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Babar Ali took the initiative to start his own school because he felt the need to do something about a situation which, he felt, was unfair. As mentioned in the lesson, his saga is proof to the saying that one person can make a difference if he is motivated by a strong desire. Even though Ali came from a small village – Murshidabad, he had a dream and he worked towards realising that dream. The dream, however, was not for personal fulfilment. It was, instead, for the betterment of children around him. Ali had the privilege of being educated because of his father’s stand on education. But, not all the children in the village had the same advantage. That is why, after attending his school in the morning, Ali started taking classes for the illiterate children of the village in the backyard of his house.

The writer describes the hard work put in by Babar Ali by placing before his routine. Babar begins the day at 7 in the morning by performing household chores. Though he takes an autorickshaw to commute the first part of the distance between his home and school, he has to walk for five kilometres to reach his school. After school hours, if other boys play football, cricket and other sports, Babar goes to an afternoon school where he is the Headmaster of 800 students. Thus, we see that Babar Ali is a cut above the rest.

It is amusing to know that the school began as a game. When Babar Ali was nine, he used to play ‘school-school’ game with his friends and used to act as their teacher. The other children, unlike Ali, had not seen the inside of the school and hence we’re excited to play the game with him. But, soon, the game turned into real teaching as children were happy to learn arithmetic. ‘Anand Siksha Niketan’ got established with eight students on roll. In the course of nine years, the school grew step by step, and from eight, the number increased to 220 students on roll and 800 students in all.

The school started receiving both private and government assistance and had 10 volunteer teenage teachers teaching grade 1 to grade 8. It also had 60 regular attendees. The children of the village who worked as maids to cook, clean, wash clothes and dishes for their employees or as mechanics, day labourers, grass cutters and livestock herders came voluntarily to Aii’s school in the afternoon after finishing their chores.

What is heartening is the fact that Ali’s good work was rewarded as he received help from Babar’s teachers, IAS officers, and Ramakrishna Ashram monks. What is even more gratifying is the fact that the school was recognised by the West Bengal State Government and hence students from Baba’s school were eligible to pursue their studies in other schools if the need arose. The recognition gave Babar the singular privilege of being the youngest headmaster at the age of 16. Thus, what started as a game resulted in a much sought after school for the underprivileged and inspired other selfless youngsters like Debarita Bhattacharya, a college student, to work as volunteers in helping the have-nots.

The extent of Babar Ali’s home is described as the size of an average city kitchen

At Babar Ali’s school, the rice for the\mid-day meal scheme was initially provided by his father from his fields.

At Babar Ali’s school, the underprivileged children learn the basics and fundamentals of life free of cost.

Babar Ali lived in the Bhapta neighbourhood of Gangapur village in West Bengal’s Murshidabad.

The village was known for its backwardness and people of direst poverty lived there. Though there were government schools in good number which offered free education to children in the village, their parents could not afford to send their children to school because they were so poor that they did not have money to buy books, uniforms and other essential things. Instead of going to school, most of the boys in the village helped out their families by working as mechanics, day labourers, grass cutters, livestock herders etc., and the girls worked as maidservants in the village.

However, Babar Ali, being the son of a jute seller, was better off than others. He went to school and got a formal education. He wanted to bring about a transformation in the lives of the poor and the underprivileged children who worked during the day instead of going to school. Therefore Babar Ali took the initiative of opening his own school so that he could educate them.

He treats them like friends and does not punish them using a rod.

The children who work as mechanics, day labourers, grass cutters, livestock herders and maidservants who cannot go to school.

Babar Ali was the first privileged member of his family to get a proper education.

Undoubtedly, the thoughtful act of Babar Ali has enabled poor children to move towards growth. The village children who would have continued as maids, mechanics, grass cutters and day labourers have the scope of looking for office jobs with the education they have received at Babar Ali’s school. It is touching to see that the children are interested in studying. Education is not forced unto them. They are hard-working. They work in the morning to get educated in the afternoon. If not for the afternoon school of Ali, the underprivileged children would have never got the chance of formal education. Even if they had the chance of learning how to read and write, without the proper educational qualification, they would have never had the chance of considering jobs other than what they could get in their villages. So, it is very clear that Babar Ali is the architect of the lives of hundreds of children in the village.

Babar Ali’s father Nasiruddin Sheikh initially supported his son’s venture with his own income.

Babar Ali start his school in 2002.

After functioning for nine years Babar Ali’s school showed remarkable progress. There were sixty regular attendees and over two hundred and twenty students on roll call and eight hundred students in total. There were ten volunteer teachers teaching grades 1 through 8. The school had been registered and recognized by the West Bengal State Government.

However, behind this stupendous achievement is seen the help and support of the society also. When the general public started spreading the news of Babar Ali’s school, many people came forward to strengthen the functioning of the school. Babar’s own teachers, monks at the local Ramakrishna Mission, sympathetic IAS officers and local cops lent their assistance in teaching the students. When he thought of the mid-day meal scheme, Babar’s father provided rice from his fields initially and later Babar’s friends in the government administration got it sanctioned and supplied it from government stock. Even women were not lagging behind in lending a helping hand.

