As I woke up at 5 am all those years ago, an 11 year old shy girl slowly putting on a new school uniform, I didn’t know what to expect from that day and many days that lay ahead. With my mother scurrying around in the kitchen, my father quickly rushing off with my backpack to walk me to the bus stop and my sister turning over deep in her slumber to mumble “All the best on your first day” before immediately falling back to sleep, I maintained a stoic expression amidst the chaos surrounding me. At last, I went to bid my mother an adieu one last time, something caught my eye. A blue-grey box with a carefree smiley face and its tongue peeking out lying among the many tools and apparatus my mother used to concoct her recipes every day. Preoccupied and frowning, I turned my head down and accompanied my father to the bus stop.
Finally, 20 minutes of solace. The morning had started with the mandatory introduction to the class. After a few minutes of mild interest in my direction, everybody’s life resumed its natural course and I took a seat in the corner concentrating on memorizing names and faces. It was break time now and I finally had the opportunity to open my bag and check what I get to eat for lunch. Packed neatly in a shiny piece of foil, my mother had made me the staple paratha along with some achar. It was comforting to see at least one familiar thing even if it was home-cooked food. I carefully took the piece of foil out and was met with an aroma that only my mother can manage when she cooks for us. The food was surprisingly warm, fresh and moist as if it had just made its way out of the kitchen to my lunchbox. I took the first bite, gratefully, and I heard, “ Hey, can I have some of that?” Startled, I looked at the source of the voice, a bespectacled girl with bushy hair and kind eyes looking back at me. I gleefully agreed and we sat together sharing food. Unbeknownst to me, it was the start of a 12 year-long friendship.
The next day, as I made my way to the kitchen to bid adieu to my mother, I looked at the smiley face with its tongue peeking out again staring back at me and looked at the name “Freshwrapp” adjoining it. And I cracked a smile remembering the break time the day before. The simple, playful yellow face put me at ease instantly.
I realized it's not a big deal.
My childhood experience with Freshwrapp was one of the many profound ways that ABG has touched my life. The Aditya Birla Group has entrenched itself meaningfully into our lives and has now become an indispensable part of our economy, society and culture. There is no Indian out there, who isn’t aware of their work and wasn’t impacted by it.
Humble Beginnings and Valuable Lessons
In 2018, I worked as a Spoken English Trainer in a project that was a collaboration between the Delhi Government and my organization. During the project, as trainers, we had to combine instructor-based training and computer-based training using an English language learning software.
The school I was assigned was in its first year of function, so they were still in the process of setting up. As a result, some of the requirements for the project were not available, like a system and projector in the classroom. Another major challenge I faced was that the school was one of the first schools opened under the Delhi Government’s initiative and had a diverse student body with different backgrounds and soft skill levels. Some students spoke English fluently while some of their peers struggled to string sentences because they had only studied in Hindi medium schools before or lacked the self-confidence to speak in the language.
Despite these pressures, my only goal was to make the language, not just a medium of communication but a valuable skill for those who already had a grasp of it and those who didn’t.
As far as the resources were concerned, I arranged them with my organization's help. However, the hardest part still lay ahead.
The students I was training were in Class 11 so they all had high levels of stress due to academics. Starting from free-writing and goal setting sessions to help them unwind and reflect after a long day, I aimed at building a safe environment for the students to be able to speak their minds. The course pedagogy allowed us to integrate activities and games to make the sessions interactive. I went a step further to supplement their vocabulary using visual aids, mimicking actions and vocabulary games. We also used the classes as a medium to unleash their creativity, through skits simulating real-life scenarios where they will have to apply what they learn. By far, the students enjoyed those sessions the most where they got to demonstrate their curiosity and originality. Discussions on real-world issues as well as abstract, and philosophical topics of interest opened my eyes to how knowledge-seeking these kids were and how they can become unstoppable if they had the means to effectively communicate their ideas.
Slowly but surely, the three months came to an end. The students were interviewed for evaluation by external examiners both at the beginning and end of the project. I was delighted to later learn that every single student had improved and their CEFR levels had risen as well. A true moment of happiness for me came when I learned later that students who had initially struggled were participating in public speaking, answering questions in class and had overall improved academically as well. When I had started the project, I would have never foreseen the impact these kids would have on me. To say the experience was fulfilling would not justify the impact it had on me. However, I will forever remain proud of what we achieved given the multitude of challenges that we faced and overcame.
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