Give Young People a #ChanceToThrive

I am Tivil, pursuing B.Com in Bangalore. I was born in a small village called Maleshwarapuram, in Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh. My mother died when I was three months old and I was brought up by my father, atte (aunt) and grandmother. I was raised with so much love and care that I never knew I didn’t have a mother until I was close to 13-years-old. When I was very young, my atte got married and moved away to her husband’s house. A year later, she returned and decided to take me back with her to Bangalore, as she was moving there. Even though I had studied till the second standard in my village, I was asked to start again from the first standard in Bangalore, because I didn’t know Kannada and there were no documents to prove my education in the village. Even from a young age, I noticed that there was big discrimination between boys and girls in the school I studied in. We were never allowed to speak to each other and until the tenth grade and we used to fight with each other, nearly every day and not be focused on what is being taught in the schools. Having never passed in any of the tests or exams leading up to the tenth grade, it was a big shock when I scored 65%. This led me to join college to pursue first PUC, where I still continued to stay away from the girls there and not interact with them.

Once I had completed my first PUC, I heard about Dream a Dream from a friend who said that there were computer classes, which I could attend, free of cost. When I started attending the classes, Hema Akka (used as respect and it means elder sister) facilitated our batch and it was life-changing, because I learned a lot of things about myself, that I had never paid heed to before, like about my own capabilities along with how to share feelings and mingle with those of the opposite gender, which was eye-opening to me. The more I attended these sessions, the more I changed myself and the more confident I became. At this juncture in my life, Dream a Dream gave me the opportunity to attend camp where I was empowered with facilitation skills. Conducting two batches where I facilitated successfully, I was slowly discovering my skills of facilitation. Even then, personally I was creating boundaries with my friends, not letting my guard down, unable to share my deepest feelings with them.

At this opportune moment, Dream a Dream came to my college and began taking sessions, where I was introduced to Nandish Anna, who took sessions on creative arts. In Hema Akka’s sessions, I had learnt to open up around 75% but in Nandish Anna’s (used as respect and means elder brother) sessions, through his constant motivation and encouragement, I opened up 95%. He held space for me to uncover what I was feeling and reflect on why I was unable to drop my guard completely, trust somebody else with my feelings and the resentment I had towards my female classmates and friends. The facilitators helped me realise my potential and kept encouraging me, to push myself out of my comfort zone. Whenever I used to sit alone, they would come and talk to me, always making me feel like I was cared for. Now, I mingle with everyone and have learnt so much from the other students who come to attend the sessions at Dream a Dream.

Thanks to Dream a Dream, I have discovered my hidden potential and learnt the joy of sharing my joys and sorrows with my friends. From being by myself all the time, I have learnt to mingle with others and participate in groups. This has been highly transformational for me!

Tivil has been a recipient of the Dream a Dream scholarship from past 3 years which had helped lower the financial burned of his family to a great extent and allowed him to thrive academically. He is the head of the students committee and also conducts skill development session at Dream a Dream encouraging his peers to learn with him.