COVID-19 pandemic has taken a severe toll on children’s overall development and hindered their growth. The prolonged closure of schools has impacted their studies, especially for poor kids. Most of the children enrolled in government schools mainly belong to low-income families, their parents are uneducated, so they are unable to teach their kids. Moreover, they don’t have electronic devices to attend online classes.

I could feel the gravity of the situation when my domestic help told me how she struggled to find a tutor for her daughter, as educational institutions were shut. She met a lady who asked her ₹2500 as tuition fees which she could not afford. I could empathise with her. So I offered to teach her daughter ‘Chanda’ free of cost.

The next day, a little girl full of enthusiasm, with a bag full of books came to learn. She could not attend school for the past 14 months. I thought if she couldn’t go to her classes, I could create one in my own house. When I started interacting with her, I was amazed to see her grasping power, she was a quick learner. She wants to become a teacher when she grows up.

Each day, it is really amazing to see her grow and learn more. I try to include videos on the topics she is learning to make it more fun and interactive. We both are loving it. These are testing times, but I’m using it as an opportunity to help this little bunch of talent in a creative and fun way.

As Mahatma Gandhi has rightly said, “If you take care of your immediate surroundings, the universe will take care of itself.” I firmly believe we all have some social responsibility towards fellow beings. It does not matter how small the step is, but we should extend our help in whatever way possible.

There are so many kids like Chanda who could not study at all due to the pandemic. Let’s do our bit to help them.

If you too have an inspiring story to tell the world, send us your story at mystory@thelogicalindian.com