Bengaluru abounds in construction workers who have migrated to the city from various parts of Karnataka. While these workers toil hard day and night to fulfil the dreams of our new homes, they are unable to build any future for their children. Amidst travelling to and fro from their place, these construction workers are unable to fend for them in the truest sense of the term – providing education for them is a far-fetched dream. As a result, a lot of these young minds get lost in the darkness; without having the opportunity to see the light of education.
Saraswathi Padmanabhan and her husband, Shyamal Kumar have decided to paint a different picture altogether for the children of the construction workers. Their initiative, Diya Ghar, aims to fill their lives with the ray of hope and learning. Speaking to The Logical Indian, in an exclusive interview, Saraswathi chalks out Diya Ghar’s journey and how they have ventured to make the lives of the children of the construction workers.
‘What inspired you to take up this initiative?’ The Logical Indian had asked Saraswathi. She smiled and replied, “Honestly, I had never given that so much thought. But now that you are asking, I think I have always been exposed to the culture of social service since my childhood.”
“Our birthdays were celebrated in a unique fashion; we were taken to children’s homes on those days and celebrated them with the children there,” she explained. “I think it is from there that the desire to serve the society, especially underprivileged children came inside me,” she added.
Also, her parents have been actively involved with community service and that had a telling impact on young Saraswathi. Growing up in an environment like this, social service came naturally to her.
“My first job was in Mumbai where I worked for two years with street children ministry which was associated with the Bombay Baptist Church,” she said. “When we moved to the USA, a part of my time was also spent in working with the children of the prisoners. This was again an initiative by the church. We arranged programmes for the children and were involved in several other welfare initiatives.”
However, this was not her full-time commitment, Saraswathi said. After their short stint in the USA, the couple returned back to India. In Saraswathi’s words, “We knew that God was calling us back for a special work.”
Nurturing their dream to bring about a change
After the couple came back to India, one thing they were clear on their mind was the fact that they would want to bring about a change in the lives of underprivileged children.
Saraswathi hails from the background of management and accounting, she had worked as an auditor in a USA-based firm. However, she changed her field completely when she started learning to counsel from United Theological College, Bengaluru. “I wanted to bring my counselling skills into my work with the underprivileged children,” Saraswathi explained.
But they did not start the NGO right away. Saraswathi was working with an adoption agency for a year and later she was also teaching counselling part time in colleges. “I took a break from teaching when we were blessed with our first son and then two wonderful daughters,” she said.
In their ten-year-long stay in Bengaluru, the couple had always wanted to work with the construction workers and their children. “Couple of years ago, there was a settlement of construction workers near Shyamal’s workplace in Bellandur. We used to go there accompanied by our domestic help because we did not know Kannada. Every Saturday, we used to pick up the children from their shelter, give them milk and biscuits and teach them songs,” she said.
The couple has been involved in several community services but their plan was to take this to the next level after few years. “We were waiting for your youngest to grow up a little more, but by the beginning of the last year, we both felt that God was directing us to start with this venture – and we were no one to deny His wishes,” she explained.
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