IN HER OWN LEAGUE

ANURADHA SHARMA

It all started in a small backyard of a government house in Sector-7 in Chandigarh when Dr Anuradha Sharma, 52, and Sarita Tewari, 52, decided to do their bit for the education of the underprivileged. Hamari Kaksha, one of the best known NGOs in the region, was born. Now, it has five centres spread across Chandigarh and Panchkula, where more than 700 students benefit from various programmes. Sharma, who teaches Chemistry in a college, calls herself a “born educationalist” and says that even as a child, she was stunned by the huge disparity between those who could afford education and those who couldn’t. She stresses that for decades, her life’s mission has been to uplift the standard of education among the underprivileged. “I have realised that what’s really missing is the fact that no one is willing to guide and instill confidence in underprivileged children.,” she says. Sharma targets non-performing school goers, those who have never been to school and also drop-outs back to the fold of formal education. The NGO has volunteers from different backgrounds—from wives of bureaucrats, students who have passed out of Hamari Kaksha programmes, inmates of old age homes to students studying in different educational institutes, all are coming forward. “We are glad that the community is participating,” concludes Sharma.