Vidya: The Living School, Subahi-Laipulia, Assam

Today, on Teachers' Day, Sept 5, 2024, I wish to tell you an inspirational story of a School with distinction.

????? ?The sun was down when we finished the meetings with artisans from the Sonowal Kachari and the Ahom Communities on 30.08.2024 in the backyard of a local house at village Borbam Kachari, Dhemaji Assam. My next plan was to visit a remote school named Vidya: The Living School (https://vidyalivingschool.com) at Subahi-Laipulia, a flood-ravaged village in Dhemaji, Assam bordering West Siang, Arunachal Pradesh (https://maps.app.goo.gl/q54sCCMZv1cDa2nM6?g_st=iw), an initiative of Dr Pranjal Buragohain, a Professor at Dibrugarh University, who hailed from this village and struggled hard for quality education in his childhood. Here, everything is for the underprivileged students.

???????? I was told about this noble institution by Mr. Preetam Das, a young professional from Assam. He worked as a brand identity and communication strategist for Visual Verse Marketing. While working there, he learned about The Gift Charity (thegiftcharity.com), a Sec. 8 Registered aggregator platform bringing together donors and vetted NGOs committed to eradicating child hunger and empowering child education in underserved communities. One may know about the school at links: https://youtu.be/Uhcoidg9j0I?si=K_FcZ47mSUVwqGiF, https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/pranjalburagohain_vidyathelivingschool-childwelfare-education-activity-7197165954894585857-6cV5?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios and https://youtu.be/Uhcoidg9j0I?si=OxeR5MXhG3bA5ibT

?????????? To reach the school, we took a shorter road, but in the darkness of late evening with no person in the vicinity, driving on the road was not only difficult but risky. A distance of 38 km from Borbam Kachari took more than two hours.? They, the students, the teachers, and others live with shaken infrastructures in remote areas, such as roads, electricity, internet, or connectivity. But the tiredness disappeared instantly, touching the miraculous soil where an institution far from the hustle and bustle works silently, rendering service for man-making, which is their mission.

??????????? I met principal Pankaj Sonari and teacher Ms Chayanika Saikia, who took me around the campus using light that emerged from mobile handset torchlight. The visit was brief, yet they provided inspiring facts. There are more than 270 students, including 15 orphans (Class I to X, from almost all districts of Assam; 250 stay on the campus), 27 teachers (12 reside on campus), and 4 others. The school sustains out-of-meagre tuition fees ranging from 250 to 600, a teacher gets Rs.4000 to 5000 a month, and a student pays Rs.1750 for food (3 meals and evening snacks) and accommodation, but 60 students are from very poor families who are not charged anything. They plan to open classes XI and XII soon. Some teachers volunteer their service, and PhD Scholars from Dibrugarh University (with the motivation of Dr Pranjal Buragohain, Founder) come here to teach the students. I am told students participate in National Yoga and football competitions, and a group is now in Guwahati to participate in the international drama festival.?

??????????? Yet everything is not smooth; they face several challenges. There is no adequate supply of water, the hilly rivers with a heap of stones and boulders dry up in winter, and water in the rest of the seasons is mud-filled and unusable, lifting it also cumbersome; there is no link roads in the campus, no boundary walls, the lone solar plants that were installed produces an insignificant amount of energy, the school don’t have good buildings, they need an auditorium urgently, cooking fuel is scarce for two canteens (separate for boys and girls) and so on.?

??????? I visited a great institution, a source of inspiration; for many years, I have longed to establish an Institution of Life, not merely a school. I found a replica of my thought here. When I was escorted to reach the children, I found they were arrayed in a large circle on the sand floor beneath the open sky; they were in night assembly. I was led to the Centre to be welcomed, to introduce myself, and to speak to them. I spoke from my heart; the only message I tried to convey was that we need good human beings, not just educated, a man who doesn’t forget his roots, works for the less fortunate, and finds meaning in life there.

????????? I was getting late; among the terrible attraction of staying with them for many more hours or days, I proposed my departure with unsatisfied minds, assuring my stay with them soon in my next pilgrimage here. I had yet to cover hilly, dark roads to reach my destination and prepare for the next day; I steeled my faith and prayed that there were more Dr Pranjal Buragohain, harbingers of dawn.? ?????????????