Reaching out

Updated on: Thursday, August 19, 2010

Little did she know then that a chance phone call would change the course of her life. “The year was 1990,” fondly recalls a grey-haired Devyani Chatterji. She was new to Noida then, settling down to a retired life after teaching at Delhi Public School, Mathura Road. “I had free time and was keen to do something worthwhile. I didn't want to attend kitty parties. By chance, I spotted a poster in Atta market which sought volunteers to teach needy children. I liked the idea and jotted down the number on a piece of paper,” says Chatterji of that crucial phone call she made to Vidya and I, a toddler of a non-governmental organisation then, working towards educating children in Ambedkar Nagar Harijan basti in Noida's Sector 37.

“Vidya and I is run by Supriya, she is very young but extremely committed to the cause. I instantly liked the idea of teaching the basti children, they were just seven or eight then,” recollects Chatterji. Now a decade later, the school's rolls have 40 children while the NGO has expanded its work to three more areas in Noida. And 69-year-old Chatterji, from being a volunteer, has become a proud trustee of the NGO, fondly addressed by all at the school as ‘auntyji'. “Even Supriya calls me aunty,” she says with a laugh.

Though flanked by posh houses of Sector 37, life and living in Ambedkar Nagar is pretty dismal. Rows and rows of one room tenements separated from the serpentine lanes by open stinking drains infested with flies, is the standard here. Vidya and I, set up in a rented five-room structure, is in the heart of it, connecting the vital missing link between formal schools and studies here. Explains Chatterji, “We run the school between 3.15 p.m. and 7.15 p.m. everyday. Since the drop-out rate is high here, many children undergo a non-formal bridge course in the school till Class V. Thereafter, they are admitted to formal schools but they continue to come every evening. We have a curriculum to reinforce what they study in their schools.” The first floor of her residence houses a content team which constantly works under her guidance to assemble a curriculum to fit student requirement. Most children are enrolled in Lord Mahavira School (Noida). However, this year, two girls got through Cambridge School. “Hopefully, some would get in Ryan International next year,” says Chatterji.

The school also constantly focuses on teaching life skills to these children besides putting a thrust on theatre, performing arts, yoga, etc. by regularly organising workshops with experienced hands from the fields. In one such workshop, children made four short films on subjects like stealing, friendship and water scarcity in the area, she mentions. “Also, we constantly counsel our children, discuss their problems, so that it brings some equilibrium into their lives and they can face life's challenges.”

Then there are days set for calling parents to the school to discuss their children's progress. Days are also set for the teachers to do home visits. “Unless you sit on their beds and talk to the parents, you can't expect progress in the children,” points out Chatterji.

Monitoring these activities besides visiting the other centres — on Noida Expressway and at Khoda and Barola, Chatterji also helps out in designing strategies to teach the teachers. “Most teachers are from around the areas we work in. They have degrees but themselves have problems, like poor inter-personal skills and little proficiency in speaking English. We address these issues so that they can be better teachers.” Besides, there are about 40 volunteers, mostly from corporate houses like HCL and Cadence, who regularly visit on weekends to teach different subjects to the children.

With responsibilities growing, Chatterji says, “I don't get much time to teach the children nowadays.” While accompanying her civil servant husband to London on deputation, Chatterji had taken training on early childhood teaching, which she now efficiently utilises in counselling children and assembling their curriculums. “I, however, take out time to read out books to them. We have a lovely library in the school but few children use it. By reading out stories, we want to attract them towards books,” she says.

Reflecting on the last ten years of her life, Chatterji says, “God has been kind to me. These are the happiest days of my life.”

Reaching out

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