Lakshmi Ramamurthy

A young lady teaching in the same school, though eager, had to be coaxed to come over to Bengaluru for a week-long training program. Her in-laws refused, but upon intervention from the schoolmanagement, they finally relented. The girl went for the training, returned after three weeks, began teaching in the school, and was loved by her students. But her in-laws had the last laugh by pulling her out of the institution. Constant taunts that included, “You are not respecting us because you are now earning money,” hurt the 26-year-old, and she chose to buy happiness by surrendering instead of fighting back.

These are two sides of the same society’s coin. Whoever said kids from the marginalized segments of society would not study well must think again. And whoever believed women are empowered across new-India must think again.

The underlying message of the two stories is that the winds of change have begun to blow, albeit slowly. It also underscores, as I will tell you soon, that public-private initiative at an individualized level is a possibility. If more such schools spring up, kids in India’s 665,000 villages will soon see the fruits of education. And that is when real reform will occur, which will change the face of India in the next 20 years.

All this has begun to happen in Kaveripattinam.

Kaveripattinam is a revenue block in the Krishnagiri district in northern Tamil Nadu. It has 36 panchayat villages and is located on NH-7, halfway between Bengaluru and Salem. It must be happening in other parts of India, as well, and it’s an experiment worth trying.

So, who is behind this initiative?

Lakshmi Ramamurthy lives in Bengaluru with her husband,

Dharmarajan, her younger child, her parents, and her in-laws: all seven of them. That is if you count out her son, a sociology scholar who is doing his master’s in business administration in France. Lakshmi has always been ahead of her time and found a like-minded partner in Dharmarajan. Even before their marriage, 25 years ago, the couple had decided that they would adopt a child and have one of their own.

That is how Lakshmi’s daughter, Krithi, came into the family in her fifth month. The young lady, after a diploma in hotel management, decided to work for a BPO. Dharmarajan, an IIT-alumnus like his brothers, and Lakshmi, a CA, like her sister, wanted their children to follow their calling.