Construction Workers Kids Kendra

  The huge iron separators at the concrete mix area is used as a blackboard in the absence of the conventional blackboard. At times, the pillars/walls in the building under construction are also deployed. Improvision is the name of the game. (Dimple at work). If there were any doubts in my mind about how tough the teaching job is, it vamoosed over the past three weeks.  I am not a certified teacher. Yes, I am. Had I been a B.Ed would it have helped? I don't know. Plus, I don't teach at a school. Because there is no classroom per se. For 10 days, we used an open first floor unfinished skyscraper in Greater Noida for   the class of a dozen with kids below 14 years. They are the offshoot of migrant construction workers from remote villages of Chattisgarh, one of the most backward states in India. Some had been to pucca school back home. But their ability to read and write is challenging. Even 13-14 year old, the senior-most Pushparaj is found wanting. Sure he must have ...

  The first fortnight of acquaintance with the children of construction workers with no access to education in Greater Noida where their migrant parents engaged in building mansions/flats and villas for the better-to-do fellow Indians helped to build bonding with them.  The eldest kid, Pushparaj at 14 (he is doubtful of his age!) had been to school in Chattisgarh. He is not ready to reveal which class he was studying back home. It does not matter. A slow learner. On the other hand, 5-year-old Tejas and 6-year-old Dimple are sharp and have better grasping abilities. But the best student is Ekeswari. Intelligent. Quick grasp. She was studying class 4 before uprooted from Chattisgarh to Greater Noida on account of her parents' career in the building industry. Once the rapport was established, I began to focus on helping them improve their personal hygiene. They attend the daily 90-minute class after bathing and some food. But their dressing was not good. They wore dirty clothes....

  All work and no play make Jack dull. Not only Jack. Even 14-year-old Pushparaj. Six-year-old Dimple. And several other children gave company to me at the Antriksh Golf Links construction site. Once I week, it was agreed that the kids will play instead of the routine classroom sessions.  They welcomed such a schedule change when I announced it the previous day. They jumped in joy. Who does not like a session away from books and notebooks?  Games we discussed were: skipping, and ball throwing among other options. Of course, running race. 14 and below age group. Instead of the routine 10 a.m. class, we agreed to meet at 8 a.m. to play in the open space. Will they turn up at 8 a.m.? They promised.  Children's promise to be punctual on the sports day is easily achieved. What about items such as the skipping rope? Ball? And what more can be added to the games? Luckily, my daughter bought a lot of indoor exercise items, including the skipping kit. I found it was for profe...

  Education, I feel, ought to be the observation of what is around you. Then it becomes easy to share its name with children. Every time they look at that object or item, they can try to recollect the name we shared in the class.  My students, aged 13 and below, come from a poor backgrounds. Less educated or not educated at all in Chattisgarh. But they are skilled in construction. Otherwise, they would not have been hired in the first place. Not that they went to a technical training institute to learn construction-related skills. Simple skills, under the watchful eyes of a seasoned supervisor who perhaps might have learnt the ropes in a similar fashion. So, my students have less exposure to proper education. Nor that some of them have not gone to school. A girl, Keeleswari, says she was in Class IV. She is bright and quick grasping. Pushparaj, the eldest child in the class, is found wanting. Not complaining but a comparative study. Keeleswari's youngest sibling, Dimple is cut...

  We usually begin the session with a Prayer seeking the Almighty's blessing to keep the kids' parents safe in their workplace. They maintain a one-minute silent prayer. Then we switched over to physical exercise to remove lazy bones: they jump, flail their arms, half-bend, full bend, and touch toes. Once they settle down on the floor, they sing without no prompt, "Early In the Morning" rhyme in unison. They explain the meaning in Hindi when asked. They repeat this thrice. Glad they got it quick. Prompted to sing the Mungphali song, they hesitate and look for the opening line. I provide and they sing. I have to prompt every line. I make them sing a couple of times till they feel confident to sing without any promptings. Then they do the ABCD song. Today, we begin to explore more words in each alphabet. A for Apple. A for Air. Since they are already familiar with "Air" as part of the five elements, they are able to relate without any difficulty. B for Ball. H...

