very good in reading both Hindi and English, as compared to the other children. I started with him. He brought his friend,  Abhijeet, from the next day and they both were regular with me for about a week.

 My routine with them comprised of doing few pages of Hansel and Gretel and then a couple of Hindi short stories. As they didn’t know the meaning of what was written in English, I would make them write word meanings which I would test orally the next day.

This continued smoothly for a while till suddenly on Monday I get to know that they have had a fight and Dharmendra isnt talking to Abhijeet. The next three days, Dharmendra lost any interest in what was happening. I would have to go looking for him every morning. He would walk off in the middle of Abhijeet reading a story and wouldn’t focus. I tried to sort out their issues many times but they wouldn’t tell what happened. After a point, I left it and told Dharmendra I wouldn’t force him to come. After that Dharmendra stopped coming. I continued with Abhijeet. A small boy,Ajamudeen, joined us a few days later. He would simply sit the entire time seeming interested. Unlike the other kids he didn’t come randomly, sit for 10-15 mins and then go away. So I started teaching him. I learnt that he can’t read or write and isn’t enrolled in school. So I did the alphabets with him which he had done before but wasn’t thorough with it. I didn’t get much time with him as he didn’t come for two days and then we had the movie. However he seemed interested in studying and asked me if I got books for him. I got printouts for him with pictures of animals and fruits so he could learn easily.

At the end of the internship I can say that I am very happy with Abhijeet’s progress.

-Salonie Dua (Economics Honours, Dayal Singh College)

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