Spring of Hope in a Ghetto of Despair

Saturday – 9th August 2008 was meant to be an ordinary day without any of the glamour attached to 08-08-08, but it was not to be. Let me share my experience.

A few of my office colleagues and I have been debating the previous few weeks about the need to give back to society, do some social work or “seva” as we call it. Being from a corporate background, it was natural to come up with grandiose plans with no thought given to how we were to execute them.

Wiser counsel prevailed and we realized that we know very little of life outside our air-conditioned offices and sanitized environment. Our present efforts are to see and understand ground realities.

We visited a small school at Dharavi in North-Central Mumbai. Dharavi has earned the dubious distinction of being the largest slum in Asia with a population of over one million packed tightly in an area of just 1.75 sq kms.



We visited the Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir run out of half a dozen sheds at the north-west corner of this mega shanty town.

This is a school with two hundred thirty students spread across Nursery to Class – V. The school authorities plan to add one higher class every year till they reach the tenth standard in the next five years.

The school presently has eighteen teachers led by Principal - Ms Shubhangi Karvir and a few support staff.

The school is part of the Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir initiative in value education. Apart from the normal curriculum, great emphasis is laid on other activities like dance, music, martial arts like taekwondo, sports including chess and skating. Students from the third standard upwards are also taught about computers in a separate lab set up.


A novel part of the teaching process is the way in which “Value Based Education” is made a part of all subjects. Young minds are exposed to human values like compassion, friendship, caring, mutual respect, and teamwork….and so on.

What sets this school apart from many other schools is the incredible student-teacher ratio. The maxim of one teacher for every twenty students is strictly followed.

What we heard was impressive but what we saw overwhelmed us. Dharavi is as dirty as slums can get. Every possible failing of human nature can be seen there. Alcoholism and drug addiction is rampant and violent behaviour is the accepted norm.

Students come from disturbed homes and vitiated neighbourhoods. There is no concept of personal hygiene or a nutritious diet. It is an angst and acrimony filled atmosphere.

In the midst of all this is a monumental effort put in by a band of very dedicated people determined to make a difference in the lives of those whom modern Indian society has forgotten. To mend such tender lives and get them on a productive path requires immense confidence in oneself and faith that there is an "Unseen Power" who is directing this change.

A Spring of Hope bursts forth in a Ghetto to blow away the clouds of Despair.