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By:

Shoumojit Banerjee

27 August 2024 at 9:57:52 am

Classroom of Courage

In drought-scarred Maharashtra, a couple’s experiment in democratic schooling is turning child beggars into model citizens In the parched stretches of Maharashtra, from Solapur to the drought-hit villages of Marathwada, a modest social experiment has quietly unfolded for nearly two decades. It is neither a grand government scheme nor a corporate-backed charity. Since 2007, the Ajit Foundation, founded by Mahesh and Vinaya Nimbalkar, has worked with children living at the sharpest edges of...

Classroom of Courage

In drought-scarred Maharashtra, a couple’s experiment in democratic schooling is turning child beggars into model citizens In the parched stretches of Maharashtra, from Solapur to the drought-hit villages of Marathwada, a modest social experiment has quietly unfolded for nearly two decades. It is neither a grand government scheme nor a corporate-backed charity. Since 2007, the Ajit Foundation, founded by Mahesh and Vinaya Nimbalkar, has worked with children living at the sharpest edges of society in Maharashtra. The foundation has become a home for out-of-school children, those who have never enrolled, the children of migrant labourers and single parents, and those who scavenge at garbage dumps or drift between odd jobs. To call their foundation an “NGO” is to miss the point. Vinaya Nimbalkar describes it as a “democratic laboratory”, where education is not merely instruction but an initiation into citizenship. The couple were once government schoolteachers with the Solapur Zilla Parishad, leading stable lives. Yet what they witnessed unsettled them: children who had never held a pencil, begging at traffic signals or sorting refuse for a living. Prompted by this reality, the Nimbalkars resigned their jobs to work full-time for the education of such children. Leap of Faith They began modestly, teaching children in migrant settlements in Solapur and using their own salaries to pay small honorariums to activists. Funds soon ran dry, and volunteers drifted away. Forced out of their home because of their commitment to the cause, they started a one-room school where Vinaya, Mahesh, their infant son Srijan and forty children aged six to fourteen lived together as an unlikely family. The experiment later moved to Barshi in the Solapur district with support from Anandvan. Rural hardship, financial uncertainty and the pandemic repeatedly tested their resolve. At one stage, they assumed educational guardianship of nearly 200 children from families that survived by collecting scrap on the village outskirts. Eventually, the foundation relocated to Talegaon Dabhade near Pune, where it now runs a residential hostel. Twenty-five children currently live and study there. The numbers may seem modest, but the ambition is not. Democracy in Practice What distinguishes the Ajit Foundation is not only who it serves but also how it operates. Within its walls, democracy is practised through a Children’s Gram Panchayat and a miniature Municipal Council elected by the children themselves. Young candidates canvass, hold meetings and present their budgets. Children maintain accounts and share decisions about chores, activities and certain disciplinary matters. In a country where democratic culture is often reduced to voting, the foundation’s approach is quietly radical. It treats children from marginalised backgrounds as citizens in formation. The right to choose — whether to focus on sport, cooking, mathematics or cultural activities — is respected. “We try never to take away what is their own,” says Vinaya Nimbalkar. Rather than forcing every child into a uniform academic mould, individual abilities are encouraged. A boy skilled in daily calculations may not be pushed into hours of bookish study; a girl who excels in cooking may lead the kitchen team. For children who have known only precarity, standing for election, managing a budget or speaking at a meeting can be transformative. On International Women’s Day, the foundation seeks visibility not just for praise but for partnership. If you are inspired by their mission, consider supporting or collaborating—your involvement can help extend opportunities to more children in need.

Disastrous Maze of Fake Narratives and Us

Part 2: Power today lies not only in votes but in vigilance — in choosing truth over the comfort of outrage.

In Part 1, we explored how fake narratives are manufactured and weaponised. Now, we must ask: could these misleading stories have roots in long-standing agendas, influencing India for centuries?


For the last 1,500 years, India has been in high demand for gold, diamonds, spices, salt, medicine, clothing, and education. People have visited universities to learn while taking the knowledge back to their own countries.  After the Turks took Constantinople, all of Europe was mad about finding India via a sea route. Finally, the pope got in to guide them. A few of the king’s search teams were asked to go via Africa, and others via the American continent. This was the importance of India. After reaching there, they have exploited India and other Asian countries. They made colonies out of that. However, after WW2, almost all countries gained freedom, but with conditions. But was that real?


These European masters ensured that the societies of these countries were always divided by various issues like religion, caste, and political background. For that, they introduced various systems like modern education, used to identify and teach points like faults between various caste and religion groups, like the Aryan invasion theory, Dravidian and other caste politics, isolating the northeast via conversion, isolating and supporting radicals, and ensuring that countries are divided. Colonial masters can exploit the resources of these countries by leveraging the fault lines between them.


The real sons of the soil were pushed to jails, away from people, and the people who followed masters and accepted their narratives are being established as named social reformers.  They were given all recognition/political places. So that after freedom, these leaders, a few gods created from jokers, got into all the administration and high political positions. We all can see how the newly freed countries behaved in the best interest of the colonial masters for the next several years and decades. (e.g., see how Pakistan was used to destabilise Indian Asia)


This was an ongoing process till 1980. Soon after, people started realising the ongoing fake narratives that are being managed by the global non-state factors known as the deep state. This deep state can be anyone, a big organisation, or a rich radical group, etc., who is interested in exploiting the natural resources or the political power of the country.


Like in COVID, India was pushed to buy a certain vaccine; however, India refused, created its own and sent it to another 50 countries for free.  So these companies, like pharma/defence/biotech giants, can readily invest in the anti-factors via which they can influence our country, like India, to make them create a market, and if the government is against their policy, then they will definitely try to change the government.  This is by ensuring the fake narratives around that government and its people, and this is exactly what the next generation war from the non-state factors is. (e.g., farmer agitation and Mia Khalifa's support for it). Canada is supporting anti-CAA, etc.


But then the main question is what we can do against it!! Is that difficult? Might be yes, but it's not impossible.


India is the largest, solid, democratic country, and we, the people who support that democracy, have the power to choose the right people who work in the interest of the country.  If we begin to understand the patterns of the fake narrative, where people suddenly accuse the election commission, hate Supreme Court decisions, call out the administration on foreign soil and blame the Indian government. Asking foreign powers to intervene, asking for GenZ-War, then we should understand these clear cases of these narratives.


Once we start understanding, then the key is to stay together, creating awareness about fake narratives and going back to our roots and culture. Additionally, we must trust all the solid pillars of democracy and government and take all our grievances and questions only via the democratic process. It is always the answer to the conspirators of anarchy/Gen Z war.


In this era of information, we have multiple types of information, including what is right and that what is wrong. Power is how to use it for the future of us, our country, and the next generation.  History is watching us as decision-makers.


(The writer works in the Information Technology sector. Views personal.)


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