Lamp for literacy

A silent revolution in Narwana district of Haryana 
has been transforming the lives of thousands of underprivileged girls. Geetanjali Gayatri visits Gurukul Kharal that has made the education of the girl child 
its mission. 

The Gurukul offers a number of sports and extra-curricular activities The Mahavidyalaya has 2500 girls from all over the country The Gurukul students at their daily prayer — Photos by the writer

They are untouched by the outside world. Within the four walls of Kanya Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya, Gurukul Kharal, Narwana district, Haryana, life goes on at a leisurely pace. Here, every day, young minds celebrate a small triumph over illiteracy as they shuffle through the pages of their books in the classrooms.

Over the years, in its own quiet way, the school has tried to combat widespread illiteracy among girls of nearby villages. The movement to educate the girl child has steadily grown to envelop the surrounding states of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh where, too, the percentage of female literacy is low and education of the girl child, especially in the rural areas, is still not a priority. As a result the gurukul, home to nearly 2500 girls, as young as six years and drawn from various communities and states, has come to be a world in itself, a world where the girls live by old ethics.

In a state where the birth of a girl was considered a curse and the role of a woman confined to serving her husband and bearing children, the silent revolution that aimed to empower her made a quiet beginning in 1976 with the arrival of Swami Ratan Dev Saraswati in Narwana. Overcome by the plight and neglect of the girl child, he decided to make her education his mission. No sooner had the ball been set rolling and his mission spread through word of mouth that village elders joined hands to realise a dream that has put Narwana on the road to "enlightenment".

On a small rutted plot provided by the village panchayat, in the shade of a tree, the Swami conducted the maiden class of 30 girl students in January 1976. Within the first year, the popularity of the gurukul grew as it took in girls from five surrounding villages of the district.

From its beginning as the humble efforts of a saint who had renounced the world, the gurukul grew at an amazing pace, enrolling more and more girls. The confidence that came from being recognised and respected as human beings, gave a voice to the girls who were mostly from underprivileged sections.

Thus began the process of learning for girls of all ages who till then, were only seen and never heard in their homes. Lending wings to this flight of the village girls was the generosity with which funds poured in once the mission was set in motion. Gradually, people, in fact the men, in the villages woke up to the realisation of how education could change lives, light up futures and bring smiles to innocent faces of the little girls. Charity became an article of faith for the people of this district. They contributed whatever they could in cash or kind to the building up of the gurukul.

While some well-to-do families contributed money, others offered paddy and wheat from their farms. The movement gathered momentum and, today, everybody contributes according to his means and resources. The school gets donations ranging from 10 kg to five quintals of paddy, from Rs 101 to Rs 21,000 from families in the 46-odd villages of Narwana.

The convention continues till date. While education for the girls is free of cost, the school does levy some fee on hostellers as also on those opting for computers. The remaining funds come by way of donations from individuals, collected by a specially constituted committee that runs the school and is assisted by village elders who have patronised the school all these years.

The successive governments of the state, too, have contributed magnanimously towards the kitty as also the local leaders of the area who have been actively involved in the affairs of the school. "Our expenditure runs into nearly Rs 50 lakh, but it is donations by individuals, villages and governments that keep us going. We never have to go and buy foodstuff from the market. Help invariably comes from the most unexpected quarters and helps us meet our requirement," says Dr Darshana Devi, the acharaya of the school.

Spread over 15 quilas, the school has 46 simple classrooms in two blocks, a separate hostel block, big grounds and a ghat where the girls wash their clothes. Nothing complicated, the classrooms don’t boast of any state-of-art furniture but regular desks and benches. The 300-room hostel, too, is as simple as it can get with five beds in one room and an overhead loft where the girls keep their belongings.

A 9-am-to-4-pm schedule, strictly adhered to, guides the day scholars and hostellers through the day. The 1000-odd hostellers, however, have to be up at 4 am, irrespective of the season, and get back to their beds only around 9 pm.

