Ravi has gone

A few days ago, I shared the story of Ravi, a watchman's son and one of the 400 million children in India. He came to school every day wearing the same tattered clothes, yet always remained calm and cheerful. I had the chance to teach him a few times and found that he excelled academically. His only area for improvement was English, as he came from a Hindi-medium school. Ravi was consistently present at school and eager to learn, but then he vanished. He never returned after the Christmas vacation.

Kaushik suggested that Ravi might be on an extended break and would return later. I waited, but Ravi never reappeared. One day, Kaushik informed me that he had visited Ravi's home and learned that Ravi had left with his family for Uttar Pradesh without notifying anyone. He left just as he was about to complete 2nd grade and advance to the 3rd grade. I had planned to support Ravi's education financially and in other ways, but he was gone. I wanted to confront his parents, to ask them how they could make such a decision. This child had potential and could have become someone, but now he has been denied even a basic education. I felt heartbroken, helpless, and sorry for Ravi. He represents one of the millions of Indian children with great potential who yearn to study but are deprived of the opportunity. I hope he gets to pursue his education someday.

It is a startling fact that India, a rapidly developing nation boasting impressive industrial growth and economic progress – with 70,000 crores spent on hosting the Commonwealth Games, 1.5 lakh crores lost in telecom spectrum auctions, and a chief minister spending 4,000 crores on parks and statues bearing her name – only has 15% of its population reaching high school and 7% graduating. Our national education budget is not even half of what was spent on the Commonwealth Games.

** I wanted to paste Ravi's pic in classroom but unfortunately I don't have one. I have seen him studying and it looks exactly like someone praying...