This story which I came across today is more researched and detailed. Very inspiring indeed. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1140829/jsp/frontpage/story_18775600.jsp Best flower in dad's garden - At St. Stephen's, 'something has changed' CHARU SUDAN KASTURI
Rohit Kumar Yadav in the main corridor of St. Stephen's College, where his father and grandfather have mowed the lawns for decades. Pictures by Prem Singh New Delhi, Aug. 28: When Harish Kumar Yadav, the veteran gardener at St. Stephen's College, heard his eldest son Rohit wanted to study at his workplace, the father had just one piece of advice to offer. "I told him, 'just pick your friends with care'," Yadav said. "I studied only till Class V. What more could I tell him?" The gardener knows St. Stephen's like few do -- his father mowed the lawns at the college for over 30 years before Yadav took over in 1994, and the family has lived in an outhouse on the institution's campus for close to half a century. But last Saturday, Yadav watched stunned, his advice upended. Some of the country's young academic cream did the picking. They elected Rohit, a Hindi-speaking, government-school educated boy, as their leader by an emphatic margin of 134 votes. Rohit's victory as president of the St. Stephen's students' body is the story of a young man's ambition, his father's dreams and the social barriers that can make institutional pillars like the Yadav family feel like outsiders in their home. But it also the evolutionary tale of one of India's premier colleges that began in 1881 when a handful of missionaries rented rooms in Old Delhi's Chandni Chowk to teach four poor students, but over the decades became as synonymous with snobbery as with academic excellence. Getting into St. Stephen's was no challenge for Rohit -- the college has long had a practice of granting automatic admissions to children of teachers and other staff members in any course their schooling allows them to pursue. Last year, 14 staff wards took admission, and at any time, over 20 are enrolled at the college, English department teacher and college spokesperson Karen Gabriel said. For Rohit, the challenges came before and after his entry into college. After studying in Delhi for five years, Rohit went to school in Allahabad, keen to pursue medicine at Banaras Hindu University. Harish Kumar Yadav, Rohit's father and gardener at the college for the past 20 years But a freak accident while playing cricket in Class XII meant the science student had to drop a year, and was told by his school principal he could only continue with science if he also repeated Class XI. Rohit chose to complete Class XII with humanities -- which the principal allowed -- giving up on his plans of becoming a doctor. He applied to St. Stephen's, knowing admission wouldn't be the hurdle he would need to watch out for. "The first difficult decision I had to make came during my admission interview," Rohit said, referring to an interaction college professors and the principal hold with all eligible candidates before preparing their final list of selected students -- a practice that is followed for form even with staff wards. Principal Valson Thampu, Rohit said, asked him to pick the more prestigious history honours instead of the BA programme he had opted for. "The principal had asked me about my interest in history earlier," Rohit said. "But I told him I would struggle initially with English in all classes, and the easier BA programme would help me adjust better." Rohit's election as head of the students' body is a result of a seven-year drive, Thampu said, that he initiated in 2007 after he took over as principal following a bitter battle with the earlier principal Anil Wilson, who later died of cancer. Thampu decided to set aside additional seats for disadvantaged Christians, enforce quotas for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students that some accuse previous principals of flouting, and began an unannounced policy of trying to admit students from economically weaker backgrounds. "Many of those who are claiming Rohit's victory as a great achievement for St. Stephen's attacked me back then precisely for my policies of social inclusion," Thampu said in the dim office that principals of the college have occupied for decades. "Rohit's victory would not have been possible a decade back." The college still attempts to almost quarantine its students from the Delhi University it formally belongs to -- St. Stephen's students can't vote in varsity polls, and the students' body isn't an independent union but a college "society" just like the photography or drama clubs. But that isn't intended to institutionalise snobbery, as some of the college's critics contend, Gabriel said. "The college isn't inward-looking at all -- our students constantly interact with the outside world through multiple platforms that are the real institutions of St. Stephen's." Try asking Rohit if he faced any snobbery in St. Stephen's, and the answer from the new students' body leader comes out even before the question is complete. "I have never faced anything like that here," Rohit claimed. "In my first year, when I saw the students' body elections process, I was excited and wanted to contest one day. And I did." But Amal David -- a close friend Rohit introduced this correspondent to -- revealed the battles and doubts Rohit would not. "There were people who commented about the way Rohit walks and the way he talks, about his poor English," said David, a math honours student at the college. "And though Rohit had this dream that he wanted to contest the elections, he was apprehensive initially." Some Stephanians -- as alumni from the college are called -- are themselves partly to blame for the perception of the institution as a training ground for snobs, Thampu said, citing a crude barb by senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar in September 2011. Aiyar, who once held the same post of St. Stephen's student president that Rohit won last Saturday, had been accused by fellow Congressman and then sports minister Ajay Maken of derailing preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The response from Aiyar didn't just challenge Maken's argument, it mocked his English and linked that to Maken's college, Hansraj, also a part of Delhi University. "Firstly, we have to establish the authenticity of this letter (where Maken criticised Aiyar). It contains words like 'dichotomous', which I cannot believe that a BA pass from Hansraj College would know," Aiyar had said. That sense of superiority, Thampu feared, would also hit Rohit's chances in the elections, especially as he chose to speak in Hindi at the Open Court -- akin to a presidential debate -- last week. "I was honestly afraid there would be catcalls," Thampu said. No candidate had ever spoken in Hindi before. Instead, Rohit drew claps and cheers that translated into votes days later. "That's when I was convinced," Thampu said. "Something in this college has changed." On 8/24/14, avinash shahi <[email protected]> wrote: > Wonderful really inspiring for > others.http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/st-stephens-students-union-president-is-a-gardeners-son/article6345822.ece > Good days ahead.... > obably for the first time in the history of St. Stephen's College, > Delhi, a student coming from a Hindi medium background has been > elected the president of its students' union. Rohit Kumar Yadav, the > newly-elected president, comes from a humble background -- he is the > son of a gardener employed with the college. > > Announcing Rohit's achievement with a sense of immense pride, > Principal Valson Thampu termed it a "historic and proud moment" for > the college and its alumni. Talking to The Hindu, Mr. Thampu said: > "There is a belief that St. Stephen's is a college of the elite, I > would say it is a college of the intellectual and this has been proved > today. A boy coming from a very humble background has been given an > extremely important position here." > > "We are often accused of being snobs but this achievement will change > that image. I am very proud of the boy and my college," he added. > > Rohit is the son of Harish Yadav who works as a gardener in the > college premises. A student of BA Programme III year, Rohit has been > educated in Hindi medium all through his student life. > > He became popular because of active participation in the Social > Service League -- a college society that encourages students to do > social work. Rohit was also one of the co-ordinators for the visually > challenged students. > > Rohit defeated three others in the elections concluded on Saturday. He > received 140 more votes than his nearest opponent. "The best thing > about Rohit's win is that during his entire campaign he used Hindi as > a medium to communicate with students and it received a great > response," said a member of the union. > > Mr. Thampu also praised his campaigning style. "During the open court > session where contestants are supposed to address the students, Rohit > always spoke in Hindi and the response from the students was amazing. > I could gauge his popularity from one open court session only." > > St. Stephen's College does not work in accordance with the other Delhi > University colleges. While the other colleges are yet to conduct their > elections, St. Stephen's conducted elections on Saturday and announced > the result the same day. > > > -- > Avinash Shahi > Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU > -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. 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