Pooja has dark intense eyes. The entire morning that I was at the Kripa school in Mumbai, I had not yet seen her smile or laugh like the other children. A 7-year old, she would talk in whispers to her friend, her small eyes flitting around in case 
anyone was looking at her. She engaged in her class assignments with rapt attention and had no time for playing around like the other children. During play-time she made sure that she was always next to the teacher, almost in her shadows.
I waited till school was over to speak with Pooja. Mrs. Suganthi, the teacher, sat next to her as I talked with her. Pooja looked relieved to have her teacher close to her. I realized she was not comfortable with strangers.
‘Pooja, do you like to draw?’ A gentle nod of the head with eyes riveted to the floor.
‘Have you learned any new songs today?’ Another nod. Then a whispered rendition of the first stanza of a popular nursery rhyme.
I wanted to talk with Pooja, to know more about her and her family and to know how this school that we had started in Mumbai was making an impact in her life. The teacher liked the idea and had advised me that although Pooja was doing well in the class she could be rather shy and withdrawn.
‘Pooja, do you tell your parents about what you learn at school?’ No answer. ‘Do you have any brothers and sisters?’ A quick nod.
I did not want to put this little child to any more discomfort, so decided to let her go play with the other children waiting for their parents to come pick them up.
One last question though: ‘Pooja, do you like coming to the school?’
And then for the first time that day, I saw her eyes brighten up and a small smile spread across her little face. ‘Yes’, came her soft answer. ‘And what do you want to be when you grow up?’ That’s when her face lit up and she looked right at me with eyes bright with excitement. ‘I want to be a teacher!’ she answered.
Kripa Connection International operates schools for the children of the extremely poor and underprivileged that live in the slums of Mumbai, Pune and Delhi. People living in these slums are considered as living below the poverty line. Etching out a livelihood by begging or by working at some of the most hazardous manual jobs, people in these impoverished communities have no financial ability to send their children to schools. Born into this web of poverty the children have no hopes of a better future than what their parents live in. Kripa Connection’s schools provides free education to such children; including school supplies, meals and medical care – all provided free of cost though the generous funding we receive from donors.
Pooja is one such child who has received access to education and the opportunity to grow into her full potential as a self-sufficient person.
Before she joined the school, Pooja would pull her handicapped father on his wooden-pallet each morning to a specific spot under a railway flyover where he would beg for money. With downcast eyes Pooja would stand next to him the whole day as his assistant, holding up the begging bowl and waiting for passers-by to drop a few coins.
But now since attending the school, Pooja has discovered something to be proud of, something that she can look forward to and believe that she can achieve.
