A taboo- to work while studying

Recently two articles caught my attention in face book; there was a striking similarity between the two.

One story is that of a girl, Rishu Mittal, current Hariyana State boxing champion, who works as a maid to support her education. Her parents are deceased, she is staying with her only brother and to make ends meet this brave girl works as a maid while keeping up with her studies and going to practice every single night. Such an inspiring story of determination and will power! Every Indian student must read the story of Ms. Mittal. What bothered me is that this news had brought attention to the plight of this girl in a bad light. Instead of congratulating this girl and her strength of character to fight against all odds, people who commented made certain things obvious- first, maids are meant to be uneducated people. Second, if someone has to work to study, that is a shame. This closes the possibility for poor girls who may look at Ms. Mittal and take up life just like her. Why is her story a shame to India? If at all, isn't it one of bravery and determination?

Second story came in around the same time. Arun, an Engineering student in Thiruvananthapuram sells peanuts for making extra money to support his family and continuing his education. People are raged that some one has to work to get an education- and selling peanut by an engineering student? Unthinkable for the general public. We have a long history of treating some of the jobs beneath our dignity. When you go to college, certain jobs are not meant for you. Again the comments on this face book post appalled me! Next time if someone has work to support their education,  they are forever shamed from taking up a route of selling peanuts or any other stuff for that matter.

What is wrong in selling peanuts to make money to go to college? Why are people thinking he needs to be saved? From what? Why do we have this entitled mentality that Government has to provide everything- all you have to do is just show up in a classroom ready to learn, after you graduate, it is someone else responsibility to get you a job, if you need money to study- someone else have to provide you. I am sure Arun and Rishu are not alone in this plight. A lot of students work and study at the same time. We must be encouraging students to do that instead of criticizing someone.

I teach in a high school for last ten years or so in United States. It is not unusual for me to walk into a grocery store and see one of my eleventh graders working at cash register, or order pizza and one of my students will show up at the door! Malden, where I work is not an affluent town. More than half of my students work after age sixteen. Some of them work because they want to buy the latest of every thing, but a majority of my students work for saving money for college. And a good number of my students work for supporting the family with an additional income.

My students juggle a demanding course load, play two or three sports in school team and then have a part time job during the weekend. They enter high school in ninth grade, not sure of themselves and directionless. But by the time they start working, I see a more serious, focused students who are responsible and prioritize their time wisely. When they start working, they become better students. Work, doesn't matter what, teaches responsibility and real life skills. Interactions at work will help them have a different perspective on life while also learning skills that are not taught in schools. 

My own son started working in the summer of his senior year in high school. He continued working in college. During the last two years, he has worked many jobs, until this semester he found his niche as a teacher assistant. Even though both his parents work, the college he choose to attend is very expensive and he needs to work to support his education. While he is busy all day long, the work help him grounded. He is serious with how he spends his money and time for he knows how hard it is to earn money. He has learned the value of time. Thousands of miles away, his parents can stay home peacefully knowing that he knows his priorities. Work teach kids things we can't teach them otherwise.

One of my friend's son worked in a Subway, a restaurant chain, during his senior year in high school. While it was not necessary for him to take up that job for monetary reasons, he took it for the experience. He describes learning how to wrap the sandwich- “Sometimes you have to do things your own way. It may seem to be a little unorthodox but it might just pay off. Soon the regular customers were calling me Origami, too. I became “known” for my creative (yet secure) wrapping. Failure’s usually temporary, and only permanent if we let it be. More often than not it leads to creativity because we have to embrace what went wrong and decide how to improve.” A job in Subway can teach life lessons!

A lot of young people in India wait for their education to be over to get started with their life. They aimlessly wander around spending the hard earned money of their parents and get into problems mainly because they have nothing better to do. It is high time we start encouraging people like Arun who sell peanuts to support his education do what he is capable of doing without actually causing him embarrassment and Rishu who washes dishes to support herself continue doing that without feeling any shame. The rest of us who jump into the bandwagon to cry out loud for the state of these kids can probably help schools and other educational institutions to come up with scholarships to support people in need. When students apply for scholarships and earn it with certain conditions- either academic or sports related- it is not an entitlement, it is a merit. Such students will do better in their life.  

CATCH THEM YOUNG- A way to nation building

Recently, I watched the interview of Sir. P Vijayan IPS in a popular Malayalam TV program- recommended to me by one of my Nieces. Living away from Kerala, I am not in touch with the day to day happenings in the state, even after the frequent visit to manoramaonline or other popular news portals, I miss out the major chunk of news very often. The news of IBN – CNN person of the year, hadn't caught my attention until I saw this interview. Awards bring a visibility to the humanitarian efforts, giving the programs further momentum to move forward. Here is a police officer redefining the role of police in our society- effective policing according to him is not only keep the law and order in a state, but to also prevent the crime. The best way to prevent crime is to eliminate it. And that according to him is to work with young generation to make them respect and abide the law, help them realize their potential and channelize their energy. Each of the sixteen programs he started is one step closer to achieving this goal.

