Teach For India

Today i have something big to announce. I am one of the few to have been selected as a fellow by a non profit organisation called 'Teach for India' (TFI) , To all those who don't know about TFI, it is a nascent organisation, just a year and a half old aiming at reducing inequity in the field of education. It falls under a world wide organization called 'Teach for All' and essentially is being run on the lines of a sister organization called 'Teach for America' (TFA) . TFI was conceived after a study conducted by McKinsey & Co as to whether the TFA model could be replicated in India and study gave two thumbs up :) . One can get more information by visiting www.teachforindia.org

Anyways that was about history TFI.I got to know about TFI when Kavita Rajagopalan, a representative of theirs, held an innocuous presentation at my company premises sometime in the month of Dec 09 inviting applications for the fellowship programme to be held in 2010. Once she had completed with her presentation, whether she had other people in the audience convinced or not she definitely had me convinced and guess she had done her job. The same day in the evening, I went and gathered as much information regarding TFI and what I read was something distinct and real. Over the next couple of days I made sure that I answered their questions in their application form in the best possible manner. The questions that they put forward to you really make one think and introspect whether one has really achieved something in life or not. That was the moment I realized that in my 23 years of existence there was nothing exemplary about and something that I could be really proud of. Anyways putting all my grey cells into action, got the answers ready and after a series of telephonic interview and agonising wait I got a mail informing that I had been shortlisted for the final round.

And really, on 28 Feb when I went to Thermax House, I was quite blown away by the people I met.Different individuals with different qualities, each one bringing something new to the table. I really felt that I was at the wrong place but it felt good that atleast TFI considered me at par with them. :) Anyways what followed was evaluations which were extremely professional, which included a GD,a case study, regular analytical and reasoning issues, a sample teaching exercise and finally the interview. My interview was taken by a program manager called Tom, who was part of the Teach First in the UK. And really the questions that he posed were really issues that one needed to search within himself. Reality can at times be such an illusion, that inspite of one thinking very high of himself, simple questions can put ones consciousness to shame. The entire process the convinced me as to how professional TFI was and how serious and committed they were towards the challenge that they had taken up and I really was sure that I had to be a part of this revolution and change rather than giving comments on talk shows and signing check books for NGOs. I went from the assessment centre not only as a more informative person but also as a person who had many difficult questions to answer. I badly wanted to be a part of TFI and when I got the mail confirming my admit I was ecstatic. My prayers had been answered...and I now embark on a journey of a different kind hoping to make a success of it...I am now officially an Teach for India Fellow for the year 2010 :)