HARSHADKUMAR R. JOSHI

Harshadkumar Joshi began his career as a teacher in 1980 in a village that had about 2000 people belonging to many educationally backward communities. Although he stayed here for only one year, he made a simple change that ensured regularity of attendance. He noted that children had to help out with farm work. Since he could not do much about this, he proposed to the parents a plan, for the children of the upper primary classes. Helping out on the farm would also have a timetable. He would go with the children to the farms according to the timetable, early in the morning. When it was time for school, he would move with the children to the school. The parents liked the idea. For instance, when it was cotton picking season, Harshadkumar and the children would reach the farms at six in the morning. Their main job was to collect cotton pods. They would finish by 9.30 in the morning. The children enjoyed the  schedule, and soon the school was crowded. Surprisingly, this tradition of full

enrolment got established very quickly, and continues. Co-curricular Activities at Kharaghoda Junagam Primary School In 1981 he was transferred to Kharaghoda primary school. The village had Patel and Koli families (with a total population of about 3000), and there was a lot of religious activity. He used to go with the villagers to sing  Bhajans in their  Bhajan society. The school did not have any musical instruments. Harshadkumar’s participation made the people realise that musical instruments were necessary for the school, and so they arranged for some instruments. These proved to be very useful in teaching the children poetry. They also helped Harshadkumar train the children in acting, action songs, children’s songs, drama and garba. There came a time when the school’s show became an essential part of any  government-organised cultural programme or any religious

programme conducted in the village. Since Harshadkumar made the training a regular part of the prayer assembly, the children came to the school on time without any instructions or goading. They used to rehearse on their own to present such events. Not one child of the school-going age group stayed at home. Harshadkumar believes that  “music is my winning edge. I can play any musical instrument easily.” Over the last 20 years, many children have become experts, especially in playing the harmonium, the tabla and the manjira. The cultural events on national festivals used to be so entertaining and so long that they lasted three hours. Many of these programmes have been video recorded and are available for viewing. Some children have also won prizes in garba and ras competitions. The school has a large collection of ras and garba, welcome songs, dhun, farewell songs. Harshadkumar is also fond of physical exercise. He has been in charge of a ‘school of exercise’ for about 30 years, and takes the children to this school every Saturday so that they can undertake various aerobics exercises, indigenous exercises, and also use the equipment available there.  The children are given gram (mung) and jaggery as snacks. The school did not have a single tree in 1981. There are about 30 huge trees now. Most of them are neem trees. The children even today prepare the extract from the new leaves of 22 neem in the month of chaitra, and drink it, since it is supposed to increase the resistance power of the human body. They also collect the seeds, prepare oil and sell it. Thus the school has created a source of income. (Note: The seeds and oil are sold to an Ahmedabad-based company, Nimka Oil.) Working for the Community Most of the villagers work in salt production units. These people are badly affected by skin diseases. With the help of the school children, Harshadkumar prepared protective footwear with cushion-like soles. These handmade shoes were given to the parents of the children studying in the school. The shoes proved to be a blessing. Such activities helped him win their trust and affection. Fortunately, shoe making became a tradition with the passage of time. The community learned to make the shoes he had designed, on their own. In the school, using locally available resources, Harshadkumar undertook a project to demonstrate how salt is prepared. When the students presented this project in a science fair, they won the first prize. First they gathered saline ground water in a tin. The tin had a hole at the bottom water through which the water could flow on to an iron plate with a wide surface. Alum was added to the water to gather the impurities. The water was kept in the sun for one week. It evaporated, leaving a thick viscous layer of salt. This was cut into pieces. Through this activity the students also covered information on how bromine, magnesium and sodium bicarbonate are made. This learning was then extended into symbolic representation like ‘NaCl’ (sodium chloride or salt). During the monsoon, water from a few rivers used to gather in the desert, stopping all transportation to and from the village. The desert would become a marsh with pockets of deep water, for long periods of time. Since this was a hazard, Harshadkumar trained children in swimming and rescue. There have been instances of trained school children saving drowning people. Such activities have been linked to lessons in environment and physical education. Physical Development at Shri Raghuveersinhji Primary School In 2001 Harshadkumar was transferred to another school. This place did not have a single tree. Today there are 50 trees and a garden with a variety of flowers like jasmine and champa.

The special feature of this garden is that there are many useful herbs—vamjo for diabetes, shankhpushpi for mental alertness, asopalav and kel for auspicious occasions like weddings, garmalo for fever,  ardusi for coughs and aloe vera for burns. There is a drip irrigation system in the garden. The students of Classes 5-7 are so familiar with the herbs that they know their names and medicinal uses. They use this knowledge whenever needed. Vegetables are also grown in the garden; these are made available to the children. 23 Navchetna Shibir and Art Excel Course Harshadkumar has devised an all-round training programme for children in the 8 to 15age group. This was motivated by the complaints he had collected. “My son does not move away from the television.” “My daughter hates study. If you ask her, she gets angry.” “My son does not put anything in the right place. If you say something, he disobeys.” “My son does not like any vegetables.” The key assumption Harshadkumar makes is that children are an endless source of energy and enthusiasm. His objectives are therefore to encourage children to express their joy and enthusiasm, guide them towards creative activities, sensitize them to good and bad habits, develop their selfconfidence and teach breathing exercises and yoga. These six-day courses have become very popular and many children claim they have been helped.