One of his major initiative is Student Police Cadet- an avenue where police officers work closely with students in their neighborhood. The project is a "school based youth development initiative that trains high school students to evolve as future leaders of a democratic society by inculcating within them respect for the law, discipline, civic sense, empathy for vulnerable sections of society and resistance to social evils." One of its indented benefits is the holistic development of the child- a child who will grow to lead with empathy towards fellow human beings and become a contributing member of the society. Another one is that, it helps the people see police officers in a different perspective- one that is involved in a constructive and positive relationship with the society, as a group of professionals trying to better the life of people. There are mutual benefits from this interactions. What began as a small initiative that is pilot tested in a couple of schools in 2006 has now developed into a program that involves 32,000 student police cadets spanning schools across Kerala. It is about to expand to other states in India and also to be adopted by other countries. What a noble idea to make a difference in the life of young people. I can see the student cadets as confident young leaders of tomorrow ready to tackle the future of our country.

Nanma was started by Mr. Vijayan when he was working as city commissioner of police in Cochin. He states in the interview that this project was inspired by an old mother and her adult special need son who were starving for days when he met them. On their first effort to help eradicate poverty, he collaborated with people from different walks of life and together they were able to transform a slum near Cochin by helping the kids with their education, ladies with some life skills, and by taking actions against criminals. They cleaned up the place, children focused on studies and many has been admitted to various professional courses. What is notable in this situation is that, he has recognized that a person alone can not make much of a difference- it should be a collective work of many people – his job was to connect people who are willing to help with people who needs help. Like this projects name- there are a lot of people full of “goodness(nanma)” in this world. The ones who contributed to this project strengthen our belief in humanity. This project also has expanded and successfully implemented across Kerala.

"Our Responsibility to Children" took shape while Mr Vijayan worked as a commissioner of police at Calicut. He was responding to the issue of rehabilitation of vulnerable youth who are caught in petty police cases. He realized that Sending them to Jail is a sure way of making them a hard core criminals, where as correcting them and guiding them is giving them a second chance. People turn to criminal activities mostly due to their circumstance. Through mentoring and guidance and by collaborating with social activists, educationists and police officers, Mr. Vijayan and his team were able to bring back a group of young children from the criminal world and rehabilitate them successfully. And then this program expanded to the neighboring districts and now the social justice department took it up and implemented it in every districts with a goal of “detecting socially deviant behavior in youngsters, including criminal offenses and illicit use of drugs among adolescents and to take corrective measures, evaluate and socially rehabilitate young offenders and  Creating a safety net for insulating children from criminal gangs"

Mr. Vijayan's initiatives mostly focus on children and their well being as that he believes is the best way to make a difference and help build a strong democratic nation. He has initiated about sixteen such programs as of now. Each of his programs are a response to solve a challenge that he encountered during his work. A true visionary, he realizes how to tap the potential of young children and uses it to bring the best in them. He credits it to his love for his own children. It might also have come from his own experiences as young child dealing with the adult world. He had entered into labor force much younger, leaving his studies behind at one point of time. Only a person full of love and compassion in his heart  would have such ideas – to relentlessly lead and thus better the life of people around. Firmly rooted in his humble beginnings, he is transforming the young generation. We can see the ripple effect of his works soon as these young people lead a life he envisions!

What can the rest of Kerala do to help the young generation to raise up to the challenges of the twenty first century? There is no shortage of talents for sure. We need more programs in schools where kids are taught to actively involve in community. Parent teacher associations can help connect kids with volunteering opportunities in the community. Thus we can instill a sense of responsibility and value system not only for few students who choose to be in Student Police Cadet or in NCC, but for every single child. It need not be expensive, a wide range of small programs can be implemented in schools across Kerala where students and community work together- just like how Police and student Police cadets work together. 

Equally important is educating parents on skills to help and discipline their children- which can be successfully taken up by PTA . There should be a constant interaction between school, parents and teachers, not only to see how well students are doing academically, but also to develop and implement programs that help parents and teachers. Schools should act as a support system for parents. Schools can accomplish this by connecting people who can help with those who needs help. 

There should be more programs where collaboration is encouraged between students than competition. Instead of thinking how can I get ahead, students should be taught to work together and collaborate and ask- how can we work together to solve a problem. That would help them look at the problems around and find the solution. The strength lies in numbers. 

About one third of its population between 10- 25 years of age - it is a blessing and a curse for India at the same time. A blessing if we can tap their energy and potential to progress our nation, a curse when its young generation become lazy, arrogant and self indulgent. Where our country will go depends upon how our young generation will shape up. People like Mr. Vijayan is helping our youngsters become a responsible, confident, productive and contributing members of society. I wish that many more of such people will come forward to work together for a better tomorrow.



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