An Indian shopkeeper has been given hero status, as for the last three years he has been running a free school for the poor and homeless, under a metro bridge, in India.
Rajesh Kumar and Laxmi Chandra together have offered over 30 children with a new start in life. They have been receiving a free education and despite the dirty and filthy conditions, these ‘underprivileged’ students help keep their school clean. The teachers and the kids use the most out of what they can find; a torn rug to sit on, a metro bridge for a roof, a patch of wall painted black used as a blackboard and a shopkeeper for a teacher.
40-year-old father of three; Rajesh Kumar Sharma dropped out of college in his third year of his BSc due to financial difficulties. As he was another poor typical Indian born from the slums, he knew how it felt to be one of his students and therefore he didn’t want other children to be in the same position he was. Fellow friend and partner Laxmi Chandra has a post graduate in science and a retired teacher who had the experience in giving knowledge to kids.
The majority of the children already have jobs as Rickshaw pullers and Farm Workers. A student of Sharma 15-year-old Abhishek says, “Our teacher has told us that when poverty strikes, you should open your mind, and that can be done only through education”. Sharma says his greatest achievement is changing the attitude of his students’ parents. Many of them now encourage their children to study.
By Jameel Choudhury
