Inspiration

Sandeep Desai: Collected donations from Mumbai’s local train commuters to start four schools to educate children in rural India

A marine engineer and ex-professor of S P Jain Institute of Management and Research in Mumbai, Prof. Sandeep Desai found his true calling when he decided to collect donations and build schools for children living in rural areas.

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Our series "Teacher Warriors" honours some of the country’s best and bravest teacher warriors, striving to give kids a fighting chance at a better present and a future floating with possibilities. In the eleventh episode, Parvathy Jayakrishnan speaks to Sandeep Desai, founder, Shloka Missionaries:

A marine engineer and ex-professor of S P Jain Institute of Management and Research in Mumbai, Prof. Sandeep Desai found his true calling when he decided to collect donations and build schools for children living in rural areas. And he does it in his own special way – he asks for donations by talking to hundreds of passengers who commute via the Mumbai local trains! He has already built schools in remote villages in Udaipur and Yavatmal, and is currently camping at his new school construction site at village Sipur in Udaipur district of Rajasthan, arranging for facilities and building a bore-well. The school, which will start in the first week of July, will offer free education like the other Shloka Missionaries’ Trust schools.

“Private schools in the area hate me for taking their children away. I educate them for free while they charge almost Rs.15,000 per annum. They try and make false allegations against me saying that I am here to take away the children to Mumbai,” he chuckles. Shloka Missionaries is dedicated to the cause of educating hundreds of children in rural India.

Why did you choose local trains to ask for donations?

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I approached corporates and they do not show a lot of interest in making donations. I realised that asking people who work for them would be the right thing to do. I also found out that speaking to people on the road or going to their doorstep often yielded no response. But in trains, I get an active audience who is ready to listen to what I do and make a contribution.

By now you must be a familiar face in Mumbai local trains but how do you convince commuters to donate generously for the cause?

Initially I used to give them a visiting card which has details like my name, address and phone number. That helps builds confidence as they know where to go if they think they are being taken for a ride.

Do you have a group of people who help you in local trains and how has the response been from railway staff to this method of collecting money for charity?

No. I go and ask for donations myself. People are worried about what others will think about them if they ask for donations. So they choose not to.

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The RPF (Railway Police Force) has a problem with people begging for money. But I told them that there is a big difference between other “beggars” and me. They see my plastic box with money and think that all this money is coming to me for my personal use. I beg for money for others and not for myself. All proceeds go to charity.

How many children are availing of free education from your charity?

Initially we started a school in Mumbai with 800 students but we closed that down in 2014 and after the implementation of RTE (Right to Education) in 2010, we stick to teaching students in rural areas. Around 700 children study for free and are given a free meal every day – and all this from the charity money we raise.

What about the response to your school in the farmer-suicide belt of Vidarbha?

I feel Vidarbha is indeed backward and needs help but the farmer-suicide scenario is “glorified.” Response to our schools in Vidarbha has been good. We started our first school in Yavatmal district and it is doing very well. Surprisingly, we have more girls attending our school than boys.

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Do you still lecture?

I still give lectures but not on subjects like marketing strategy. I give lectures on how to build schools in rural areas of India and educate children.

You have become a role model yourself but who is your inspiration?

I do not have a role model as such but my mother is my inspiration. She was a teacher and she used to teach rural children maths and science. She used to inspire me to educate children who could not afford it.

Can you shed more light on the foster guardian programme?

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People have an option to sponsor our children, especially orphans or children whose parents struggle to make a living. They can pay Rs.25,000 per year per child or in monthly instalments and we will take care of all of that child’s expenses for that year, including education, food and even celebrating his/her birthday.

This article was originally published in the June 2017 issue as a part of our cover story on Teacher Warriors. Subscribe to ScooNews Magazine today to have more such stories delivered to your desk every month.

< EP10: Navin Gulia | EP12: Sudheer Jalagam >

Images courtesy – Sandeep Desai

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