New Delhi: “Mere papa ka sapna hai, ki main CA banu,” said 13-year-old Sakshi, her eyes steady even as trucks groaned past and cars honked relentlessly. Beneath the Mayapuri flyover in Kirti Nagar in west Delhi, where dust hangs thick in the air and the din of city traffic never quite fades, dreams are being shaped in the most unexpected classroom.Each day, nearly 100 children from the nearby Jawahar Camp gather under the flyover for classes. Among them is 14-year-old Pinki. Confidently pointing to a tall pole beside the flyover pillar she said, “Main ise bina dare chadh sakti hoon.” She wants to become a malkhamb champion.The classroom is nestled in a sunken depression near a metro pillar next to some shanties, shaded by the Delhi Metro bridge above. The students sit on a green grass mat laid out amid the dust and rubble. With the noise of traffic constantly in the background, teachers rely on microphones and loudspeakers to communicate. They said that the children stayed alert and focused, refusing to let the chaos derail their learning.Choti, 9, tapped the buckle on her worn blue bag. “My father works in a factory that makes these buckles and my mother works in another factory nearby. I want to become a doctor,” she said. Radhika, 11, in a similar vein, said, “I want to be a police officer because this class has taught me to be brave and never back down from what’s right.”These young minds are taught by volunteers who have undergone the same struggles. Many of them are from the same JJ colony, now pursuing BA or BEd degrees, returning to instruct children like they were once themselves. “I grew up right here, in this very camp. There was chaos, noise, and not much to look up to, except maybe the wrong kind of role models,” said 21-year-old Murari Chaudhary, one of the four main volunteers. “My father’s a housepainter and I once wanted to join the military. But dreams like that need direction. Now I’m doing my BEd course with the hope of becoming a teacher and helping more children.”Chaudhary tutors students aged 8-14 years. His colleague, 20-year-old Moni, works with the younger ones. “I could only study till Class XII because of my financial constraints,” she said. “Some kids here are 13 or 14 years old and still struggle to speak in class or don’t know the alphabet. That’s why I focus on the smaller students. I want to make sure they don’t grow up stuck at the basics. Teaching them how to hold a pencil, recognise letters and numbers might seem small to others, but it’s everything for these kids.” Prem,8, couldn’t write his name last year but now solves math problems with ease, grinning each time he gets them correct.The informal school operates with help from Punarjagran Samiti, an NGO that began the initiative in Aug 2024. It connects volunteers to bridge the learning gaps in govt schools, where one teacher might be tasked with handling 60 or more children. Under the flyover, it’s 20 to 25 students per teacher.Niranjan Kumar Chaudhary is currently pursuing his master’s degree in computer science. The 24-year-old said, “I know I have the privilege, so I volunteer regularly. Many of these kids study but still grow up feeling like they don’t belong. My goal is to make sure they learn and begin believing in themselves.”
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