Today I had the pleasure of going to Radha Krishna BMC School in Andheri East. I had an appointment to meet with a Pratham coordinator however she was a no-show and as a result the school set me up with Poonam, a Pratham volunteer teacher. Poonam is a very young lady who teaches a 4th standard Hindi class. After their Hindi arithmetic lesson, they started the Pratham Scholarship program(short accelerated English course - see video) It is a course that teaches accelerated English. It seemed like the children had a lot of fun participating. The kids stand up one by one and read each letter of an English object and the class chants with the kid. The demeanor of the school is very different than the west. Even though they wear uniforms, the kids are very loud, and crazy. They run around and talk loudly. The smart kids scream the answers prior to being called on. If a student is out of line, the teacher scolds them with a slap.

After visiting the Radha Krishna BMC School in Andheri East, I was invited to the Pratham office which is located in downtown Nariman Point. We made our way there on the local train which is a 30 minute ride at rush hour. Once you are on, you have to grab a handrail and sitting down is rare. There were crowds of people getting on and off. Many riders dangerously hang with one hand onto the side of the train when full. The train stops are very brief so you have to push your way towards the exit well in advance of your stop. Well, we could have bought first class, but we chose the true Bombay experience.

We got off at Church Gate. This is the 'posh' and high end location of Mumbai and location to many tall office buildings and luxury homes. We reached Pratham and were warmly greeted by Anamara, the young lady who organized my visit. We discussed several facets of Pratham, ranging from how it started, how funds are allocated, how Delta Phi Omega is making a difference, and mainly, how I can help coordinate additional sorority member involvement. Anamara was bright and truly passionate about the cause. When I asked her about her background, she mentioned that she has a bachelors in poly sci, and a masters in international relations from a school in
Europe. Her curiosity in education, social development, and infrastructure grew from living in South Africa and working with refugees. She then concluded that she was born and raised in Mumbai.

I was shocked. After my visiting the Pratham school, I was very surprised that there were people graduating and going onto college and abroad from Mumbai. This led to a new discussion. A few weeks ago, I had the honor of hearing Mr. Arvind Sanger speak at the NYC gala. He is the chairman of Pratham USA, and also a client of Morgan Stanley. Arvind captured a very candid view of Pratham's work, and the meaning of it to him. He had said he had never walked the slums of Mumbai in all the
years he had lived there. When he did a site visit, he compared the students and quality of schools to his American children's private school's parent/teacher days. He could see the zest of knowledge from the Pratham kids. He could tell they wanted to get every ounce of understanding they could from anything you tell them. In that moment, our table at the gala started questioning why there was such a mask to the upper class in India about the poverty levels effecting so many youth. Anamara gave me a similar response. She said the poor and the middle/upper class are two different worlds. The paths never cross. She said you hear things, and you see things, but your life moves past it. She mentioned, as an American like me, I come to India, and these images are real. They hurt. They cause immediate feelings of
sadness, and build a drive to help. For Anamara, she said they are bombarded with these images so often, they become immune to them. They see the same type of people walking the streets, kids begging for money, and at some point it doesn't faze them anymore. I could go on and on, but this I thought, was one of the most fascinating things I am trying to understand about social status and life in India. Even Anamara's position is a unique one. Some people believe in helping the less fortunate, while others you can imagine think it is the circle of life. I personally think, those who have chosen to work with NGOs, are doing a magnificent job, and it will contribute to the success of India's economy. We discussed numerous other topics and decided that my following days would be visits to schools where I can further observe and understand the programs rather than jumping in and teaching. I completely agreed, and was ready to challenge my beliefs, misconceptions, and conduct thorough due diligence to understand how funds are allocated.