Inspiring: The gift of Education

I happened to read an e-paper from Times of India and thanks to my alumni for forwarding the same to me. I was really happy to read the entire article, how Mr. Channa Raju struggled getting his eduction. The institutes, colleges, friends, mentors who played a key role in molding him and what he did back to society from his experiences...



Servie @ Ashram

Raju discovered the headmaster visited the ashram on Sundays to serve the needy and felt motivated to join him. He walked 14 kms to the ashram every Sunday for two years to render his services there.

Free Education @ Sri Sathya Sai College & sponsors

This was a stepping stone to enter the portals of the Sri Sathya Sai College after his schooling two years later.
He went on to get his Science degree there and then found a sponsor in two batchmates — Praveen Raja and Naveen Raja — which saw him get an engineering degree in aeronautics. He received a scholarship to get his Master’s in aerospace engineering. He then went on to get a PhD at IIT Madras.

And then...

Raju came back and set up a school near Arehalli in June 2001 and called it Anjana Vidya Kendra. A tile and log structure built at a cost of Rs 1 lakh served as a building where 33 children between five and eight years of age began their schooling.

Prompt support...

Funds from his friends came in readily. Today, the school is spread over 1.5 acres, has eight classrooms, a yoga hall, library, science centre and infrastructure, comparable with many good school in the city. There are 150 children studying in the seven grades in the school. The only fee charged here is a princely one day’s labour a month.

Raju expectations...

What does Raju expect in return for this gift of free education? “I want them to become good engineers, scientists and businessmen, and lead a good life. I also want them to help empower others like themselves with education,” he says. Raju is inspiring many children in the village to come to school, and in them, hopefully, are more like him. As he says, “Education is a gift of life”.

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