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Ms. WAHEEDA
REHMAN the legend of Indian cinema and now Pratham's
Goodwill Ambassador made a short visit to Delhi to meet the
Pratham Delhi team on December 3.
We had heard stories of her involvement
with the Pratham team in Delhi and her success and hard work
with the fundraising effort in the US last summer. But we
were bowled over when we met this beautiful, dignified, elegant
and unassuming lady who has become an integral part of the
Pratham family.
 Straight
from the airport, without wasting anymore time Waheedaji decided
to go to the field. We drove right across the city, across
the Jamuna and into the narrow bye lanes of East Delhi to
a small field office in Rani Garden. Completely unaware of
who our very special guest was going to be, our young activists
were expecting a routine meeting with discussions on planning
and reporting. The very arrival of Waheedaji to our office
took everybody by surprise and there were giggles and awe-struck
faces all across the room.  Waheedaji smiled at the girls
and began to chat with them as if she had known them for a
long time. The sheer simplicity and the ease with which she
interacts made everybody comfortable. Soon there were stories
pouring from all corners of the room of how each one of them
joined Pratham and how did they feel in Pratham. The discussion
ranged from what is the future of Pratham to how Waheedaji
got her first role in films.
Waheedaji was very keen to see the new accelerated reading
technique in action. So we took her to one of the bridge classes
in Hathishala (a large slum on the banks of river Jamuna).
She walked through the narrow and densely crowded muhallahs
just like one of us, completely unperturbed by the crowds
that were gathering behind her. As we reached the class, children
loudly welcomed "Aunty". Excitedly the teacher read
a story and showed her how the children use the "barahkhadi"
chart. Suddenly a child got up and presented Waheedaji with
a small rose. Waheedaji smiled her famous smile and hugged
the child. "Do let me know how these children progress"
she told the teacher. "I want to see these children reading
soon."
Waheedaji's two days were spent with Pratham's teachers and
children and the evenings were spent with Pratham supporters
in the city. One evening, Mrs Manju Bharatram, a Trustee of
Pratham-Delhi invited a small gathering in her home where
Dr. Madhav Chavan spoke about Pratham's latest experiment
with reading across the country. The guest list included teachers
and professors from Sri Ram School, Pratham donors and Trustees.
Mr. Arun Bharatram, a leading figure in the Indian Corporate
world and an active member of CII (Confederation of Indian
Industries) offered many suggestions and help to take the
Pratham movement forward. The next evening was at Mr. Lalit
Nirula's home Waheedaji shared her experiences of last one
and a half years in Pratham.
The 4th December evening was planned
at Mr. Lalit Nirula's (MD of Nirulas group of hotels and Trustee
of Pratham) residence. This time Waheedaji spoke passionately
of her experiences with Pratham, of what she had seen and
of the hope and possibilities that lay ahead. Listening to
her, we were struck by how wonderfully she embodied the "spirit"
of Pratham, and how much she seemed to have become a part
of the movement. In her simple and powerful way, she appealed
to the trustees to bring in more and more people to join this
mission.
The visit of Ms. Waheeda Rehman
was really a great motivator for the entire Pratham Delhi
team. We await her next visit and meeting more people in Delhi
to contribute towards Universal Primary Education.
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