A lady by name Tulu Rani Hazra, clad in widow’s white robes, a fishmonger by profession, played the role of an educationalist in the afternoons. She went around the villages and brought back students who had stopped attending school. She brought back nearly eighty such students. Thus one can see how Babar Ali has successfully shown to the people that with societal help and encouragement we can help ourselves even in fields like education which is generally believed to be a profession of only educated people.

Though there were many schools in the village which provided free education to the children of the village, many families were unable to send their children to school because they were so poor that they could not afford to pay for books, uniforms, etc. Moreover, they sent their children to work. Their children did many small jobs and earned money to add to the family income.

Getting these children to school was a challenging task. The second problem was of having a proper place to conduct the classes. Babar Ali had to make do with a dilapidated structure covered in half-torn posters, where, in the front yard, rows of 800 poor, underprivileged kids sit under the open, blue sky and learn free. His father supported his venture initially with his own funds. But once the news of this informal school spread across the village, help began to come from other quarters. Babar’s own teachers, monks at the local Ramakrishna Mission, sympathetic IAS officers, and local police extended their help.

Later, when Babar Ali planned to give his students a mid-day meal, his father provided rice from his fields. Later, with the help of his friends in the administration, the school started getting rice from the government ‘ stock. Even women were not lagging behind in lending a helping hand. A lady by name Tulu Rani Hazra, a fishmonger by profession, played the role of an educationalist in the afternoons. She went around the villages and brought back students who had stopped attending school. Later, the West Bengal State Government gave government recognition to the school. This enabled students from Babar’s primary school to join local high schools after grade VIII.

If we take religion as the path leading us to virtuous living, we can easily take education at Ali’s school as true religion. Babar Ali’s school offers to the children of the village the scope of living a meaningful and virtuous life. If we take religion as the means to bring people together, overriding their differences, education that is offered to the underprivileged at Ali’s school, bears testimony to this. We see the ‘more fortunate’ ones like Ali contributing their might towards the welfare of the less fortunate of society. If we take religion as inspiring acts of selflessness, the education at Ali’s school can easily be equated with religion because we see not only Ali but a whole lot of young people like him willing to serve others selflessly. Thus, we see that instead of following a ritualistic religion, it is far more self-satisfying to take education as religion and perform good deeds.

Definitely Babar Ali’s school is a success story. It is a success story not merely because it educates hundreds of underprivileged children after having started with just eight children, but also because it has inspired many like-minded youths like Ali to serve the underprivileged of society. It is a success story also because it has touched a cord, in the hearts of many sensitive people and has inspired them to join hands with Ali in helping the less fortunate. It is a success story because it has not been the victim of government apathy. It is significant that the government of West Bengal has recognised Ali’s school which offers parallel education. On the whole, the school is a testimony to human goodness and it gives us enough justification to have faith in the nobility of mankind.

Babar Ali’s school ‘Anand Siksha Niketan’ grew out of a game. When he was nine years old, he used to play ‘school – school’ game with his friends. He would be the teacher and his friends played as students. This game gave him the idea of opening a school itself. Therefore, he began to hold classes in the front yard of his house in 2002. It is a dilapidated concrete structure covered in half-torn posters. Students sit in rows on the ground under the open, blue sky and learn the basics and fundamentals of life.

Once the news of this informal school spread across the village, help began to come from other quarters. Babar’s own teachers, monks at the local Ramakrishna Mission, sympathetic IAS officers, and local police extended their help. Later, when Babar Ali planned to give his students a mid-day meal, his father provided rice from his fields. Then, with the help of his friends in the government, Babar Ali started getting rice from government stock.

Thus, after nine years, today there are 800 students from grade I to VIII studying in his school. The Government of West Bengal has also given its help. It has recognized his school as a formal school like any other school in the neighbourhood and so, his students can now go and join any other high school in the locality after completing class 8 in this school.

The teaching staff of the school is none other than nine student volunteers of Babar Ali’s age, who come and teach in the afternoon after their classes get over. What makes Babar Ali’s school a successful venture is his remarkable grit and determination to make a difference in the lives of the underprivileged children in his locality. We should also note that once the society recognized Babar Ali’s selfless interest in the upliftment of the underprivileged children, they came forward to give him all kinds of help to strengthen his mission.

Unlike the other less privileged children, Babar Ali could go to school and get educated.

Babar Ali is the youngest headmaster in the world.

In Babar All’s school, textbooks are given free for classes I to V.

Babar Ali’s own teachers, monks at the local Ramakrishna Mission, sympathetic IAS officers and local cops.

Even without having to pay the school fee, sending children to school is a costly affair for parents as they have to spend money on the uniform, books, etc.

When she ventures on her fish-selling rounds of nearby villages, Tulu Rani Hazra meets parents who have stopped sending their children to school and persuades them to send them to school again. She also recruits new students for the school.

Tulu Rani Hazra has recruited 80 students so far.

(d)  A fishmonger.

Ten including Babar Ali.

Ten subjects.

Eight hundred. Out of these, 60 are regular attendees and 220 students are on roll-call.

Cossimbazar Raj Govinda Sundari Vidyapeeth.

Murshidabad .

Babar Ali is called a fortunate soul for two reasons: he is one of the few who went to school and got a formal education. His father – Nasiruddin Sheikh – believed that education is man’s true religion and initially supported Babar Ali’s venture with his own income.

Babar Ali’s father Nasiruddin Sheikh is a jute seller.