Janee Ashok Redekar wants to be a cop when she grows up. The 12-year-old can’t help admiring the policewomen she sees every day at her neighbourhood police station. “They can solve any problem, they are so brave,” Redekar says. But her two teachers, Vinaya Vidyadhar Shirdharkar and Geeta Rao Bugare, believe Redekar can do even better, that she will have different goals in another four years.
Redekar spends most of her day at her school, the NM Joshi Marg High School in Mumbai, where she is one of the oldest among more than 100 girls sponsored by Project Nanhi Kali, the education programme for underprivileged girls run by the KC Mahindra Education Trust. This is Redekar’s third year as a nanhi kali, which translates roughly as young bud.
This class V student’s enthusiasm for studies is obvious the first time I meet her after her academic support class. After normal school hours, she works on her weak areas, math and English, in this class. Math, Marathi and drawing are her favourites, she says.
Redekar’s school uniform is a neatly ironed and starched blue striped kurta, a white churidaar and a blue cotton dupatta. Every few minutes, she looks at her wristwatch; it has a big dial and a thick faux leather strap that covers her thin wrist. Redekar responds to every question with a smile, and thinks before she answers.
Girl power: Janee Redekar spends some time after school helping her mother sell vegetables. Photo: Abhijit Bhatlekar
Around 15 years ago, her grandfather moved from Kolhapur, Maharashtra, to Mumbai in search of work. The family just about manages to survive in the city. Redekar’s father doesn’t have a permanent job. Maya, her mother, sells vegetables on a pavement near her school. She says the Nanhi Kali sponsorship was a dream come true for her family. “As a child, Janee was never interested in studies. When we first came here, she would just roam around all day with children from the chawl (area) where we live, and not attend school,” Maya says.
At the time, the family’s income was an average of Rs400-600 a month. The other two children—a son and another daughter—were also spending little time in school, with the parents away from home all day looking for work.