Madhavan inaugurates a school for for underprivileged children in Chennai and remembers his old school and teachers.
CHENNAI: Happy children, sun lit classrooms, designated play area, activity centre, free uniforms, karate, yoga and meditation… what more you want in a school! Many underprivileged children of Kovalam and Panayur off East Coast Road seem to have it all, thanks to Trust Children, Madras Mylapore Round Table 3 (MMRT 3) and several other donors.
On Tuesday, their school building in Kovalam was formally inaugurated by actor Madhavan.
Interacting with the students of Gurukulam – A Trust Children school, Madhavan said he was happy to see them converse in English and Tamil with great ease.
Appreciating the commitment of those behind the project, he said more than initiating projects, it was important to sustain them.
Remembering his days at the Dakshina Bharatha Mahila Samaj School in Jamshedpur, he admitted that he was a “naughty child” in the school. Yet, there were a few teachers such as Latika Das and Renu Agarwal, who believed that he would make a mark.
The Gurukulam school, which was started in June 2004 by Nandkumar, Deputy General Manager (Operations) of Air India, has 110 students now.
All of them are being provided free education. “
We plan to support the children, who hail from fishermen families, till the time they either finish a vocational or professional course,” he said.
MMRT 3 Chairman Satish Kumar said their contribution in the project was around Rs.16 lakh which included the cost of constructing four classrooms, food for around 150 days and educational expenses of 15 children.
“When we saw the school last year we were moved by the commitment of the Trust and what it was trying to do for the children. We wanted to help them in every possible way and with contributions from donors we have been able to do this,” he added.
MMRT 3 secretary Yusuf Roshan and project convenor Suraj Sayani were present on the occasion.
Cultural programmes
The children presented various cultural programmes, including a `Welcome’ dance and a light classical dance show and karate demonstration.