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For a woman aspiring to glow in life
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Sudar continues to touch as many lives as it can, bridging small gaps in ways that make a big difference, writes PAVITHRA KRISHNAN
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"SOMETIMES I'D go to the market in town with my mother, and get stuck in a traffic jam. In the middle of — noise and bustle, one question would keep coming back to me... in this big crowd of people- who am I?" — G Nagarani, 20 year-old college student, Madurai
Who am I? So often in our society today that question is circumscribed by gender, by caste or community, by financial standing or educational qualification. But what happens to those who define themselves just by their dreams? What happens when a young person looks within and discovers herself, the person she wants to be and can become?
The answers to some of these questions can be found within the four walls of the Sudar Foundation where Nagamani and a small group of other young women are well on their way to discovering all of it for themselves.
Among these students is young Priya who dreams of becoming the Chief Minister. Jayakani a college rank-holder says she has learnt that women hold the key to their own progress. There is Sofia Laren who used to be scared of venturing outside alone. Or Benita Rani and several others gradually trying to overcome their habitual shyness and harbouring dreams of becoming everything from teachers to bureaucrats.
These girls are college students enrolled in various programmes at Sudar that have helped them discover and follow their dreams.
Sudar Foundation is a registered society started an year ago in Madurai. It is dedicated to furthering education, empowerment and work opportunities for women from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Foundation is collectively managed by a seven member volunteer board comprising socially conscious professionals from the city whose expertise ranges from academic teaching and social work to law and financial management.
Specifically Sudar looks to assist women from low-income families who are either in the middle of, or about to begin a college education. According to Dr Vidya, experienced educationalist and Secretary of the Foundation who also runs their highly popular Teacher-Training programme, "Sudar seeks to integrate these women into the knowledge economy by helping them access basic technical and non-technical skills."
Sudar's focus is not on providing scholarships, but on creating a comfortable and resource-rich environment for these students to learn, grow and interact in. Sudar is also equipped with a small library and recreation room where students do their homework, study, read newspapers, play chess, carom or even the guitar. For a very nominal monthly fee, Sudar offers courses in Teacher-Training, Professional Skills, Spoken English, Basic Computers and Tailoring. Classes are taught by a small team of volunteers, and by some of the students themselves.
Like the twinkle-eyed high-spirited Lavanya, who joined Sudar to learn English and now teaches computer skills besides shouldering administrative duties. Sudar believes that introducing student-teachers increases comfort levels within the classroom, and also boosts self-confidence while helping students cultivate responsibility.
"Sudar is like one big family," says Meena, indebted to the centre, "I love being here and want to find a way of giving back to it someday."
Sudar also conducts workshops for working women in collaboration with corporate offices in the city that cover topics such as basic healthcare and time management. The idea is to build bridges that link marginalized young women with the resources they require to develop professionally and to create a mutually beneficial community network that connects aspiring and deserving students with potential employers and local career opportunities.
The centre is located in the quiet residential neighbourhood of Bibikulam right across from a rambling children's park. It is a pleasant two-storey building, with red flooring and walls lined with windows through which tall palm trees wave lazy-fingered fronds against a blue sky. Everything about the classes here seems touched with light. Inside one of the upstairs classrooms a group of about ten young women with attentive faces sit cross-legged on the floor, their pens poised above open notebooks.
This is a professional skills class where they are learning how to put together their resumes. Students at Sudar come from different yet similar backgrounds and each has her story to share. Their fathers are drivers, sweet stall owners, school librarians, electricians and clerks, their mothers for the most part are housewives who have had little exposure to the world and no work experience. Majority of the students here are first generation women in their families pursuing higher education.
What does Sudar look for in its students? "We look for a willingness to learn," says Dr Roopa Ravi Kumar a lecturer from Lady Doak's Social Work department and an active member of Sudar's Board. She says though local colleges do their best to integrate students from low-income families, some inevitably remain intimidated and inhibited by classmates from privileged backgrounds. "We wanted Sudar to be a platform where these girls could finally blossom," she adds.
And blossom they do.
Standing at the blackboard is Pandi Selvi, a tall, young woman with an attractive smile.
She is Sudar's program manager and one of its two scholarship students. She teaches some of the classes here and is a soon-to-be final year MBA student at American College.
She has two younger brothers, a mother who cannot work because of health problems and a father who has stopped supporting the family. To provide for them Selvi abandoned dreams of earning a Masters and took on a marketing position with an automobile dealership in the city.
It was during this time that Selvi met an American woman on a Study Abroad Programme who recognized her burning ambition and decided to help her.
She and the others who came forward to help Selvi realized that there must be hundreds of other young women like her, brimming with talent and unfulfilled dreams.
And that is how Sudar began- with one person wanting to help another, and in the process inspiring more people to help even more people in the same way.
Today Selvi is among the top three rank-holders in her class. "Sudar is a very fitting name," she says smiling, "It's a Tamil word that means flame, and this place really does give light to people's lives."
Sudar hopes to offer an entrepreneurial skills package, and to get government certification for its teacher -training programme soon. It wants to bring in a stream of experts from diverse backgrounds as volunteer guest faculty and develop partnerships with both colleges and corporate organizations.
At present, Sudar is a fledgling effort with its staff, resources, space and outreach limited.
While figuring out the best way to make its programmes self-sustainable, Sudar continues to touch as many lives as it can, bridging small gaps in ways that make a big difference.
To volunteer, enrol or help sponsor a student or for further information contact the Sudar office at 2527147.
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Metro Plus
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