Blackboard Warriors Of India
Vimla Kaul
Like the words of Todd Whitaker, being a passionate about teaching students every single day is not a cake walk. To be a teacher it takes a lot of dedication, love, patience and most importantly the determination to imbibe wisdom into young minds.
When the book of inspiring teachers of India is glanced upon, the first name that comes out, relevant to Todd Whitaker’s words is that of Vimla Kaul’s service as a teacher.
“The best thing about being a teacher is that it matters. The hardest thing about being a teacher is that it matters every day!” -Todd Whitaker.
Vimla Kaul is 81 years young and her relentless passion towards teaching is a great inspiration to budding teachers. She retired from a Government school twenty-one years back, yet never gave up on her teaching for under privileged students.
Vimla has dedicated all her life to teaching and educating young souls whom she believes are the future of the nation. Vimla and her husband once visited a village nearby Delhi and the thought of educating kids who could not afford schooling, stroke them.The journey of teaching kids, who came from poor families with parents who worked as drivers and maids, then began.
Vimla strongly believed the society would help her conduct classes but it all failed. After many failed attempts in establishing her classroom without any help from the society, she succeeded in making a Municipal Park the temple of education.
Migrating from one park to another had become nothing but a habit, yet Vimla never gave up. The primary focus was on four subjects which Vimla taught and believed were essential for real life namely, Mathematics, Science, English, and Environment.
With ten years of dedication and hard work, her mobile school was finally adopted by an NGO. The school consisted of four rooms with basic amenities. Vimla teaches one hundred and ten students today with the help of four teachers.
Her school teaches children up to the 2nd grade. The intervention of Vimla’s teaching into children’s life has made a remarkable change in their attitude. Children, who never imagined going to school, see Vimla as a blessing in disguise.
At the age of 81, most of the senior citizens prefer to relax and enjoy a retirement life with family, friends, and relatives; super heroes like Vimla will always be an inspiration to many among the few who believe in enlightening the lives of others by proving that age is just a number.
Young aspiring teachers, here is a message for you from Vimla: “We don’t turn anyone away, but we hold an entrance test to evaluate the standard of the child, and if they perform poorly at class examinations we hold them back. The most important thing is to teach them properly”.
