She plays golf twice a week, takes piano lessons and loves to watch war movies. In between studies and leisure, 17-year-old Adrisha Sarkar has found time to do something beyond the average teenager's life: educate unlettered women about the benefits of banking and the perils of chit funds.

Until a couple of weeks ago, Adrisha would be at a Golpark address every Friday to interact with women, most of them domestic workers, and help them open a savings account, apply for a PAN card or buy a life insurance policy.

All the women were older than Adrisha but when she talked, they listened. "It's mostly about convincing them to do the right thing. They will ask you, 'Why do I need a PAN card?' They also think that banks won't return their hard-earned money or that a savings account is of no use to them," the 17-year-old told Metro .

Shakuntala Murmur opened a savings account with the State Bank of India recently and Radha Rani Pradhan has decided to do the same so that she can build a nest egg for her son. "My son is five and if I can keep aside some money for his education every month, it would be great," said the young woman, who cooks in a south Calcutta household and is training to be a beautician.

Radha Rani is among the many women who have enrolled for vocational courses run by a non-government organisation called Karma Kutir on Hemanta Mukhapadhyay Sarani. Adrisha's role is to encourage these women to save a little bit of what they earn and remove their misconceptions about banking and other financial services.

"Vocational training gives them the power to earn but it does not teach them to prudently spend their money and keep aside some of it," Adrisha said. "Once they complete these courses, most women find employment and their income goes from a few hundred to a few thousand and they need to know how to deal with that."

The student of Calcutta International School had first met the women at Karma Kutir while accompanying her mother, a gynaecologist, to a health camp organised by the NGO. In early 2014, Adrisha volunteered to teach the women how to handle their finances and has since been visiting the centre every Friday.

"Some would be scared because they or their family members have invested in chit funds and not got the money back. They couldn't differentiate between banks or chit funds because nobody had told them the difference between the two or explained to them the benefits of a bank account," said Adrisha, who has completed her International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and is scheduled to leave for the US later this month for higher studies.

When she started her mission, what surprised Adrisha was that the only identity proof most of the women had was a ration card or some such document with the address of their native village. And this despite all of them living in Calcutta for many years.

Apart from bank accounts and small Public Provident Fund investments, she encouraged and helped them start life insurance policies, taking a break only to write her board exams. Adrisha's method was to hold a few group sessions before one-to-one interaction.

"I noticed that instead of asking me questions directly, they would whisper among themselves. So I started having individual sessions with them," she recounted.

Building a rapport was what Adrisha focused on. "Why else would they open up to a stranger who walks up to them?" she said.

On probing further, Adrisha discovered that whatever most of the women earned was being handed to a male member of the family, who would invariably squander most of it. "Getting them to save money that they can use for their children's education is the only way to help the next generation break through the cycle of poverty," she said.

Adrisha's mission, of course, didn't end with telling the women what they needed to do. She also mobilised funds for them.

The 17-year-old recently raised Rs 22,000 by organising a "bake-off contest" in her school and followed it up with a "bake sell" event. "Our principal gave me permission to use the music hall for the event and we had a weeklong campaign," she smiled.

Adrisha raised another Rs 1,28,000 through a door-to-door campaign and by writing to friends, relatives and other contacts to contribute. The entire amount went to Karma Kutir, which has started a new session of the beautician's course with the money that Adrisha raised.

So what is it that sets Adrisha apart from most girls her age? According to Neelu Kejriwal, the secretary of Karma Kutir, it's her sincerity. "We have had students wanting to intern with us but that is mostly to earn a certificate. Adrisha is different. The financial literacy programme was her idea and she executed it. We would be happy to have more such young people interning with us," she said.

Recognition for the initiative has come Devika's way in the form of a medal from the India chapter of a youth recognition programme based in the US. She received a silver medal in the competition organised by Pramerica that acknowledges student contributions to the community.

What message do you have for Adrisha? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com