Dear Diary,

Today’s Science class was very interesting. Our teacher taught us about Human Body. Until today, I did not know there were so many bones in our body. 206? That’s a lot. I’m only 12 years but it feels like I’m learning so much already. My school is my only distraction from all the problems at home.

Dear Diary, let me tell you about my life. We are five people in the house. Dad works as a coolie in the railway station and my mother is a housewife. I have an elder brother at home who is now in high school and I have a baby sister who is still in Anganwadi. It’s been two months since I moved to 7th Standard and I enjoy going to school. Exams make me nervous at times. I wake up at 6 am every day to help my mother with kitchen work. We do not have any water supply in our house and so I fetch water from a public tap. Our family needs at least six to seven buckets of water every day—for the kitchen, bath and to drink. In all this rush, I sometimes forget to eat breakfast. In school, our headmaster says ‘Breakfast is the most important meal’ but I feel I do not get the time to eat.

I leave home at 8 am with my best friend Uma. She stays close to my house and I’m happy we are classmates. We talk a lot in class and we laugh a lot. It takes 30 minutes for us to walk to school. We don’t realise the passing time because we talk so much. Once we reach school, we work on pending homework or we play a game. At 9 am, the entire school gathers for Morning Prayer. We sing the National Anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ every day. We also drink a glass of milk before classes begin.

Our classrooms are not big but we have everything we need. There are eight benches in my classroom and the walls are covered with informative charts. Some of the charts are made by us. We have six different classes every day. My favourite is Kannada—the teacher makes it so much fun. In our Kannada textbook, we have a lesson about farming. To make it more interesting, our teacher took us to the ground and made all of us plant a sapling. We water them every day and look after them like the plants are a part of our family. When we do not have any class, we usually sit quietly and read our textbooks. If anyone talks, our class leader writes the names on the blackboard. I always get caught for talking or laughing but I also focus on studies.

We get free lunch at school. At 11.45 am, Akshaya Patra vehicle delivers the food to our school. At 12 noon, lunch is served to everybody. We all eat together and wash our own plates. We usually get Rice and Sambar for lunch but sometimes, we get Bisi Bele Baath or Puliyogare. On most days, the lunch in school is the only meal I get to eat for the day. In fact, my parents sent me to school only because we get free lunch and the burden on the family is less. I’m happy too because the food we get is hot and contains vegetables. Most of us don’t like vegetables but our teachers make sure we all eat them because it makes us healthy.

Once a month, our teachers check our height to record the progress. I’m still 4 feet. I hope I grow taller this year. Before the last bell, we spend time drawing something or we play a game. One of my classmates draws cartoons and that’s very interesting. I like making rangoli designs. My school ends at 3.30 pm every day. We sing Vande Mataram before we leave the classroom.

Once the school is over, I walk back home with my friend. Like every day, I help my mother with fetching water and making dinner. At 5 pm, I step out to play with my neighbours. We play so many games in the evening. Sometimes, my mother lets me watch television. I like watching Chhota Bheem on Pogo. From 7 to 8 pm, I do my homework. If I finish my homework early, I get to watch more TV. After dinner is made, I help my baby sister eat her dinner and I put her to sleep. I try to sleep on time so that I’m fresh the next day. I’ve also been learning that sleep is very important for our bodies to function on a daily basis. I hope I get to become a Science teacher when I grow up.

This is my first journal entry and I hope I write more.  My school is now my companion and education is my hero. Thanks to the Government and to Akshaya Patra, I’m able to study without any disturbance.

Yours truly,
Lakshmi
(Inspired by true stories)

Enter a child’s mind, find their dream, and guide the mind to its destination – a trail created by Akshaya Patra’s initiative ‘Giving Every Dream a Chance.’ When a child begins to dream to achieve something in the future, it becomes an orbiting thought with zero restrictions. However, when they are made to take a step back due to their economic conditions, they lock their aspirations in the mind itself. What children need at this point is immense support from the society, a great boost to dream fearlessly and an assurance that dreams do come true.

With a belief that every dream deserves an opportunity, The Akshaya Patra Foundation has launched a project ‘Giving Every Dream a Chance’ to support the dreams of every child. This initiative will not only encourage the little minds to dream but will also act as a guiding star in getting a step closer to the dream. As a pilot project, three Akshaya Patra beneficiaries from Bengaluru went through a successful mentorship programme under the guidance of an expertise from their field of interest. Their stories highlight why it is important to give every child’s dream a fair chance.

Shivu, a 14-year-old Akshaya Patra beneficiary, is fascinated by stars—a topic that makes our mind absolutely curious. Well, this curiosity is a driving force for Shivu to achieve his dream of becoming an astronomer. Akshaya Patra’s initiative laid the runway for his dream by providing a mentorship programme under the guidance of Ms Preeti Krishnamurthy, Senior Research Fellow in Astrophysics. During his mentorship, Shivu got an opportunity to have a closer look at the sky and study the celestial objects.

Shekar built his dream of becoming a chef while helping his mother cook in the kitchen. To help him experience his dream, Akshaya Patra turned the 14-year-old boy’s dream into an opportunity by charting a month-long mentorship programme, where he developed his skills under the watchful eyes of Chef Ramasamy Selvaraju of the Vivanta By Taj.

Manjula, an aspiring actress, is a star in her own right. What the 14-year-old girl needed was an expertise to polish her acting skills into a powerful one. That happened when Akshaya Patra decided to elevate Manjula’s dream by enrolling her in a month-long acting mentorship programme at the Bangalore School of Speech and Drama under the guidance of its Founder-Director, Dr. Zulfia Shaikh.

After the successful launch of the initiative, The Foundation now plans to stretch the initiative to multiple cities across the country. It is our understanding that with right guidance, children will be able to realise their dream and also develop their skills. Join Akshaya Patra on the journey where hundreds of children from across the country will be benefitting from the initiative ‘Giving Every Dream a Chance.’ To help children dream fearlessly, the focus continues to be hunger relief among school goers through nutritious mid-day meals. By contributing Rs. 750, you can feed a child for an entire year! To help us achieve this, donate here.