It took a great deal of thinking for me to realize that I possessed a friend who had taken a pledge to bring, in his own manner, to bring an end to some of the most discussed concepts like identity crisis, terrorism, illiteracy, helplessness and poverty.
Vipul Thaker a simple man with simple dreams. One day (it was his birthday) he decided to educate a Rabari child. The class started. The terrace of his two bedroom house was to be the classroom initially. As days passed by Vipul went on to explore the talent in the slum surrounding his housing society. A few more students joined in and then the classroom shifted to a light post on a nearby traffic island. His class had a roof which exposed the unexplored realities of this universe i.e. it was open to the sky. Every evening at around 9.00 pm the class would start. Each and every child was different from the other but they shared one common phenomenon Poverty, they all came from a family which could hardly pay for their education in a good school. So, Vipul went on with his work Selflessly, Selflessness in this kind of work is a very rare phenomenon. He remarks “Mewa ni Sewa na Hoi” meaning selfless service never goes together with the intent for profit.
Within one year he had around twenty students who worked in the day time but regularly attended the “evening classes”. Looking at this the parents themselves came to his aid. They decided to gift Vipul with an empty hut in which the classes could be conducted. Yet again, the location shifted and the classes continued. Of all the problems that Vipul faced, one was that the girls were not allowed to study, thanks to gender discrimination. Finally the parents were convinced, the girls walked in and within a month or so their strength doubled.
This was not a full time profession for him. He had a job. Though, he did receive some voluntary contribution from some non resident Indians. He decided to admit his students to government run municipal school. He took utmost care that they learned something, though evening classes were regularly conducted.
But he had a dream to nurture. Every child had a dream that one day a school bus would arrive at their doorstep and even they would be attending those “good” schools in the surrounding localities. Vipul was on the move. He negotiated with the school principals and a scholarship scheme was introduced. And so out of forty students around twenty five students are admitted to those “good schools”.
In the last few years some of his students have shown their skills at the state level in the field of graphic and dramatic arts. Today he can proudly say that these children have something to look upto. They have a future too. He remarks “aanu fal hamna jowa nahi maley, pan aa toh bhavishya sudharwaa nu kaam chhey” which means that “the fruit of the seeds that I’ve won’t be available today but this is an attempt to secure their future”.
This activity of Vipul has thus led to the creation of “Ghadtar Charitable Trust”. Upon being asked about his force of inspiration he told me that it was Giju Badheka, one of the pioneering Gujarati educationists. He believes that Gandhism too has been prominent force behind his willingness to contribute selflessly. He remembers that the first book he ever read was the Mahatma’s biography.
The important learning, dear readers, is that this man and many more like him are not only providing free education but they are providing and identity to these underprivileged children. They are providing a platform to these children to express their needs and ideas, which if unnoticed would create a strong sense of grievance towards the grave inequality that has creped deep down to the roots of our society. All of these grassroots revolutionaries are working towards bringing about a constructive change in the society, but they remain away from the flashes of the cameras and those who claim to act as the flag bearers of change.

It took a great deal of thinking for me to realize that I possessed a friend who had taken a pledge to bring, in his own manner, to bring an end to some of the most discussed concepts like identity crisis, terrorism, illiteracy, helplessness and poverty.
Vipul Thaker a simple man with simple dreams. One day (it was his birthday) he decided to educate a Rabari child. The class started. The terrace of his two bedroom house was to be the classroom initially. As days passed by Vipul went on to explore the talent in the slum surrounding his housing society. A few more students joined in and then the classroom shifted to a light post on a nearby traffic island. His class had a roof which exposed the unexplored realities of this universe i.e. it was open to the sky. Every evening at around 9.00 pm the class would start. Each and every child was different from the other but they shared one common phenomenon Poverty, they all came from a family which could hardly pay for their education in a good school. So, Vipul went on with his work Selflessly, Selflessness in this kind of work is a very rare phenomenon. He remarks “Mewa ni Sewa na Hoi” meaning selfless service never goes together with the intent for profit.
Within one year he had around twenty students who worked in the day time but regularly attended the “evening classes”. Looking at this the parents themselves came to his aid. They decided to gift Vipul with an empty hut in which the classes could be conducted. Yet again, the location shifted and the classes continued. Of all the problems that Vipul faced, one was that the girls were not allowed to study, thanks to gender discrimination. Finally the parents were convinced, the girls walked in and within a month or so their strength doubled.
This was not a full time profession for him. He had a job. Though, he did receive some voluntary contribution from some non resident Indians. He decided to admit his students to government run municipal school. He took utmost care that they learned something, though evening classes were regularly conducted.
