Importance Of Education - Shweta Agarwal

“In 2013, I was crossing through a basti on a Diwali night with my husband, with no lights in that area. The next year, we planned to secretly keep hand-painted diya packets in front of their doors, but some of the children saw us and declared it before everyone. Those kids shared all the diyas within themselves and their friends. This incident sparked in our hearts the desire to do something more for such underprivileged kids.

In 2015, we started with small painting events in bastis, and while most were drawing mountains and valleys, one kid drew an airport with an airplane, and said that he wanted to become a pilot. There I realized that regular intervention is required to build these children up, so that they can achieve what they dream of.

‘Unmukt Foundation’ was born in 2017, and we rented a small space in Khandagiri. We designed the entire place using waste furniture, and the table was made of an MRI machine cover. On the first day, around 50 children had come, and one of them said that he wanted to become a lift-operator like his uncle, who gets paid only for pressing buttons in an elevator. Another said that he wanted to become a thief so that he would not have to work, and eat stolen food.

One year down the line, in Unmukt, the same children now want to become robotic engineers, artists, leaders, with their dreams having no limit. As I was Hindi speaking, initially most parents used to bang the door on my face - as they were apprehensive about our teaching methods. After 2 years of persuasion, now even in COVID, children come at 5:30 am for self-defense class. During lockdown, we did our classes on footpath even. We had started as a creativity center with classes on weekends, but children loved our approach and us too, due to which we soon become a learning center where we do classes 6-7 days a week.

I had to change schools due to a financial crisis at my home, and I did not want anyone to lack behind in education due to financial issues. When I quit my corporate job as a healthcare architect, I knew from the bottom of my heart, that I wanted to work for education. When you give children the freedom to choose what they want to do, and provide a safe space to excel with their peers, they bloom and shine!” – Shweta Agarwal.