The students use her four-bedroom house in Borivli because they cannot study in their villages inside the park, where the lights are switched off by 8 pm for the sake of the wild animals.
"It's three pm, the kids must be about to come. They had their English exam today," said Mary Barnes, 58, as she impatiently checked the clock. These were not her own children. No, she was waiting for children who live inside Sanjay Gandhi National Park, and who come to her house to study in peace for their board exams.
The students use her four-bedroom house in Borivli because they cannot study in their villages inside the park, where the lights are switched off by 8 pm for the sake of the wild animals. Barnes has 11 students (five girls and six boys) studying with her who are appearing for class X board exams this year. Of these, five have been staying at her house for the past month, and six just come for a few hours. Studying at her house has helped many a student pass the board exams.
Barnes is also a role model for Arti Gotrani (16) who wants to grow up to be a teacher and educate the girls in her tribe. Gotrani's father does housekeeping work in Kandivli. "I want to use this opportunity provided by ma'am to change the face of my community. On completing my studies I would like to go back and take classes like ma'am does," Gotrani added.
Barnes's noble work is motivated by the condition of the children, some of whom have to walk 14 km through the jungle every day to attend the nearest school.
"We are no NGO or trust, just a group of people who want to do our bit," said a publicity-shy Barnes, who shared her story after considerable persuasion.
It was in 2005 that Barnes, during a casual walk in the national park, noticed the plight of the tribal children. The homemaker began visiting the local 'Balwadi' kindergarten in the park to teach kids from 9:30 am to 12 noon every day. A few friends joined in, and Barnes soon found separate teachers for English and Mathematics.
Next, she and her friends began paying school fees of those children who would otherwise have dropped out because of money constraints. They persuaded the park authorities to allow the park vehicle, used to carry wood and garbage, to take the tribal kids to the main gate of the park so that they did not have to walk long distances to attend school. And three years ago, Barnes began hosting students at her house to help them study for board exams.
The modest woman and her friends have no record of the number of students they have helped in the past ten years. "I can't say, must be in the hundreds," said Barnes, a mother of four kids.
Barnes said her most satisfying achievement was in helping a few 'padas' (tribal hamlets) have their first girl child with a class X completion certificate. "Girls pick up very fast and show better results than boys. Last year one of our girls secured 72% marks in her SSC exams," she said.
Each of the six boys appearing for class X this year are drop-outs, who have come back because they could not find good jobs. "I hope they clear it (the exams) this time," Barnes said.
Impressed with her work, an NGO decided to honour her recently but Barnes could not make it to the ceremony. "The kids had Hindi board exams next day. I could not have kept away for four to five hours," said Barnes.
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