Education for all
Babar Ali |
TEDxDikshantSchool
• October 2022
Babar is the Founder and Headmaster of Anand Siksha Niketan in West Bengal.
He started a school named ‘Anand Shiksha Niketan’ at the backyard of his family home when he was just nine bringing the affordable education to the impoverished area of West Bengal, India.
He began with telling about the start of his remarkable journey. He informed about how he took all the underprivileged students and started a small school which gradually became their hope and home for joyful learning. He narrated the fascinating story behind the name given to the school.
This idea sprouted in his mind when he was studying. He informed that his journey began by reading the book by Swami Vivekanand , which implanted the thought in the brain that service to man was considered as the greatest service to mankind.
He gathered small children to teach them in a nearby jungle. Realizing his incessant willingness towards his aim, many institutes helped him to set-up his school.
He delivered his first speech in front of the Noble Laureate Amartya Sen, when he was in grade 8. He spoke about how he ignored all criticism and setback coming his way to continue to pursue his mission. He has been into this since last 20 years and he is firm this journey would not end any time soon.
He narrated the story of how an old woman helped him to encourage village children to drive to school ended up becoming a teacher herself. A story which began under a guava tree has now grown into a three storey building.
He became a TedX speaker at the age of 16 when the BBC recognized him as the youngest headmaster of the world.