Stories of change - Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya

Pinki Yadav

gsvadmin — Mon, 05 May 2025 08:34:46 +0000

Growing wings of Change

Pinki Yadav

Pinki who is 24 yrs now, joined GSV in 2009 /10, an organisation that brought her face to face with an audacious dream. While she attended school in the morning and GSV in the evening, it all began like a routine that started to grow wings she wasn’t conscious about. She studied and fared well at school and came in touch with her mentors, teachers and many other guests, experts, all belonging to a community she had never connected with up-close, so far.
Each day began within a tight spaced, jhuggi, extremely hot in summers and barely a shelter in the rain. The fear of safety while walking to school, using the toilet or going for a bath, no electricity or water became a matter of habit. Walking to and from GSV took her 45 minutes one way, with a continuing fear of safety, following sunset. The tough survival pushed Pinki to break out of it. GSV exposed her to a different world where she could seek guidance along with study support. She saw and went to homes and events which strengthened her determination, offering her hope. She deep dived into studies, always getting encouraged by her parents. She recognised ‘education’ as a means to uplift herself. For her the choice was either to be sincere to studies, aim for salaried job, or prepare to join her parents in farming and map her life in penury forever.

Her father was in the army but had to leave it because of pressure from her grandfather. Since money was a challenge, a jhuggi, however fragile, provided accommodation that demanded no rent. “This kind of a life was just a fight of daily survival. It was not for someone like me. My safety was always a concern. During summers everyone slept outside, that was uncomfortable.”

After completing her 12th class, with the required support, she completed a diploma in Elementary Education (DL ed) with 94%. Her fee and daily expenses were taken care by GSV, for about two years. She continued to spiral upwards, completing a series of certification courses from time to time, CTET (Certificate of Teacher Eligibility Test), to name one, and got employed in a private school and MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi), before joining Kendriya Vidyalaya in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, which is where she is currently teaching. She is constantly upgrading herself, likely to complete MA in June of 2025.

Says Pinki, “GSV was a turning point in my life. All along I met good people all of whom encouraged me to push my limits, especially the founders of the organisation, who embraced me with personal attention. The teachers and volunteers guided me and others without any discrimination. The exposure I received is what changed things for me. When I met them, spoke to them and went to events with them, I observed their conversation, demeanour, dressing style, and I thought, why can I not do this! That was my dream, to be like the people I had not grown up with”.

Pinki blazed her path persuasively into spending about eight hours to education at a time when it was not considered priority for girls to study, in her community. Her mother at times dissuaded her from going to school or to GSV , fearing her safety en-route , as well. Pinki did not let go. She was willing to take any amount of risk to study. However, according to her, the awareness of importance of girl-child education has grown, a development that can be attributed to Pinki and others who delivered a successful impact as silent ambassadors. The complete experience made her confident, positive and determined.
While delivering a speech in school, at an event. she was identified by an official who suggested her to pursue DIET (District Institute of Education & Training) and she made an entry into a life of dignity and respect.
Today when she reflects back, she emphasizes that while it was in her to fight aggressively for what she wanted, she fondly recalls that GSV provided her the gift of ‘confidence’, and there has been no looking back thereafter.

The post Pinki Yadav first appeared on Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya.

Gautam Mandal

gsvadmin — Mon, 05 May 2025 08:16:06 +0000

Discovering passion to make the shift

Gautam Mandal

Gautam Mandal, an alumni of GSV, is 25 yrs old and works with ‘Mudra a creative gesture’, a Theatre initiative located in Dwarka, Delhi. He is adept in acting, direction, script writing, choreography etc.
One of the initiatives of the company is to take year-round theatre classes in schools. Gautam is responsible for the Sunflower Public School, Ghaziabad. He especially plans how all the students of the school gain exposure through theatre throughout the year. While doing so he also acts in various plays which are staged at Mandi House, Delhi, a popular hub for nurturing art in all forms.
Gautam is an alumni of GSV from one of the first few batches that go back to 2006/7. He lived in a jhuggi beside the DND, NOIDA , as his parents would farm there. Life before GSV would see him wake up in the morning, join friends and beg near a dargah. With the money they would buy marbles and play. While being able to pursue his education at GSV, he gained exposure to multiple activities. In 2007, a first of a kind play was held at the park, called ‘Jallianwala bagh’ on 15 August. Mr Nadeem Ali from the National School of Drama, at the time, along with Dr Mohammad Afaaq trained the students for the play. Gautam was participating in a play for the first time. His submergence in the character came quite naturally, practising profusely and sometimes even being driven to tears in his depiction. It did not take long for him to realise that he harboured a deep passion for acting.

