In the nestling lanes of a crowded area on the edge of a Pahalwan Chowk, Batla House, amidst the rustling of plastic sheets and the clinking of old tin pots, lives a little girl named Maira. She is five years old, with wide, curious eyes. Her small hands are often busy helping her mother with chores, washing utensils, and brooming the floors.
Her father is a laborer who leaves home early in the morning and returns when the stars have taken their place in the sky.
Maira does not go to school. Her family simply can not afford the uniform, the books, or the fees. But every day, Maira wishes to go to school; she quite often asks her parents, “Why can’t I go to school?” to which her parents reply, “One day… one day you will go too,” simply to avoid the question she asks.
She does not know how to read or write; no one ever taught her.
One morning something unusual happens. A group of people walk into the vicinity of Maira, the people of the Shaagird Foundation, an NGO that offers free education to the children who survived demolition, communal violence, riots, hate crimes, and children whose parents fell prey to mob lynching, or those who are orphans and poor.
They talk of a place called “Bi Amma Learning Center.” A small school, just nearby, where children from the basti could come and learn for free, no fees, no uniforms required, everything will be provided by the Shaagird Foundation. All the students need to have is the hunger to learn.
When they reach Maira’s house, her eyes glimmer with hopes—hopes of learning, hopes of education, hopes of going to school. Before they even start completing their sentences, Maira hides behind her mother, holds her dupatta, and says, “Please, I also want to go to school.”
The next day, Maira walks to the Bi Amma Learning Center holding her mother’s hand. The center is a small, bright room filled with colors. Posters of alphabets, animals, and numbers decorated the walls. Teacher Asna welcomes her with a gentle smile and hands her a notebook. “Welcome, Maira,” she said. “We’re so glad you are joining us,” she added.
From that day on, Maira’s world starts to bloom. She attends classes, learns lessons, and makes friends. And so, in the darkness of Maira’s life, a silver lining begins to shine, not just in Maira’s heart, but in every child who walks through the doors of the Bi Amma Learning Center.
