Transform the lives of 3200 children in Hyderabad

In a class of 44 students and a period of 45 minutes, a considerable amount of time was spent in making this tiny boy just sit in his place. Every time he speaks, sarcasm ensues laughter in the class – to a point where Aishwarya (Teach For India Fellow) now gets angry at not being angry anymore, while giggling like a kid with the rest.
Rizwan’s elder brother was thrown out of school forcefully and as said by the principal, “This boy too is following his brother’s footsteps.” Known for his mischief, absolute disinterest in studies and impulsive behaviour, his name is on the lips of every teacher’s furious face.

A thumb rule – be the best friend of the naughtiest kid in class and your lessons are sorted. As a first time teacher, Aishwarya followed this religiously, but little did she know that he would turn out to be the single most influential person in her life right now.
“Rizwan can make anybody smile”, all the girls would say to Aishwarya during recess when she asked about him, “but he can also make anybody cry!”. She would often go up to him and talk, to understand the ‘why’ of him acting the way he does. After months of trying, she thought these conversations were futile until she started zooming out – Rizwan waited for her to leave school every day, asked her to even wear a ‘burqa’ with the worry that men in their locality cat-call, attempted to write numbers in his math notebook at the least and shared more about himself with each conversation.

Over this year, Aishwarya has seen 12 year old Rizwan cry because his abusive father threw him out of a balcony, massive scars on his face from the constant beating, secretive sad eyes from the insults of teachers who say he is a nobody, swollen palms of corporal punishment and his torn shirts from staying nights out in an auto rickshaw to escape his household.

School was his freedom ticket. As his Didi, she had the herculean task of making this kid believe in himself. All the boys, who grew up with sticks and belts, needed was love and an encouraging presence. His mother and Aishwarya worked together to do just that and it was the toughest thing she had to do – protecting this child from the taunts of teachers, canes of the principal, damaging habits from ‘friends’ (older boys on the streets) and from his father who would call and insult her for paying the tuition fees he refuses to pay.

Aishwarya thought she had failed when he broke her trust by lying to her about his ‘hookah’ sessions, when he jumped off his seat in the middle of a dangerous ride in an amusement park or when he refused to listen to anything she had to say sometimes.
Now she knows better than to give up, when he sits even during breaks to practice problems, when he writes letters to her to talk about his emotions, when he scored the third highest among the boys in his final math exam, when he reduced smoking, when he makes an effort to answer and learn in class and when he says ‘Didi, I trust you more than my mother’.

He still makes everybody laugh (and also cry) with his incredible wit while masking all the pain he goes through. He still continues to inspire Aishwarya to do better than my best in the classroom. The rest of them will eventually see what she sees in this child – an exceptional heart, but it will take time. The meaning of the name ‘Rizwan’ is Acceptance.