MUMBAI: Every evening, when St Xavier's
College turns on its yellow lights, a thousand canteen boys, sweepers, hawkers,
labourers, milk vendors, clerks and receptionists wrap up a tough day's work
and rush in for their lectures. Once in, they are in a world where all they are
expected to do is hold a pen and pay attention.
Few in the city know about the evening
course at the college. Started 24 years ago, the commerce section is perhaps a
little out of sync with the loud Malhar and the campus fashion a sharp contrast
to what one sees in top colleges. Also, most students don't return to a home or
comforting security each day. Principal Errol Fernandes said, "The morning
section was started to provide excellent education. The criterion to admit
students is merit. The evening classes were started to cater to the distressed
section of society and give them hope of a better life."
The classes begin with a short prayer of
silence. "Students are asked to take a deep breath so they can get rid of
the grime and tiredness of the day," Fernandes explained.
As the section enters its silver jubilee
year, it has turned autonomous. Unlike other colleges, the attendance here is
high, probably because the reason to study is different. There are no free
lectures, and very often extra classes for weaker students are held on the
train, during the faculty's journey back home.
For long, excellent education has mostly
been the privilege of the moneyed and the meritorious. The commerce section at
St Xavier's was started with the aim of breaking away from that norm.
"These students are the ones who really need the help," said
economics professor Kamaji Bokare. "The rate of change of life you see
here is really high."
Akshay Shetty, who used to run a roadside
stall outside Old Custom's House, is today a senior executive at a mutual fund
firm. "I went on to do my master's and am also a cost accountant. The
biggest change has been the respect I get today," says a proud Shetty.
Till about five years ago, Prabhakar Poojary was a canteen boy in BEST earning
Rs 600 a month. Today, he heads the Singapore, Dubai and Mauritius markets of a
private fund and takes home an enviable pay packet of Rs 30 lakh. "When
tough life becomes a routine, the rest becomes easy," he says.
Teachers take pride in the fact that two
ex-students have made the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad—one is the
vice-president of a private bank—but most importantly, they speak of the values
the course has instilled in their students. Ravi Gaba was always a bright
student; he bagged several cash awards in his years at St Xavier's. "When
he graduated, he gave us all the cash prizes (totaling Rs 18,000) that he had
won and said he wanted to leave it back for another needy student,"
recalled accounts professor Rajesh Vora.
Going to college means different things to
different people. For some, collegiate education rebuilds their lives, for some
others it is the bridge to a better path. For many others, it's a plunge out of
a dark night...to a day that shines as bright as the lights on the campus they
walk to each evening.
