Delhi man teaches poor kids under flyover, netizens say 'shaping young India'

A Delhi teacher is winning laurels for imparting knowledge to his students underneath a flyway despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Satyendra Pal was seen conducting the classes using the whiteboard and seating the children in the shade of the flyway under construction. His pupil had no gadgets or expensive devices for remote learning during the pandemic. Therefore, Pal decided to make efforts and teach them in a makeshift class under the capital’s bridge. Taking to his official Twitter handle, Indian Forest Service officer Susanta Nanda shared the uplifting images of Pal teaching his students, as he appreciated the teacher for going the extra mile to impart education to the young minds. Nanda captioned the images using lines by the famous Hindi poet Dushyant Kumar, “Ho kahin bhi aag, lekin aag jalni chahiye,’’ translating to ‘Doesn’t matter under what circumstances, but keep this fire burning.’ 

In the images, the mathematics graduate Pal is seen standing against the grey concrete wall as the underprivileged kids sat in a row attentive to his lectures. The wall can be seen scribbled with English letters as a miniature whiteboard rests against it. There’s a chair kept some distance away from the bridge for Pal to sit, and some bicycles are seen stationed against the sidewall of the under-construction flyway, which presumably belongs to some of the students who commuted to their humble makeshift classroom. In a rectangle-shaped opening under the bridge, the teacher and the kids are engrossed learning, cutting out the bustling and noise from the street. “This is Satyendra Pal, from East Delhi, who taught several children under the metro flyover. Hails from Uttar Pradesh and holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics,” IFS Nanda wrote. 

Internet says shaping 'young India' 

Admiring his enthusiasm and his passion to educate the kids despite the coronavirus pandemic and challenges of not having many resources, the internet said that Pal was shaping a ‘new India’. “Wherever the location, they can change the destiny of the country,” a commenter said. “And slippers dutifully kept outside sitting area,” another duly noted. “The way students line up their sleepers in a proper sequence is showing their level of discipline and learning something new,” one other pointed out.