'Beautiful Minds Inspire Others' - How two teachers are helping others to become achievers

When I was little, my mom always used to encourage me to become a teacher. She herself had devoted most of her life to teaching. And she had the knack of reaching even the most impenetrable minds. She always used to say that explanations should be very simple. Use words to simplify things, Vocabulary is a great tool only if it clears the mind and dispels doubts. She is my mentor to this very day. And I respect her and the very profession of teaching because of all that she taught and because of all the wonderful teachers I met in the journey of my life.

One such teacher whose aim has been to impart knowledge that is easy to comprehend is  Kamlesh Zapadiya. Hailing from Rajkot, Gujarat, this young man wanted to impart the element of joy to learning. Like a true teacher, he must have known that in order to make learning memorable and ever-lasting, it is imperative to make it enjoyable. He developed a quiz format and is said to have achieved the mammoth task of formatting the entire syllabus in quiz module. It has been recognized by IIM, Ahmedabad. He believed in a more interactive approach to studies. If one keeps on cramming the subjects, learning becomes very tedious. To make it lively, one needs to become involved. This involvement is brought about by interrogation. And hence the quiz arrangement. There are very few people who take an extra step. Very few teachers are true educators like him.

It is said that 'Gaining knowledge is the first step to wisdom. Sharing it, is the first step to humanity'
Kamlesh Zapadiya enlightens minds and enriches humanity by setting an example.

Kamlesh's feat is worth appreciation. Coming from a village that has no electricity, this man has also managed to create his own website (http://www.edusafar.com/) to share the knowledge he has with the world. After all what is the use of learning if you cannot help others learn. It is like sitting in a temple but not being able to pray to God. Making knowledge accessible to all so that the basic right of education is achieved by all is still a dream is the developing India. But where there is dream, there are achievers. Kamlesh Zapadiya is one such achiever.

It is said that 'Teachers can change lives with just the right mix of chalk and challenges'. Good teachers teach not just how to read and write. They teach important life lessons too. They help us prepare for life. One such man who is making impressions in young minds is Rufus Sir.

A Coach with positive approach to life - Sir Rufus

Rufus D'Souza is a football coach in Kochi. He is not just an octogenarian whiling away his days in a lounge chair. He is an 84 year old guide who teaches young boys not just how to kick the ball. He instills in his pupils a love of some cardinal values. He teaches them to be punctual, to uphold discipline as a key to all success, and to cherish fair-play. These principles are not meant only for the football field. They are ethics that guide one's life and make his students better individuals. 

Rufus Sir is inspiration incarnate. At his age, he teaches the mantras of fitness of body and mind. He is relentless when it comes to his values. No late-comers are entertained. After all, one who does not value time does not value life. Punctuality makes a person more dependable and trustworthy. 

Sports itself is a great teacher. And coupled with a guide like Rufus D'Souza, it becomes an invaluable experience that can never let the pupil go astray.

Salute to Rufus Sir!

The two mentors I have briefly written about are real motivators. They are selfless yet strong. They channelize energies towards creativity. If one ignites sparks of soundness through sports, the other opens avenues of stress-free study that liberates the mind and helps it think. 

How many of us have the skill or will to do what they are doing? Not many! And still, as always, teachers are not given the recognition or the merit they deserve. They always remain at the edge, at the periphery. They make us human and we forget them. It is time we give them the respect and the credit they deserve. It is the least that we can do.

For when the One Great Scorer comes

To write against your name

He marks not that you won or lost

But how you played the game

                                               (lines by Gartland Rice)

[Do share your thoughts in the comment section. Thanks!]

I’m voting for Kamlesh Zapadiya's #WillOfSteel and Rufus D'Souza's  #WillOfSteel and blogging on BlogAdda to help them get felicitated and eventually enabled by JSW.

To read my entry on K S Sarojamma, click here

[Learning to appreciate the goodness around us is the need of the hour. Read my views here]

Weaver of Dreams

I am a stealer of their dreams....
For some vain aesthetic delight
For some petty pleasures
I adorn myself
In silky smoothness
In ignorance of their plight
In blatant oblivion
I deck myself
To look beautiful....
I let those fingers bleed
I know not how I scrape the softness
Off those little fingers....
How can I call myself a mother?
I cry today
Is my motherly affection so cramped
That I see only the children I bore?
What about those innocent lives
That die in the hostile factories?
They had a right to play, to laugh
Just as my children do
That little girl whose hair got tied
In brutal machines of the silk factory
Can I ever know the extent of her agony?
She died
She ought to have lived
To bathe in some sunny pastures...
I did not even know....
But Amma came
She saw it all
She would not let it go on like that
It was inhuman
It was babarous
To let the little ones toil away in darkness...
Amma makes my heart swell with hope
With pride
I cry again
To see how she works
Dauntlessly
Incessantly
They killed her husband
To stop the good work she was doing
She did not stop
She still works
Gives little girls the sanctuary they need
She is the weaver of their dreams
At the periphery of prosperity
In the vicinity of technology
Near Bengaluru
In Magadi
She fights the fight
To free those children
Not three or four
But at least 8000
Or maybe more than that...
The horror of the colossal number
Makes me shiver....
But Amma is not intimidated
She acts
She attacks
And then
She weaves 
Not silk, not yarn...
She weaves some hopes
Some smiles
Some caresses
Some gentle touches
Some warm homes
A true mother
A weaver of their dreams....

Had it not been for Amma, many children would still be working in the silk industries in Magadi.
Image Source - realheroes.com

K S Sarojamma is an icon. She has been working for the cause of child labor in silk industries for the past many years. Despite the fact that her husband was killed, Amma, as she is lovingly called, has not stopped her crusade against the silk mafia. Children have been forced to work in silk industry because of their tiny fingers. These children are usually 6 or 7 years old. Almost all of them are below the age of 14. Words are not enough to describe the extent of work Amma has done for these little children. Magadi is just two hours away from Bengaluru, and has been the hotspot of the injustices meted out on these little lives. 
I salute Amma for her work. I am a mother to just two children. She is the mother to all those she has worked for. Despite her loss, she does not stop. A brave woman, a true human.


“I’m voting for K S Sarojamma’s#WillOfSteel and blogging on BlogAdda to help her get felicitated and eventually enabled by JSW.

To read my entry on Kamlesh Zapadiya and Rufus D'Souza, click here


[Do leave a comment to let me share your thoughts on the post.]

[Read an open letter to Bharti Mittal on Net Neutrality here]