ON International Literacy Day, it is time to do some stock-taking. And statistics do not console when it comes to the continuing high rate of school dropouts and the inability of even 50 percent of children going to government schools to read fluently.
But the picture is not entirely bleak. In Bangalore, the Akshara Foundation is spearheading the ‘Read India’ initiative, a nationwide campaign by Pratham Resource Centre. ‘Read India’ is a three-pronged strategy which aims to inculcate the reading habit in one million children in the next five years.
The Vice- Captain of the Indian cricket team, Rahul Dravid, on Monday released the noted writer Ma- hashveta Devi’s book, “The Why Why Girl”, under the Read India Movement aimed at bringing down the number of illiterate children.
The book has been brought out by Pratham, of which the Bangtilore-based Akshara Foundation is a member. Lauding the work done by Pratham, Rahul Dravid said, “It is a fantastic and terrific effort.”
Bangalore is a Happening City. We’ve heard it so many times. But what does that mean? Did the people of Magadha say it was a happening city? Or the citizens of Awadh? Or nearer in time, did Bombayites think their city was happening? And did this actually start getting said because the city in some sense had already happened? That it had all the great hallmarks of a metropolis – a growing business/trade district, participatory politics, arts and culture, tolerance o f migration, social peace -and an aspirational status that allows everyone and anyone regardless o f class and caste, to think o f it as a desirable destination.
In that sense, Bangalore has already happened.
North-South Hatthira Bandaaga (Kannada).
Prajaa Vaani.
Does everyone in Bangalore know how to get to Premier Book Shop? Of course not. You have to get to M.G.Road and then find platform Nine and Three Fourths! Clearly, you have to be a wizard to actually shop at Premier.
At a very special lunch at the warm home of Ramchandra Guha and Sujata Keshavan, on Sunday , January 27th, many wizards spoke about then dependency on the little store on Church Street. Proprietor T.S.Shanbhag, normally rather cleverly disguised as an ordinary, balding, indifferent gentleman without credit card facilities, was seen to blush and preen. Speaker after speaker spoke in the most extreme language about their
experiences at‘Premier.
For the past two and a half years, 1 have regularly attended Iyengar Yoga classes in Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India. I practice under the guidance of Yogacharya Shri H.S.Arun, a long time student of “Guruji” BKS Iyengar.
The class is about seven kilometers away from my home. I travel by car, and am usually
chauffeurea. As anywhere in urban India, the route is noisy, polluted and ridden with
chaos. Often, there are roadblocks due to repair/construction work, or there are little
accidents between swaggering commuters or then, there may be slowdowns due to rain.
Shikshanakke Number 1 Priority Sigabeku (Kannada).
Rohini Nilekani.
SMALL drops in an ocean. This is how the people at Akshara describe their efforts. Ali this despite the fact that 20,000 children in slums around Bangalore have already been initiated into the world of letters by this foundation through its educational programme.
More an explorer than a strategist, the Net-economy woman is teaching business how to do the job.
These are snapshots of four women from Bangalore, perhaps the fastest evolving city in India. I have chosen them because I like to believe these women are part of our mentor capital. 1 like to believe that we need to know more about them and about women like them. How we use that capital is up to each one of us. But we are going to feel richer just for knowing it’s there.
