Posted: 15/10/2008
Meet Mahesh - one of our most inspiring students...
Having been denied the luxury of a suitable childhood Mahesh, 11, spent most of his time walking around aimlessly, playing in dirty drains and rubbish dumps, and making trouble. He has little recollection of his life before that other than his family moving back and forth from his village to Delhi in search of employment. His mother, a labourer, had to toil all day to support her three children. Even after long hours of work, the family often slept without having eaten since morning.
Mahesh often saw children assemble in a building every afternoon and he would wonder what they were up to, but he never bothered to find out. On one day, however, his curiosity got the better of him and he decided to see what the kids were doing inside the green building he passed by everyday. That was the first time he entered the Asha centre in the Dr. Ambedkar Basti slum.
Mahesh outside his home in Dr Ambedkar Basti Slum
Mahesh, who lost his father at a very young age and whose mother had no time for him because she was busy at work, felt very welcome and loved by all at the centre. He loved the attention and tried to prove that he was worthy of much more. His life soon changed.
Mahesh left the company of his trouble-making friends and made friends with the children of the Bal Mandal (children's groups). With the help of the Asha staff in the slum, he was admitted to a government school. It turned out that he was a very bright student. He was always in the top 3 students of the class! He started reading the books in the Asha library and learning computers in the Asha resource centre.
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Mahesh in his school uniform
In class 7 (when he was 12), Mahesh realised that he would have to find a way to pay for his own schooling because education in government schools is only free until class 6. Asha came to his rescue again. Mahesh was awarded a scholarship from Asha that covered his school fee, uniform, textbooks and stationary.
On 30th May '08, Mahesh proved what a talented student and worthy recipient of the scholarship he was when he secured 82.8% in his class 10 exams! More unbelievable than the marks he got was the fact that he managed to get the marks despite the numerous difficulties he faced. There was no electricity in his house, so he studied all night after a long day's work with the help of a candle; he had no table to study on and no bed to sleep on (in fact, his house is so small that at night when all 4 members of his family are present he cannot even sleep with his legs out stretched). He could not afford any tutors (teachers hardly came to class in his school, and even when they came, they rarely taught anything). He had no guidance from his mother or other members of his family because they are illiterate and since his mother was at work and his brother and sister were away they never offered to help. In addition to all this, he cooked for everyone and kept the house clean when he was not studying!
Due to his educational gifts, commitment and desire to improve his situation, Asha decided to help Mahesh realise his dream of becoming an engineer. First we needed to get him admitted to a much better school. After visiting and evaluating numerous schools, we decided that Ram Jas school was the best option so through negotiations with the principal we got him admitted there.
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Mahesh receiving an Asha scholarship from the Finance Minister of India
In addition to paying his school fees and helping him with other expenses, Asha has been able to get Mahesh to admitted to FIITJEE, a special coaching institute for IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) which is the top engineering college in India. The fee for his coaching alone is Rs - 146,000.
Once he completes his training and is admitted to IIT (with his talent and dedication, we are sure he will make it), he will require a few hundred thousand rupees to pay for his college fees. Fortunately for him Asha has been able to serve as a liaison between banks and slum dwellers. Banks will provide educational loans that will cover educational expenses for him.
Mahesh wakes up at 5 AM, studies for an hour, cooks breakfast, attends school, then studies for a couple of hours. When he is finished studying he does his Bal Mandal work - he is the President of the Bal Mandal at Dr. Ambedkar Basti, cleans his house and cooks. He then teaches local students for a few hours to help his family and earn some pocket money. Finally he attends his FIITJEE coaching, studies for his engineering entrance exam and goes to sleep at about 11:30 PM! He is a truly remarkable boy and all of us at Asha feel a great sense of pride in being able to support him to realise his dream.
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I’m now so keen to learn that I will sit and listen to doctors whenever I get the chance. I’m busy all the time, delivering babies, giving lectures and training volunteers.
Bimla, women's group president, Ekta Vihar
