Recently I visited some villages near Mysore. The purpose of the visit was to get an understanding of the education scenario of village children’s. Swami Vivekananda India Revival Movement (SVIRM) organisation sends its volunteers to various villages near Mysore to teach the children’s. I was fortunate, that I got an opportunity to visit one such training centre in village which is run by SVIRM.
Having been living in Bangalore for many years, I found the fresh air journey from Mysore city to this village as rejuvenating. I and another friend from Bangalore and two SVIRM volunteers were part of this journey. As we arrived at the training centre, we could see some students already waiting for us. Within few minutes, the entire room was filled. There were more than 30 students in that room. Students were excited to see new visitors to their class room. SVIRM teachers started the class with prayers. It’s really amazing to see how these pupils are disciplined and trained. Apart from invocation of God, these prayers also had moral teachings embedded in them.
After prayers, I wished to conduct some science experiments using candles, balls etc. Though the experiments were simple, one could see gleaming eyes among all the children’s gathered on that day. They were eager to understand the science concept behind the experiments. “Drinking Candle” experiment was their favorite and everyone wanted to try that experiment themselves.
I feel these village children are more privileged then their urban counterparts. They have the fire of curiosity which our urban kids are losing at rapid pace due to early over-exposure to TV, computer and smartphones. Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning. I was glad to see this curiosity and their desire for learning in those village kids
After we finished science experiments, students wished to have some dance and music. All of them were so eager to show us their folk dances and songs. It was very wonderful to see such a talent in those small kids. Some of them even forced us to join their group dance.
I was wondering, did I ever used to enjoy my tuition classes the way these kids are doing? Kudo’s to SVIRM team for creating such an institution where quality education was being imparted to students in a fun way. Had SVIRM did not take up this task; those kids would have been forced to do some agriculture labor or look after their cattle in those hours.
SVIRM employs a very innovative method of teaching. They consider mind as not a vessel to be filled with facts but a fire to be kindled. The focus was not on exam but to equip each student with basic skills of life, to build a strong foundation for their maths, science and language skills.
A Big thank you to SVIRM team for such a memorable village trip
– Rajshekhar Biradar