashwin month (in English Calender this month falls in September-October every year). This festival is celebrated in memory of victory of good over evil and also victory of truth over untruth.
Before Dusserah Indians celebrate Navratra which literally means Nine Sacred Nights and during these Nine Sacred Days/Nights all Hindus worship Goddess Ma Durga and hence these nights are known as Navratras.
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Rama, the eighth of the twenty four incarnations of Lord Vishnu killed Ravana or Dashanan (a demon having ten heads), the king of Lanka (now known as Shri Lanka) on the Tenth Day of their battle in Satya Yug (the age/period four five thousand years ago, in which Lord Rama reigned over people and everybody was properly looked after and taken care. We have the concept of a welfare state from Lord Rama’s period) and rescued his wife, Goddess Sita from the clutches of Ravana. Hence that day of victory is known as Vijayadashami or the Victory on the Tenth Day.
This day is also celebrated and is important for another mythological incident. It is also believed that on this day the exile and banishment of the Pandavas came to an end which connects this day with another age of Mahabharata where Lord Krishna, the 10th incarnation of God came on the earth. The Pandavas defeated the Kauravas (hundred sons of King Dhritrashtra who symbolise evil and grabbed the kingdom of the Pandavas after defeating them in gambling with cheating). As such Hindus worship their weapons etc on this day to mark the greatness of the day which symbolises victory of Good over Evil.  
This day is also auspicious as it commemorates the legend in relation to Goddess Durga, known by various names in entire India like Ma Chamunda, Ma Kali, Ma Vaishnau, Ma Sheronwali etc. The legend is this that Goddess Durga killed the  deadly demon Mahishasura on this tenth day after a continuous fight of nine days. Hence this day of Dussehra is marked as the day of victory good over demonic powers.
It is an auspicious occasion for men, women and children to commence their ventures, education, learning in classical dance and music and to pay their respect to their elder ones.
In southern part of India, during these nine days before Dussehsra,  first three days are dedicated to the worship of Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity; the next three days to Saraswati, Goddess of Learning and Arts and the last three days to Shakti, Goddess of Power and Might and the tenth day is marked as symbol of victory over evil.
In India, Dussehra of Kullu (in the state of Himachal Pradesh) is well famous where not only thousands of people take part for nine days but also it is believed that Gods and Goddesses take part. People from all over the world gather there to be part of this celebration there. Similarly in South India, Dussehra of Mysore is celebrated in a grand style by the Royal Family of Mysore. Dussehra is so famous in Mysore that it is known as the State Festival of Mysore in Karnataka. During the festivity of Dussehra, the entire atmosphere is colourful. People gather in the open play grounds to enjoy a lots of live performance of folk and traditional artists, to watch spectacular short acts on the lives of Lord Rama and Ma Durga and others. There is also a stunning display of fireworks all around in the evening before the effigies of Ravana, Meghnath (Ravna’s son) and Kumbhakaran (Ravan’s Brother) are burnt amidst a great crowed of people.
If anyone gets a chance to be in India during Dussehra festival  don’t miss this fascinating festival and try to understand the hidden meaning behind this festival which marks brotherhood, peace, prosperity for all.
Let’s have a vow to do good forever……………
Wishing you all a very very happy and prosperous Dussehra !
Ek Koshish one attempt