The trendsetter

With a population of around 1,000,Dharmala,a village dependent primarily on agriculture,is proud of Jadhav. If he clears his exams this year,the village will get its first graduate. But Jadhav has dreams beyond his own. For the past two years,he has been holding free tuition classes in Dharmala for children of Classes I to VI.

To these children,Jadhav is the man who knows everythingmaths,English,harmonium,even the Bhagvad Gita.

But its been a tough journey for Jadhav. When he had doubts after school,he had no one to turn to. My Class 12 percentage was low and I was upset. But I realised that had my fundamentals been clear,I would have scored much better. That is when I decided to give free tuitions to students of my village so that they do not have to suffer the way I did, he says.

The results are showing. Class V student Pushpa Solunkhe is now preparing for her scholarship exams and Archana Kadam,who couldnt read English,now sings in the school assembly prayer in the language. All of us practise together and that helped me a lot, says a shy Pushpa.