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PRAYOG Starts its Community Library ‘Baal Bagicha’ in Gopalganj, Bihar on June 15th, 2013

 

PRAYOG Starts its Community Library ‘Baal Bagicha’ in Gopalganj, Bihar on June 15th, 2013

 

Starting of the Community Library on June 15th, 2013

If you want a change, just do something! Rather than having discussions over it and waiting for the right time. This is the working philosophy behind PRAYOG. ‘PRAYOG’, which means experiment, signifies various possible designs to bring about even a small change.

Contrary to our perception, youth have all sorts of fantasies in life! And how good would it be to shape them. In the month of May, 2013 when the first interaction took place with six students of high school in Gopalganj, their aspirations were something that triggered the concept of enriching their vision. Apart from  the traditional choices amongst youth in the villages such as joining the armed forces, the response of two students – Alok and Akash was quite different. Alok aspires to become a model while Akash wants to pursue higher education with Physics as major subject and aims to become a Professor some day. How many students of a high school actually want to join academics by choice and how many dare to even think of becoming a model?

Prayog is an alliance of thoughts of four individuals from varied sectors, each with a vision to instill enthusiasm, vision and exposure to the youth of villages in north Bihar. With the ‘Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan’, already running successfully in the state, the Prayog team aims to influence the vision of rural youth, who are already talented but lack an exposure to the outside world. Based on the personal experiences which each of the four members faced in their village, an education initiative has been planned whereby ‘rural fellows’ would  be identified and mentored, who in turn will mentor the other children who lack resources for proper education or are left-out in the course of schooling because of no mentoring at home.

To start the fellowship initiative it was crucial to understand the needs of the youth, their daily activities, preferences and approach towards life. Prayog has hence started a rural library aiming to create a space for interaction amongst the youth and a common place for learning through a different approach. This is the ‘baal bagicha’ (children orchard) which will bear the fruits in the form of enlightened minds! The library has started with a collection of 32 books in following categories: tales, mythology, eminent personalities, inspirational stories, Gandhi collection, general knowledge and IQ, science, language, atlas, dictionary, periodicals and a daily newspaper. There are 24 members enrolled in primary school to University who are the current beneficiaries of this initiative. Books and youth will keep on ever increasing!

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5 Comments on “PRAYOG Starts its Community Library ‘Baal Bagicha’ in Gopalganj, Bihar on June 15th, 2013

  1. Dear PRAYOG team I am really happy and impressed to see this kind of initiative for a cause.
    Dear Surya, I still remember those days where we used sit for whole night and discuss the systemic problems in our country and next day we get back to our routine work. But now you have proved that those informal discussion can be converted into actions which will bring changes in millions of students. I am proud of you. I will extend my support to all possible extent. All the best and God bless this wonderful initiative.
    Thirumalai Narayanan

  2. Dear Surya,
    It is a great initiative that you have undertaken. Feel very proud to know that you are undertaking such a crucial task of inspiring young rural children to live their dreams. At IIT Bombay we have started a day care center for construction workers children and it is running since one year. We do get a lot of books as donation from the IIT faculty. I will see if some of those books can be posted to you for your library.
    Wishing you the best.
    With warm regards,
    Kushal sir

  3. Thiru, I really appreciate your concern for the cause. Our discussions did not go a waste, infact no discussion should become a waste. It took six months for brainstorming, spreading the ideas and getting wonderful feedbacks. The biggest challenge was taking the first step and now Prayog is hopeful for giving something back to the society. Will keep you updated.

    Best
    Surya

  4. Dear Kushal Sir,

    Some things remain forever in the memory, the visit to Vigyan Ashram at Pabal had always been in my mind throughout this period of 7 years. Well, at IITB, I developed a vision and this needs to be used constructively for some sort of social change that we read in theory. In practice, things get complicated but it is the sheer passion to do something that keeps me motivated, always. So good to learn about the day care centre for children of construction workers. I would be happy to contribute something towards this initiative. Please do let me know.

    Best Regards.
    Surya

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