But he had a dream to nurture. Every child had a dream that one day a school bus would arrive at their doorstep and even they would be attending those “good” schools in the surrounding localities. Vipul was on the move. He negotiated with the school principals and a scholarship scheme was introduced. And so out of forty students around twenty five students are admitted to those “good schools”.
In the last few years some of his students have shown their skills at the state level in the field of graphic and dramatic arts. Today he can proudly say that these children have something to look upto. They have a future too. He remarks “aanu fal hamna jowa nahi maley, pan aa toh bhavishya sudharwaa nu kaam chhey” which means that “the fruit of the seeds that I’ve won’t be available today but this is an attempt to secure their future”.
This activity of Vipul has thus led to the creation of “Ghadtar Charitable Trust”. Upon being asked about his force of inspiration he told me that it was Giju Badheka, one of the pioneering Gujarati educationists. He believes that Gandhism too has been prominent force behind his willingness to contribute selflessly. He remembers that the first book he ever read was the Mahatma’s biography.
The important learning, dear readers, is that this man and many more like him are not only providing free education but they are providing and identity to these underprivileged children. They are providing a platform to these children to express their needs and ideas, which if unnoticed would create a strong sense of grievance towards the grave inequality that has creped deep down to the roots of our society. All of these grassroots revolutionaries are working towards bringing about a constructive change in the society, but they remain away from the flashes of the cameras and those who claim to act as the flag bearers of change.

It took a great deal of thinking for me to realize that I possessed a friend who had taken a pledge to bring, in his own manner, to bring an end to some of the most discussed concepts like identity crisis, terrorism, illiteracy, helplessness and poverty.
Vipul Thaker a simple man with simple dreams. One day (it was his birthday) he decided to educate a Rabari child. The class started. The terrace of his two bedroom house was to be the classroom initially. As days passed by Vipul went on to explore the talent in the slum surrounding his housing society. A few more students joined in and then the classroom shifted to a light post on a nearby traffic island. His class had a roof which exposed the unexplored realities of this universe i.e. it was open to the sky. Every evening at around 9.00 pm the class would start. Each and every child was different from the other but they shared one common phenomenon Poverty, they all came from a family which could hardly pay for their education in a good school. So, Vipul went on with his work Selflessly, Selflessness in this kind of work is a very rare phenomenon. He remarks “Mewa ni Sewa na Hoi” meaning selfless service never goes together with the intent for profit.
Within one year he had around twenty students who worked in the day time but regularly attended the “evening classes”. Looking at this the parents themselves came to his aid. They decided to gift Vipul with an empty hut in which the classes could be conducted. Yet again, the location shifted and the classes continued. Of all the problems that Vipul faced, one was that the girls were not allowed to study, thanks to gender discrimination. Finally the parents were convinced, the girls walked in and within a month or so their strength doubled.
This was not a full time profession for him. He had a job. Though, he did receive some voluntary contribution from some non resident Indians. He decided to admit his students to government run municipal school. He took utmost care that they learned something, though evening classes were regularly conducted.
But he had a dream to nurture. Every child had a dream that one day a school bus would arrive at their doorstep and even they would be attending those “good” schools in the surrounding localities. Vipul was on the move. He negotiated with the school principals and a scholarship scheme was introduced. And so out of forty students around twenty five students are admitted to those “good schools”.
In the last few years some of his students have shown their skills at the state level in the field of graphic and dramatic arts. Today he can proudly say that these children have something to look upto. They have a future too. He remarks “aanu fal hamna jowa nahi maley, pan aa toh bhavishya sudharwaa nu kaam chhey” which means that “the fruit of the seeds that I’ve won’t be available today but this is an attempt to secure their future”.
This activity of Vipul has thus led to the creation of “Ghadtar Charitable Trust”. Upon being asked about his force of inspiration he told me that it was Giju Badheka, one of the pioneering Gujarati educationists. He believes that Gandhism too has been prominent force behind his willingness to contribute selflessly. He remembers that the first book he ever read was the Mahatma’s biography.
The important learning, dear readers, is that this man and many more like him are not only providing free education but they are providing and identity to these underprivileged children. They are providing a platform to these children to express their needs and ideas, which if unnoticed would create a strong sense of grievance towards the grave inequality that has creped deep down to the roots of our society. All of these grassroots revolutionaries are working towards bringing about a constructive change in the society, but they remain away from the flashes of the cameras and those who claim to act as the flag bearers of change.