Life education is the most important thing

I was born in nearby Kuilapalayam village in 1986. I have two brothers and one sister, and my sister and one brother are Aurovilians. I studied in government schools until 12th standard, and then I went to college in Tindivanam, where I studied to be a lab technician.

After finishing college, I worked in different places in Auroville. I worked for one year in the Auroville Health Centre laboratory, then worked for many years at Aurospirul, the Auroville spirulina production unit. Most recently I was working in La Terrace. 

So I know Auroville very well. I often thought of joining Auroville because I wanted to give my service to a place which belongs to everybody, which nobody owns. But now it’s a little more difficult for me to join. If it happens, it happens. 

I love meeting people; this is why working in La Terrace was so enjoyable. I always gave service with a smile because I wanted to give love to people and they were giving a lot of love back to me. It’s a very nice place, but now that I have stopped working there, it gives me more time to devote to the free education centre I started recently in Kuilapalayam. We call it Kuilai Kalvi Koodam (the Kuilapalayam Education Place).

Actually, a group of us started free education for the local children in the evenings in 2002. We were all studying at college then. Unfortunately we couldn’t find a permanent place to teach the children, so we had to drop the project. 

Afterwards the group went its separate ways, their lifestyles changed and people got married. I also married and I have a son. 

But recently I thought that now I am settled and have a family and, until recently, had a small salary, why don’t I revive this idea of giving service to the village children? But I didn’t want to have the same problem as we had before, so I went to the panchayat office in our village and asked if we could use a panchayat building which was always kept locked. They agreed. 

So a group of us cleaned and repaired the building and a few weeks ago we started the classes from 6pm – 8 pm every evening, except Sundays. On Sundays, as it is the children’s only free day, we make meals together and we are planning to make trips for the children to see new places, like Auroville’s Botanical Gardens. 

We began with 15 students, but now we have 60, from the ages of five to sixteen. It’s not anything like a school. Although we give them time for and help them with their homework, we also have other activities, like singing and dance classes, and art classes, too. We have four college students in the village who come to help them with their homework, a dance master comes twice a week, and I am looking for a music teacher to give music lessons. We’re also looking for someone to help with yoga, and with English classes. In future, I would also like to have sports, more cultural activities, some books. 

The basic idea is that whenever we see a student with some potential, we try to find a way for them to develop it. But first we need to understand each student individually to know what they need and how best to develop this. 

Another thing which is very important is teaching them good values, because everything has changed in the village. When we were young, we gave a lot of respect to our mother and father but now the lifestyle has changed totally, so all these values have changed as well. 

Now students are going the wrong way. When they come back from school they go to play, and some of them have bad friends, and they learn to drink and smoke.  

We cannot change those who are following the wrong ways after the age of 18 because by then it has become a habit, but we can give them a good foundation when they’re younger. That’s why we focus upon the younger children, so they will become role models when they grow up. We cannot change everyone, but we can change a few, then those few can change a few of their friends and so on. And, slowly, this will change the village.  

At the centre we tell them to respect people. In schools they don’t learn sharing, but at the centre, when they cook a meal together for example, they learn how everybody can contribute something and share the output. In this way, they learn about unity and how to help others. Also, the older students are helping the younger ones with their homework. This collaboration makes everybody happy, and breaks down the difference in ages.

When it is somebody’s birthday, I buy a cake and everybody wishes that person ‘happy birthday’. This makes the birthday person very happy as some parents in the village don’t celebrate their children’s birthdays.

The parents are happy that their children are coming to us and learning things. During Corona, all the students got cell phones because the government was providing online learning programmes, but the students only studied these for a few minutes a day and spent the rest of the time watching films or texting friends. 

However, the parents want us to focus only on academic learning at the centre; they are less interested in the cultural activities we provide for their children. But these children already spend eight hours a day at school, and their school teachers are very strict, so we don’t want to tell them “study study, study” when they come to us. We want there to be an element of play. Otherwise, they will be mentally upset and won’t come to the centre. 

In fact, if somebody wants to come to the centre at another time just to play, that’s fine, we don’t want to stop them coming. We want them to feel it’s their place. 

But we don’t neglect their studies. When one of the students gets first mark in a subject at school, we all celebrate their success and I give them a little prize, like a pencil or a pen. This encourages the others. 

We need book education, but also life education. Life education is more important than book education because you learn books for an exam, but afterwards you often forget what you learned, whereas life education is useful for your whole life. This is why my main goal at the centre is to teach the children to develop in the right way. 

I don’t have a big book education, but I do have a good life education. We all need inspiration and role models to keep us on the right path, and develop the right character. Everything I’ve learned, I’ve learned from different people who were role models. I always looked for people who had the right vision or special talents and then I tried to catch up with that. When I was young, my papa was my role model. He had no bad habits. He didn’t smoke or drink and I have followed him. 

The centre is free for the students. We don’t ask their parents to pay because some have more money, some much less, and we don’t want students who are poorer to feel guilty and stop coming if their parents are not contributing. We don’t want there to be any differences among the students: whoever comes to the centre is equal. 

I pay the teachers Rs 1,000 monthly. It’s not much, but that’s all I can afford out of my salary, as we have no other funding. There are also a few expenses like pens, pencils, and the occasional birthday cake. Whenever I get money I spend it on the centre. But I don’t worry about money; if you think about money your mind is always trying to work out how to get it. The main thing is that the students are happy. When you give to people, you feel happy, that’s the main thing for me. And if the students are happy and we are doing the right thing, the support will come. And even if it doesn’t, I won’t stop. I’ll find some way to keep the centre going. 

From birth to burning it’s a short life. We are all going to die, but if we can achieve something in between for people, that’s a good life.