The nine year old boy travelled nearly ten kilometres to school everyday, first on his father’s bicycle, then on a crowded bus & then on foot. After school he used to beg for leftovers of used chalk from his class teacher Baijayanti Tewari, who was at first amused at the request. Later she was surprised when she learnt of his intentions – he would teach the students of the school he had founded under the guava tree in the backyard of his house. Not only that, he firmly believed himself to be the Headmaster of his school. The thought came to his mind when he found his friends foregoing education and simply loitering about or being involved in small jobs to support their families. So, he made up his mind to teach such children in the evenings, after he came back from school.
As Babar grew up, the school too meanwhile graduated from under the guava tree to under a tin shade and is now a three-storied concrete building with many modern amenities like a computer lab, a digital classroom, a library, which are a novelty in the extremely backward village of Bhabta in Murshidabad. It was aptly named ‘Ananda Siksha Niketan’ (the home of joyful learning) and Babar Ali continues to be its Headmaster, as the school completes twenty-one years of its journey on 19th October, a journey synonymous with the story of his life.
The journey of Ananda Siksha Niketan and its subsequent rise to glory has been made possible by many well-wishers from the government levels, charitable institutions, philanthropic individuals, not only from Babar’s own state but states across India & the globe. He remembers with gratitude Shri Jiban Krishna Sadhukhan and Shri Sabuj Baran Sarkar, two government officials who came forward to help him initially but became constant companions throughout the years. In 2020, the erstwhile President of India, Shri Ramnath Kovind, mentioned Babar Ali and his work in his speech towards the nation on the eve of the Republic Day, on 25 January, 2020. Angelina Jolie found it noteworthy to write about Babar in the same tone of admiration as Malala Yousafzai in ‘Know Your Rights and Claim Them’, a book by Amnesty International. The story of his life has been included in the syllabi of many states across India & the globe.
In a country where education is an unattainable dream for many, due to financial constraints and the number of school dropouts continue to be a cause of concern for the government, Babar Ali’s journey has been praiseworthy to say the least. As a public speaker, he continues to inspire many individuals & organisations with his mission ‘Education for All’.
