Isha Vidhya supporters have been running in city marathons in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Can't view Email?

Bangalore
TCS WORLD 10K Success Stories

Isha Vidhya supporters have been running in city marathons in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad & Delhi to raise awareness and funds. 400+ supporters ran in the TCS Bengaluru 10K Run and raised over 7 million rupees that will help us provide scholarship & subsidies to more deserving children. We asked our volunteers to share about their experience of raising funds.

Sukanya Sai Satheesh, who sees raising funds for Isha Vidhya as a path for her growth, shares, “When I was registering for the TCS World 10K Run, I had only planned to create awareness about Isha Vidhya. Raising funds was not on my agenda as I felt hesitant approaching people for donations. But I created my campaign page.

The happy atmosphere that prevailed in the Isha Vidhya school that I had visited earlier motivated me to take my first step towards fundraising. Being a teacher myself, I was moved by the happiness and confidence that the children radiated in the school.

Through my campaign I wanted to help provide such a happy learning environment to many more deserving underprivileged children. Little did I expect that, as the calls and messages to my contacts went out, I would slowly be shedding many of my inhibitions and grow as a person with developed patience, perseverance and increased ability to reach out to others.”

Senior school is both exciting and scary for our students. They have big dreams and want to go for higher education but their family is financially constrained. We at Isha Vidhya and our supporters are constantly looking for opportunities that will support our students’ dream of a better life.

Praveen, an employee of Zoho Corp, invited us to send our students to attempt for a seat at Zoho University. Zoho University has been running training programs for plus 2 and diploma students where they are trained in web technology and soft communication skills. The university is a boon to the kids, even though they do not receive a graduation degree. Students are paid a stipend from the day they join the university and placed in Zoho after successful completion of training.

After rounds of test and interviews, former Isha Vidhya students Maathesh Kannan and Hariharan were selected.

Maathesh Kannan shared, “The test was not what we expected. We had to answer objective type questions and then had a direct chat with the coordinator from Zoho.

A competitive study environment, self-learning opportunities, and real-time study methodology are helping me understand the field better. It seemed difficult before coming here, but now I am comfortable. Wherever I go, I always carry Isha Vidhya in my heart. I will give my best to get selected for the Zoho team after my training gets completed.”

Hariharan could not contain his excitement. “I had completed my grade 10 at Isha Vidhya and +2 elsewhere as Isha Vidhya didn’t have the senior school at that time. But Isha Vidhya never fails to support us and guide us for the next level!

Zoho was entirely different from what I had imagined. At first we didn't have any idea about the company and training. Later, we learnt about them from people in the IT field. Everyone gave us positive feedback, which made us eager to get through their tests.”

We asked her a few questions to get to know her better.

Q: Can Arts and Crafts help in one’s growth?
Of course! It has supported my growth and development.

Q: You were recently selected for the Government School Support Program’s (GSSP) Arts training sessions. Tell us about your creative journey while teaching children and what was your learning?
Being present, observing and interacting with children, is what inspires and motivates me to work with kids. I learnt new methods and techniques with Isha’s Arts syllabus.

Monday to Friday I have classes and over the weekends I plan for the week ahead. This helps me immensely in creating a creative and stress-free atmosphere. However heterogeneous the group, the preparation gives me the strength to tackle any situation.Amongst any group of children there is always a bunch of hyperactive children. My training at Isha Vidhya helps me to patiently sit down and do art with them rather than punishing them. Instilling fear in kids never works, one must speak in a friendly manner with them.

Q: Tell us about your memorable moments while teaching?
I have a physically challenged student who does her art work with great diligence despite her physical limitations. She cannot hold scissors like we do and yet, without taking support from me, she completes her work on time. This always motivates me to do better.