  Out of the blue, Sangeeta said matter of factly: "You need a Bluetooth!"   Sangeetha? Bluetooth?  Why so much incredulity? Can't she possess a Bluetooth? Just because she is a construction worker, is it too much to hear her talking about such modern gadgets?  My challenge was: that the laptop speaker was not audible to the assembled children wanting to hear their favorite rhyme: Found A Peanut... I tried to increase the laptop speaker volume in vain. Still low sound.  That's when the early-thirties Sangeeta broached the subject of Bluetooth. "You have one?" I asked. She nodded.  She was seated on the wooden plank in the open hall where I hold my daily classes for the construction workers' kids. Significantly, she was instrumental in my decision to do this bit of "useful" work: educating the construction workers' children, who are missing school back home because their parents are migrant workers.  Daily she pays a visit to the class to se...

  Week 2 began with children reciting what they learned the previous week. Revision, yes. A to Z alphabet and relevant words and their Hindi equivalent. 1 to 10 - in Hindi and English. Exposing them to new words for several alphabet. For example, L for them is Lion. Shared them about Light (pointing to the electric bulb at their tenements). P for them Peacock. Now they are told about Power (that lights up bulbs at their home), Parachute (they instantly say jumping out of sky... Q for them Rani. They don't say Queen. First the Hindi equivalnet and then the English word when coaxed Y . Yak. Today, showed them a youtube video of yaks fighting. Junglee, they said. B for Ball. Now they know B for Bottle.  What is inside my Bottle/ They say: Water... Otherwise W for Watch.  L for Leopard. Where do you see them? In Junglee, they said. Jungle is Forest.  F for Fish, they know. Now they know Forest. For Z, they say Zebra. Not seen. So showed them a photo. Matching visuals hel...

  Keeping them engaged for an hour was not a challenge. I teach them English rhymes: Early in the morning Come to me I will teach you  ABC --- Jack & Jill Went up the hill To fetch a pail of water Jack fell down Jill came tumbling down -- They enjoy these rhymes with action and in a sing song voice. - Explained to them the meanng of these rhymes in Hindi so that they can relate to me. In turn, they sang several Hindi songs. -- Physical regimen, particularly touching one's toes and half squat, they enjoy the most. Week One passed smoothly.  When informed that there would be no classes on Saturdays and Sundays, they were disappointed. Daily, parents of these kids visited the class to watch their learning process.

  Forty-eight hours ago, I told them that I would not be attending the classes due to prior commitments but would expect them to be present on Thursday (9 June 2022) with a pencil and eraser. I did not insist on a notebook because they said, they don't have it at home. So I was surprised to see them on Day 3 (9 June 2022) waving a full-size pencil at me as I entered the classroom. Moreover, they were already seated in a horse-shoe format. I noticed the eraser lying by their side. Each one of them carried pencils and erasers, including those who can't write. That's a signature display of their enthusiasm for education. Or is it they enjoy my company? I don't know. Anyhow, I was thankful to the Almighty.  Got the youngest children to imagine and draw anything that came to their mind. I gave them colored crayons, bought the previous day. For three kids I made them do a bit of physical exercise to keep them busy for a while. For another batch of seniors who can read and wri...

  "Can any of you draw?" I asked the dozen children assembled for the hour-long knowledge-sharing session at the impromptu classroom, converting the first-floor barren open space with pillars and nothing but a ceiling. Up went the arm of front-seater Durgesh, the eldest of five siblings of the construction working parents at Antariksh Golf Links, Greater Noida. No sooner did I give him a pen and notebook, than he began his task. He drew a range of hills, sun astride the sky viewed between two hills. A road at the valley level with a bus on it.  His drawing gave enough fodder for me to get into the Socrates mode: ask questions and you will get answers.  Does his village has hills near his home?  No. Then, was the picture he drew from his imagination or seen somewhere? He: While traveling on a train, he has seen. Good observation. Who drives the bus? Driver. He replied in English. Not sarati, in Hindi!  What do you call those traveling in the bus?  Passengers...

  One dropped out from Day 1 and one new inductee: Parameshwar, naughty to the core.  The child at the right extreme in the front row was making a repeat appearance on Day 2 but gave out a different name this time. Yesterday, the records show his name: Chavanni. Yes, Chavanni. What a name!  Today, the same kid mentioned his name as Kabir. What a name, again!  Chavani is his pet name at home and friends call him by that name. Today, for some unknown reason revealed his asli name. Chavanni in Hindi means: 25 paise.  We began with the revision of the previous day: Five Elements of Nature. They hit the bull's eye.  They needed a bit of prompting to sing the "Early in the morning" song.  On the numbers side, they corrected chorused: one, two, three.... ten. But the reverse was a bit slow. I noticed many were mentally counting one to ten and finding what comes before any number in the ten to one series!  Surprised most of them knew by heart A to Z. And...

