Penned By Board Member, Alo Pal
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
Steve Jobs
Jana was bright, passionate about maths, and model child whom our social workers described as “obedient, disciplined, calm, interested in studies, well behaved.” Yet his Class 10 exams were subpar that dashing his hopes of pursuing maths and science. Until then, he had studied in a private school where he was a star student for the most part. His 11th and 12th were in a government school, where he had to be self-motivated. He missed the guidance he had received in his old school. His Class 12 exams were disappointing, and after clearing arrears, he was left with no option but to pursue a BA in English.
But the tall, dark and handsome young man with the brightest of smiles sitting opposite me had taken it all in his stride, inspired by the quote by Steve Jobs above. Growing up, Jana faced challenges at home too. As he puts it, “ My father never had any purpose in life.” Despite these circumstances, Jana remained focused on his studies and took responsibility for building a better future for himself.
Today, after completing his BA and B.Ed., Jana has been campus-recruited to teach English at a private school. He had made a promise to himself to work hard and not incur any arrears, and he was the only student in his batch to do so, passing all papers without any supplementary exams. This was despite the fact that, in his heart and mind, he still felt cut out for the sciences, while language and literature remained challenging for him.
In addition, he is a private tutor and has also completed courses at Sharana’s Digital and Language Labs. In the sweetest of full circles, he has been recruited by Sharana as a full-time teacher at our Homework Help Centre and a full-time social worker. Responsible and indefatigable as he is, he is also pursuing his Master’s by correspondence.
Today, Jana has moved his family out of the slum where he was born. He has taken a house on rent in a decent, clean locality. His mother, unwilling to give up her autonomy, continues to work. His sister, a beneficiary of our Back-to-School programme, is now studying in Class 12 and wants to be a teacher herself.
Understandably, life hasn’t turned out as Jana had once planned. At every uncertain, disappointing, confidence-shaking patch, Sharana stood by him, counselled him and helped him make the best of the options life presented to him. Today the dots from the past are connected.
