AIM for Seva

The Will to Persevere

Thirteen-year-old Charan Mani Bhovi told us he wanted to go home. “The studies are very hard here. I don’t know English, and all the lessons are in English,” he said in Tamil, his mother tongue. He was holding the hand of another boy. “My younger brother, Dhanush,” he said. Eleven-year-old Dhanush Mani Bhovi smiled eagerly. Even after Charan let go of his hand, the younger boy hovered close to him.

The boys’ parents are no more; their sister and her husband helped look after them after their parents’ death. Charan wanted to go and work in a car workshop—like his older cousin brother, whom both boys adore. As we talked, the warden came over and told Charan that his sister had called. The boys’ cousin brother had had an accident and was in a critical condition. Silence fell. “We have to go home,” Charan said. This time, the reason was a different, grave one.

There was no outward show of grief; Charan was calm and collected. As the duo bade us goodbye, several questions raced through my mind: Would the boys return to the Chatralayam? Or would Charan go to work in a car workshop? I also couldn’t help wondering: For a boy who faced a personal crisis with such calm maturity, would English prove to such a daunting hurdle?

I silently wished that the boys would come back to the Chatralayam—and experience what I hoped would be a wholesome childhood, and grow into mature, successful individuals.

Five months after our meeting, we learnt that Charan and Dhanush had returned to the Chatralayam. To tackle their English lessons, they were relying on help from the warden and fellow students at the Chatralayam. The newfound habit of reading storybooks was an added bonus.

DVG AIM for Seva Chatralaya for Girls

 Yelahanka, Bengaluru District, Karnataka

Inaugurated: 2023

Coordinator:  Swamini Suddhavidyananda Saraswati

Building Donor: Smt. Shobha & Sri. Eashwar Money  (Ground Floor)

Smt. Jyothi Venkatakrishna and Dr. K. N. Venkatakrishna  (First Floor)

Swami Dayananda AIM for Seva Chatralayam for Girls

Madanpalle village, Makloor taluk, Nizamabad district, Telangana

Inauguration:  2023

Coordinator:  Swami Satyatmananda Saraswati

Land Donor: Smt. Sujata Prasann Deshpande

Building Donor: Dr. Sri Vasudevan, M.D. (USA) (Ground Floor)

Dr. Sudhakar Goud Satoor and family (First Floor)

 

Swami Dayananda AIM for Seva Chatralayam for Girls

Padavedu Village, Tiruvannamalai District, Tamil Nadu

Inauguration: 2023

Coordinator:  Swamini Suddhavidyananda Saraswati

Land Donor: Aanandam Charitable Trust

Building Donor: Sri. P. Rama Ramalingam and Smt.Vijayaa Ramalingam, Upland, California, USA

Sponsor—Books/Uniforms/Meals/Complete Education and Care