The hostellers start their day on a religious note with a jagran followed by a yagya, and get two hours for self-study before school begins. In the class, they are taught the syllabi prescribed by the Haryana Board in addition to computers and sports activities, including kabaddi — a favourite with girls.

The students are also given training in self-defence by a trained instructor. The school also focuses on teaching yoga, preparing students for debates and painting and singing contests during holidays and leisure hours. After an hour of sports activities and prayers, two hours of self-study are slated before the students call it a day.

Dinner is served early and unlike modern hostels where cooking is done in messes and food is served in dining halls, here the girls are made to sit in rows on the school ground where the meals are served.

The school focuses on inculcating simplicity among the students. The authorities have banned anything fashionable as also radios, cameras and expensive watches, essentially anything that might distract students. Keeping a close watch on the girls are six wardens who reside on the school campus. There are 19 others too who live on the campus in a separate unit.

Carefully chosen by the school’s managing committee, the teachers come from nearby villages but no compromises have been made on their qualifications. "We prefer teachers from nearby areas and have a staff strength of 60. While JBT teachers are taken for the primary classes, those with B.Ed and MA qualifications are eligible to apply for the higher classes," says the acharaya.

Hostellers are not allowed leave during the session and the school maintains a record of the immediate family members, who can meet the students on Sundays.

The hostellers, however, don’t seem to mind these restrictions. All the way from Nepal, Menka, a Class V student and daughter of a tea-stall owner, says, "I have been here for three years now. The best thing about the gurukul is that it feels like home. We are given the best of everything and, in the company of my friends, I have never felt homesick here. My maternal aunt has also passed out of this school."

From Rajasthan, Parvati Nirman, a student of Class X, adds, "We come from a backward area of Rajasthan where drought made it difficult for us to get even two square meals a day. I came to the gurukul after studying in a village school till Class IV. I was in awe of everything in the gurukul, right from the building to the teaching and the schedule. It has instilled a lot of confidence in me and I am a different person today." And, this is the unanimous proclamation of a number of students who are studying at the gurukul.

Associated with the school for nearly 25 years, Dr Darshana began her career as a teacher and then, after the death of Swami Rattan Dev Saraswati in 1998, took over as the acharaya. Wedded to the cause of the mission initiated by her foster father, the Swamiji, Dr Darshana runs the show in this all-girls school taught entirely by women teachers.

"Thanks to the generosity of the villagers, we are well taken care of. Besides, the responsibility of the nearby villages towards the well-being of the girls is greater since we have girl students from as far as Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Nepal coming to us for their studies," she states.

Having given up family and relations to be able to give the school undivided attention, her life has come to be synonymous with the institution nurtured by her father. "We teach the girls to live life without the frills of luxury and ostentation, by focusing on building their moral values. We don’t want unnecessary distractions that would distract these young minds from the goals they have set for themselves. The Arya Samaj pattern of living governs their lifestyle in school," she adds.

The gurukul with its old world charm, far from the madding crowd, is a haven for these young girls who could have hardly afforded higher education, given their family circumstances. Away from home, at the gurukul, they are being empowered to search for an identity that has long eluded them.

Working towards a noble cause

The Surjewalas of Narwana have been closely linked with the gurukul ever since it came into being in 1976. Senior Congress leader and former Haryana Minister Shamsher Singh Surjewala has been contributing regularly towards the school’s finances.

"We have the satisfaction of knowing that in trying times, we will not be turned away by this family, which has always stood by us. Right since the school’s inception, they have been helping us in more ways than one. Financial support received right at the beginning enabled us to build a solid foundation. Now, we are building on that foundation with help from other sources," says the Principal of the school, Dr Darshana Devi.

While the senior Surjewala continues to do his bit for the school in whatever way he can, his son, president of the Indian Youth Congress and working president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, Randeep Singh Surjewala, too, chips in when required.

"The school stands for liberation of the girl child from the shackles of ignorance. It’s a noble cause and a dire need in states where women are still struggling for an identity. Education holds the key and any such mission deserves society’s support," the father-son duo maintains.

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