It was unconventional for him to suggest this to his parents, who battled poverty each day, to make ends meet. In class 12 Gautam had no idea about his journey ahead. Taking vocational training at ITI, as was the practise in school, did not attract him. He reflected deeply, and spoke with the officials including Mr Sunil Razdan, Co-founder of GSV, telling him honestly about his inclination towards acting. “I felt that GSV had exposed me to a new dimension of education. I studied regularly, but acting gave me hope, it pulled me strongly. I felt that since I had developed the skill with regular plays being organised at GSV, why not make it my career, however unconventional it was for a boy with my background. Sunil Sir helped me and I got my first opening through my mentors in the field, Mr Nadeem and Dr Afaaq.”, says Gautam

As he passed class 12 life’s challenges kept testing him. He faced rejections and financial burden as well. People even doubted whether he will be able to remain stable in his selection. Gautam continued to act and established himself effectively. The global pandemic brought him an unprecedented challenge but he fought through as well. He led online sessions of acting, reaching out to about 30,000 students from various schools. He continues to train students and is proud to have one of them , Aditya, act at the National Theatre event organised by CBSE in the current academic year 2024-25.

Gautam recalls a conversation that he had with ‘Sunil Sir’ after he saw Mr Sunil talk on the dais. He was drawn to the confidence and asked him how he could be like him. Gautam took his advice of participating in activities that offer him a platform to speak, with determination. He saw this opportunity in the auditions that were held for the first play. There has been no looking back for Gautam since. Theatre according to him, is an activity, but is an exposure to a lifestyle. It teaches you how to dress , conduct with colleagues etc.

In the words of Gautam, “ I have two parents, GSV being the other. I have no words to express what GSV has given me. When a child is born, he/she knows nothing; it is the parents who hand hold and guide us. GSV did that. It provided us with a platter decorated with several diverse activities like educational trips, play, sports. It treated us like its own children, treating us to a quick fun snack , something that we never could ask our parents for. Today I am a respected for what I do. I stay in a rented house and not a jhuggi; My parents have gone back to our village and I support them financially. When I wake up today, I have a purpose in life, which is so distanced from begging or playing with marbles.’

His message to the current students is , “ You may be very capable, but never forget your roots. Continue to do the simple things always, respect your elders, be honest. Challenges in different forms will come your way but never compromise on your values. Afaaq Sir and Geet Ma’am motivated me through my difficult situations which occurred from time to time. They told me to relax and be patient. Don’t be restless. Put in your best and keep having conversation with your elders. “ and Gautam signs off after overwhelmingly recalling his tourney with his life.

The post Gautam Mandal first appeared on Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya.

Mamta Kumari

gsvadmin — Wed, 09 Apr 2025 06:19:04 +0000

Flight to success

Mamta Kumari

Mamta, 29yrs old, is an alumnus of Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya (GSV), a school after school located in NOIDA, Uttar Pradesh (Delhi NCR). She is working with Spicejet airlines currently. On any single day her routine takes her through donning the uniform and waiting for her office cab to take her to work. Her life now stands in sharp contrast to what she was born into.

Mamta joined Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya in 2006 in class four. Her father was a security guard and her mother a home maker for a family of five children including Mamta. Her family shifted to chilla khaader for which she had to drop out from her school. Her family erected their jhuggi (hutment) and Mamta would help her mother carry out the daily chores including looking after her siblings. With her oldest sibling being physically challenged and her father an alcoholic the challenges of day-to-day survival mounted. GSV was a golden opportunity for her and many others to continue education, something that they would not have pursued otherwise. Through the school she got admission in the Government School located in Mayur Vihar, while GSV provided her with the additional support required in academics and personality development. The teachers here were sensitized to educate the students who were the ‘first generation-learners’.

Accustomed to fighting the odds every day, Mamta saw GSV with hope and joy. In 2017 GSV held its first Annual play called ‘Khoob ladi Mardani’ where she played the lead role of ‘Jhansi ki Rani’. She recalls her trainer, Mr Nadeem, telling her to imagine herself as the queen and encouraging her with ‘you can do it!’. The profound theatre practises boosted her confidence and with that aura she rolled out a hair-raising performance. The experience of theatre as well as many others contributed critically
to what she is today.

It was so new and different from the life that she was familiar with. Squalor & deprivation had followed or preceded her everywhere. Something as basic as using the toilet came with its hazard of being exposed to bystanders. Family members would accompany each other to ensure safety. Her mother feared her safety while crossing the pond near her house, while on way to the school. GSV began to penetrate her day-to-day life. The water her family used for cooking improved, as GSV installed a tubewell that provided it. The colour of water no longer was yellow.

