Story Of Nandini And Arathi

Nandini and Arathi are both migrants from Nepal, who moved to Bangalore with their family. They are both from GHPS, Akkitimmanahalli and study in the I standard. Nandini’s parents, Chotu and Susheela, as well as Arathi’s parents, Ramesh and Vimala engage themselves in odd jobs which do not generate enough income for the family. As they are the only girls in their class who speak Nepali, Nandini and Arathi have been very close since day one.

Most of the students in Akkitimmanahalli School are migrants and the Head Master was of the opinion that starting the Nanhi Kali project in this place wouldn’t help much as the students keep shifting places with their family every six months. But the Nanhi Kali team decided to take the risk and move forward with the project. The team vowed to give their best and help the children score good marks in the Endline assessment tests.

The most difficult task for Community Activist, Shardha, was to teach Kannada to Nandini and Arathi who could speak only in Nepali. Since Shardha was not well-versed with the Nepali language, she taught the girls Hindi first, and then Kannada. On a surprise visit, the Nanhi Kali Coordinators were amazed to see that the girls were able to write the Kannada alphabets. Sharadha managed to accomplish this by devoting all her extra time to these children in addition to the hours spent regularly in the Academic Support Centres. Along with this achievement, both Nandini and Arathi succeeded in scoring high marks in their Endline assessment tests. The Head Master was delighted with the results and appreciated the team’s efforts through a letter of appreciation.