Sujata KumarSecretary, Bal Kalyan Vidya Mandir.????????-She comes across as a sweet, lovable and a jovial person yet when it comes to interacting with the school children, she can be stern and a very strict disciplinarian. Sujata Kumar, the secretary of Bal Kalyan Vidya Mandir, a school for the underprivileged, considers herself fortunate enough to be given a chance to serve the society. ?I simply love children?, says Sujata, reminiscing about her school and college days when she used to be sorrounded by kids. ? I used to bring together four or five children and teach them a bit of drawing, painting and help them with their project works. It was such a pleasure then and even now the children of my school come to me with all their problems. At the end of the day, it is a very rewarding interaction with the little ones? , states Sujata. Bal Kalyan Vidya Mandir was set up way back in 1971 when a group of like- minded individuals came together with the zeal to provide children of the lower income group families with education and good cultural values. Sujata Kumar has been associated with this organisation since 1999. ?Our aim is to ensure a balanced development of children along with their academic progress?, feels Sujata. Born in Madhya Pradesh, Sujata went on to complete her graduation specialising in Home Science and post- graduation diploma in dietetics from Nagpur. ?As my father had a transferable job, we used to move around with him. By the time, I finished with my post- graduation, my father got posted at Ranchi. ? It was during her visits to Anganwadis and Balwadis as part of her Home Science curricullum that Sujata got to interact with little children from very close quarters. Armed with her diploma in dietetics, she went over to Ranchi and worked at the Central Coalfields Hospital as a dietician. After serving there for nearly a year, she got married and came down to the steel city with a determination buried deep inside to revive her association with children and contributing in her small way to the cause of society. Sujata vividly recounts her mother being associated with a village school for girls where she was an active member. ?My mother has been my ultimate source of inspiration?, she recollects fondly. ?She always believed that a housewife must devote at least some time to a constructive activity outside the confines of her home?, she states. Sujata started as one who helped her mother in running the school. She taught embroidery to girls there and helped them live independently. After it proved to be a very gratifying experience, she realised this to be her real calling someday. As she had a part- time job with the hospital, she could devote the entire afternoon teaching embroidery to the girls. Following in her mother's footsteps, Sujata kept being only a homemaker for eleven years, but even then she took care of the environment and ensured that there remained a healtheir surrounding. ?I had to stay away from work for some days as my health problems kept me back and also had to take care of my little daughter back at home.. ?Once things fell into place, I deciced to take the plunge as somewhere I was not content in just being within the confines of the four walls, I always had the urge to do something more in life? , says Sujata. Bal Kalyan Vidya Mandir has grown in stature with every passing day. ?Previously the students had to be taught even the correct way of holding a pencil but with changing times, the kids have also shown great improvement. Today they are aware of their problems and therefore even the parents also understand the need of education today? , says a proud Sujata. Students are given mid day meals at the school and since the school only has provisions for children upto Std VI., they have to move out once they finish with it there. ? We only act as the medium and arrange for sponsors for our school children for their higher education, ?Sujata says undermining her role in the lives of the school children. ?I vividly remember that the parent of a special child in our school had to be convinced for three long years before she finally took her daughter to the School of Hope. She thought that attending those schools would not be the right thing and insisted on continuing here. Finally she realised that her child did require some special help, after all ?, recollects Sujata. The going has been tough at times as most students have to repeat a class sometime or the other. She is associated with the school committee and is endowed with the responsibility of monitoring the whole teaching system in school. The teachers of the school expose the little minds to knowledge confined to books while she explores the practical knowledge area for the little ones so that children get a fair idea of both. ?Sometimes I stand in the sun and try to teach them something about shadows?, says the dedicated teacher. Sujata Kumar has been recently honoured by the Rotary Club in recognition of her work with the underprivileged children. She is an individual who has made a qualitative difference in the lives of the children through education and providing them with oppurtunities of self development. She sees to it that the basics of health and hygeine are being imbibed by the children and through them, it is absorbed by their families as well. Painting, reading books and magazines, cooking for her family and gardening are her hobbies and she takes out time from her busy schedule to learn the nuances of classical singing from Chandrakant Apte. Her husband Ashok Kumar who is a part of the Iron making technology group of Tata Steel has been her pillar of strength and support. ?He has been there for me and never opposed my work?, says Sujata with a beaming smile. Her only daughter is an eighth grader in DBMS school and Sujata would want her to grow with a social consciousness. ?She has the world's freedom to choose her career but she has to be sincere and dedicated to her ambitions? , says a thoughtful mother. As far as Sujata's life is concerned, she has...miles to go, before she sleeps.

Saswati Mukherjeeeom