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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.

Hindu Studies Pushes Boundaries of Scholarship and Criticism

Prof. Sahu’s multidisciplinary work maps Hinduism as both a lived tradition and a system of ideas—resisting monolithic portrayals while engaging critically with caste, gender, and power.

Prof. Nandini Sahu has written Hindu Studies: Foundations and Frameworks. This literary piece has brought about a groundbreaking revolution in the field of literature and criticism. It was published in 2024. Hindu Studies is one of the most discussed and criticised interdisciplinary academic fields. It demonstrates the author's rigour and forward-thinking approach to her methodology. The book is organised into ten thematic parts, weaving together disciplines such as theology, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, art history, and literary studies. Central to its framework is a commitment to cultural materialism as a theoretical foundation, which shapes the textual, contextual, socio-historical, and ethnographic analyses employed throughout the volume.


In the second chapter of the present book, “The Hindu Texts and Contexts”. Here, the author offers a broad engagement with foundational works from the Vedas and Upanishads. Additionally, the great epics of Indian culture, The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, Purana, and Smritis, which are oral traditions and ritual practices, are included. This wide textual base includes novel hypotheses, such as interpreting Dashavatara through an evolutionary lens inspired by Darwin. While this breadth is commendable, some critics argue that the emphasis on Sanskritic elite texts still overshadows vernacular, folk, Dalit, and regional voices, reinforcing Brahmanical perspectives at the expense of marginalised traditions.


The third chapter unpacks both the Astika and the Nastika systems in a very systematic manner. Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, and Vedanta, alongside heterodox schools like Buddhism, Jainism, and Charvaka. The author further extends her discussion to modern ethical frameworks, drawing connections from Gandhi’s principle of ahimsa to global movements led by Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela. Later on, the next chapter thoroughly expresses the theme of philosophy with careful attention. The author’s desire to integrate classical thought with contemporary ethical discourse. However, readers and researchers will find the fusion of genealogy and ideology in the present chapter. The author has seriously overextended in interdisciplinary sections where textual and sociological analyses overlap densely.


The author has followed with careful attention, methodological rigour, and interdisciplinary depth in the present literary work. The book’s methodological robustness stands out. It has combined historical gradient studies, ethnographic fieldwork, comparative models, and textual interpretation with cultural materialist theory. Even the author has projected her ambitious voice through the text. Mapping Hinduism as both a lived tradition and a system of ideas, and making visible regional and non-canonical practices often marginalised in institutional scholarship. By doing so, she advocates for decolonising knowledge systems and creating a truly inclusive discipline of Hindu Studies.


The present book has presented a very critical and analytical interpretation of social dimensions. The author’s ideology and perception of class, caste, gender, and modernity are systematically depicted in the said book. A notable strength lies in her sustained critical attention to social and ethical dimensions—especially caste, gender, class, and power structures inherent in Hindu tradition. These chapters push against sanitised or monolithic portrayals, engaging instead with social realities and contentious issues such as caste discrimination and gender hierarchies. Similarly, discussions of Hinduism’s global trajectory, diasporic flows, interfaith engagement, and modern intersections add urgency and relevance to her framework.


As a reader, I have gone through several strengths and limitations as well. The present text is an exceptional interdisciplinary synthesis of philosophy, literature, cultural studies, sociology, and anthropology. It also engages methodologically rigorous and critically engaged approaches, including ethnography, historical depth, and materialist theory.


It systematically presents a socio-ethical focus, gives visibility to marginalised voices, and frames Hinduism as a dynamic, inclusive system. The gap is concerned only with two things that strike my mind as a reader; despite its breadth, the emphasis remains skewed toward Sanskritic and elite textual traditions, with relatively limited grassroots or vernacular textual analysis. Theoretical density may feel overwhelming for general readers; occasional overreach into ideological terrain sometimes clouds clarity.


Hindu Studies: Foundations and Frameworks is a landmark effort rich in scope, deeply interdisciplinary, critically engaged, and intellectually bold. Prof. Sahu brings methodological sophistication and cultural sensitivity to Hindu Studies, establishing a fresh framework with both scholarly depth and social relevance. While its complexity may challenge some, its vision is indispensable for academia and anyone invested in a pluralistic, critical, and decolonial understanding of Hindu traditions in the twenty-first century.

(The writer is an assistant professor of English literature. Views personal.)

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