Each Sunday, they head to her school in Karnal

Parveen Arora in Karnal

Kirti Gupta is just 21 and wants to be known for what she does on each Sunday: conduct free classes for slum children — 87 of them. And she does it with a discipline that suits her pupils: a dress and a school bag. A bachelor of dental surgeon (BDS) final year student of Maharishi Markaneshwar University, Mulana, Kirti is determined to cross her financial limitation and has arranged an autorickshaw to ferry the students from their homes to the classroom located in Karneshwar Mahadev Mandir in Sector 7, Karnal.

In her small steps towards setting up the Sunday school, she has been helped by 10 others, including her class friends, housewives and teachers. Her volunteers come as per their convenience. Music, too, finds a place.

“My mother taught children of maids and started an NGO ‘Pukar Wakt Ki’ in April 2014,” says Kirti. “That is my inspiration,” says Kirti. “I started off with seven students from my home in Sector 13 in February, 2016, and now I have 87 of them. My father and his friends have helped me in meeting some of the expenditure for 11 students who are studying in various schools of the city.” 

These students recently went on an educational trip to religious places of Kurukshetra. “We conducted a quiz competition about this trip,” says Kirti. “I am proud of my daughter,” says Sushma Gupta, Kirti’s mother. “At a time, when children are busy on social media, my daughter is doing something substantial for society,” she says.

“I am grateful to Kirti didi, who has been providing us all kinds of assistance to educate us,” says Sneha, a student of Guru Teg Bhadur School. Similarly, Monika, a student of Sant Nika Singh Public School, says the Sunday school gives them an opportunity to broaden their outlook.