  What's life without song and dance?  In every civilization and society, there are songs for every occasion: birth, coming of age, and death. Joy. Sorrow. Bliss. For every mood as well. Cutting across age groups, songs are easy to grasp and assimilate. The rhythm and tune and simple words quickly register on our psyche. Otherwise, what is the rationale for remembering thousands of film songs without a single look at the lyrics?  Our Indian culture also relied on oral tradition. Gurukul, remember? All lessons were told and students repeated them after the teacher.  Children are no exception. They love songs.  So, my decision was to sing a song with them. Unfortunately, I know no children rhyme in Hindi. Therefore, I hit upon the nursery rhyme: "Early in the morning Come to me. I will teach you  ABC" It went well. There were multiple rehearsals before they could sing with fewer hiccups. Once they got it correct, I gave them the Hindi translation of the song....

  They were bathed. Fed with chawal and sabzi. It's a daily routine before their parents step out of their homes within the complex for work from 0830 hours. It is normal among the working class, particularly at the bottom of the pyramid, to bring food to the workplace for lunch because their chances of returning home to cook and eat is not feasible. The assembled kids, once they sat down, had a dazed look. They have no idea what is in store. Of course, I did hint at games, songs, dance, etc.  Some had gone to school in their native place. So they have a fair idea, but the rest don't.  Some clothes were hung on the clothesline in the same hall where we were assembled. Those dried clothes did not remain static but they were oscillating.  I asked the kids to look at the clothes and asked them: What's causing those clothes to swing? Hava, they responded in unison quickly. Good start.  Do they know what is the English word for Hava?  Obviously, no.  Hava's...

  The night before the first-day session, I was rolling in the bed trying to figure out what to "teach". But the die has been cast.  One thing, I was clear about: children should enjoy the session. Not pedagogy. I stuffed a notebook, a few pencils, eraser. Then, I remembered to tuck in two toffee pouches. After parking the car, as I walked towards the Tower under construction where I met Ram Narain, I noticed him walking a few yards ahead. He did not notice me till I "hello"ed him. "You go to the first floor where we met yesterday, I will send children," he said. I climbed the stairs and kept my belongings, including a sheaf of daily newspapers I carried from home (I have no idea why I carried that), and two bottles of chilled water on the sewing machine serving as the table. I sat on the wooden plank wondering how to begin the class. Suddenly, a burst of laughter and a thud of running I heard. I looked out of the wall-less veranda to notice a clutch of ch...

     Left to  Right: Ram Narain with Mr Jaiswal   On the site inspection visit with a friend on the first Sunday in June 2022, a lady laborer casually remarked that children of laborers at this site are loitering daily, with no focus on education. What their fate will be when they grow up? Genuine concerns. Abruptly I asked: "Can you ensure kids will come if I am ready to conduct classes?" She glanced at me with suspicion. Possibly, she may be wondering if I have meant what I told her.  Later she told us that she tried convincing a lady in one of the blocks in the residential complex but got no response. Hence her skepticism.  Luckily, Ram Narain , the onsite laborer head, briefing the project progress, chipped in to assure "supply of children" for classroom!  It was decided that classes will commence from the next day: 1000 hours sharp.  Honestly, I have no idea what to do the next day when faced with children. I have no idea what age group ...

Construction is a labor-intensive activity. Builders outsource labor supply to contractors. These middlemen reach out to the hinterland - underdeveloped states such as Chattisgarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh - to identify villages that can supply cheap labor in large numbers. Agriculture is most villagers' main source of income, but it is seasonal. Their physical presence is needed for specific periods: sowing and a few months later for harvesting. What to do once their help is not needed?  These villagers are corraled by labor suppliers and brought to construction sites - mostly to big cities and towns which are far away from their homes. Many move as a family: husband, wife, and kids.  These farmer-turned-construction laborers live near the construction site or within to carry out the task. Building residential blocks may take two years at least. While they are busy with work, their children bereft of any schooling facility, loiter around the site.  I live...