Mamta lost her father in 2018 but as she grieved,she also turned towards a job opportunity facilitated by GSV leading her to the spice jet office for an interview. She took her chances without knowing or even giving much thought to ‘Aviation’ or the brand ‘Spicejet’. In all 12-15 students took the interview out of which 4-5 were shortlisted for different departments, including Mamta who works with the ground staff. Once selected she was asked whether she was fine with the salary. Nothing mattered to her, more than the job itself and she readily agreed.

The on-job training propelled her into the field of aviation and into a life that she had never dreamt of. This too was not free of challenges, but totally different from what she was accustomed to. Expressed by Mamta, “My first day of training at Spicejet made me aware of how different I was from the rest of the trainees. They spoke English and would swiftly respond to questions asked, while I struggled to understand even the very basic conversation. The others came with this dream of working with Spicejet whereas I came with no dreams and expectations. For me bagging a regular job was sufficient.” Once her job was confirmed there was no looking back. The rest of Mamta’s siblings too studied and got employed in different fields. Her family now live not in a jhuggi but in a house that has its own toilet. She continues to say, “Without the platform provided by GSV that highlights education as the power for change, I would never have been where I am today. I will always be grateful to Sunil Sir (co-founder GSV), to my teacher, Janki Ma’am, to the GSV volunteers, my family and to the remarkable staff of Spicejet, all of whom accepted me as I am, and motivated me to re-discover myself”.

Mamta proudly shares the certificates of appreciation awarded to her on job, that substantiate her determination to break the status quo.

The post Mamta Kumari first appeared on Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya.

Vishal Kumar

gsvadmin — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 05:33:07 +0000

Breaking the Status Quo

Vishal Kumar

It was in 2006/2007 that Vishal joined Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya and turned his attention to education as a continuous, holistic and transformative process. He was, earlier, enrolled in a Govt school, which typically meant sitting in a class & waiting for it to get over. Once school would get over, he would immediately close the books, dump his bag in a corner of his shanty and go out to play. There was no guidance at home and no electricity as well. His parents would be farming furiously, struggling each day to make ends meet, unable to help him with studies but always supportive of him.

Hailing from the state of West Bengal, Vishal’s family journeyed to Haryana with his parents looking for better prospects. Having dropped out after class six in his village school, Vishal’s father was never in permanent employment. An impoverished background and absence of any skill plunged him into temporary and indefinite sources of income through selling fruits, working as a daily wager at construction sites, farming etc, depending on the city he would be in. When Vishal, who is now 26 years old, younger of the two siblings, joined GSV, the family gained stability, to begin with. His parents set themselves up in a jhuggi alongside the DND (Delhi NOIDA Direct) flyway and joined the surrounding community in growing wheat, rice etc.

After getting admission in the Govt school in Delhi, facilitated by GSV, Vishal began to attend the ‘school after school’ held daily in a park in NOIDA to get additional support through class/subject-wise assigned teachers in academics. Regular educational and recreational trips, interactive visits by several corporates and individuals both Indian and international were organised along with activities like theatre and sports. The meaning of ‘education’ began to change for Vishal who now viewed it as a means to break out of the status quo. In 2015 he completed class 12 and joined a diploma (12 months) training program held by the Max Research Centre, Greater NOIDA. After completing it he got a job at a hospital which he pursued alongside a degree course in Radiology through distance learning, from the University of Rajasthan. He attended classes 2-3 times a week held in Punjabi Bagh, travelling approx. 80 kms. to and from NOIDA.

Vishal currently, works as a technician in the Radiology department at Fortis hospital, Greater NOIDA. With both Vishal and his older brother working, the family has bought a house in Faridabad (Haryana). Tragically he lost his father in 2018 to a fatal fall at a construction site. Their mother took to doing house chores like cooking, cleaning etc for earning, something that she continues to do now as well. According to Vishal, education has the power to bring about a change. He deeply values his learnings at GSV. “At the on-job training I saw myself different from others but never inferior to anyone, and this is something that GSV has gifted me. I am valued today because of the ‘Gyan’ I acquired. A good environment builds a good personality,” says Vishal.

In his message to the students of GSV he says, “Take your education seriously and see how it converts you into a very valued individual. Any challenge that comes your way also comes with the power to overcome it. Don’t run away, face and fight it and win over. These challenges help us progress.”

The post Vishal Kumar first appeared on Gyan Shakti Vidyalaya.