We first met Aarti Kumari, then age 8 , on the cover of AIF’s 2007- 2008 annual report .With a bright smile and eagerness to learn, Aarti captured the hearts and minds of many. Today, 12 year-old Aarti, still small and quiet with a larger than life smile, looks much the same. However, her life has changed drastically since 2007, when she first joined Nidan’s (AIF LAMP partner in Patna) urban slum site school.

“Aarti was always interested in learning, and used to hang around our school in the Mushahri Tola of Ragendra Nagar whenever she was free and watch inquisitively as to what the students were learning,” Manoj Kumar, Aarti’s first teacher, recollects. “She was disheveled and often very dirty, since she came from an extremely poor community in Rampur, a neighborhood close by, but was very excited about the school. One day, she finally came up to me and asked if she could be a student. I went to her parents at once, but they both refused.”

Aarti’s family come from Patna’s surrounding villages, and moved to the city 8 years ago to find employment. Her father washes clothes, while her mother and elder sister, who also never went to school, are maid servants in houses nearby. Until the age of 8 Aarti had never been to school, and instead used to help her mother clean the homes and shops of Patna. Her mother needed Aarti’s help to help with the household income, and in addition, was weary of letting Aarti travel and learn in a different community than her own.

After months of persistence however, mostly at Aarti’s own initiative, her parents finally agree to let her attend classes. “In the beginning Mummy wanted me to work only. Sometimes she still wants me to work and I have to miss school, but I don’t like it so I try to tell her I’ll help only before and after school. Mostly she agrees,” Aarti giggles. Her father even started taking her to school every day after seeing her excitement.

Aarti’s day begins early in the morning. She wakes at 6, and since the rest of her family works, she is responsible for maintaining her family’s rented home. Before school, she cleans the house and washes the dishes after her mother prepares breakfast. Once school ends at after lunch, Aarti gets some time to play pittu and kabaddi with her friends. By 3 pm she is back home, prepping for dinner or out with her sister and mother working. But by 6 pm every night, she goes for two separate tuition sessions to help her excel in school. “I like to study, I need to study so I can improve in my subjects,” she says.

In the past four years, Aarti has improved markedly in her learning abilities. As an 8 year-old studying for the first time, Aarti could barely count past 10 and couldn’t even recognize the alphabet. Now, she is entering Class 5, and has mainstreamed into the nearby government school. Her favorite subject is math, specifically dividing numbers with three digits!

Looking at Aarti today it’s hard to imagine an unkempt girl who couldn’t read or write. Today she is bright, confident and popular, with big goals and dreams for the future. “I want to be an engineer, everyone says that’s a good job,” she exclaims when asked what she wants to be when she grows up. “What kind?” I ask. Aarti looks at me puzzled while I explain to her all the different kinds of engineers out there. “Computer Engineer,” she decides on the spot. Has she ever used a computer? “No, but I’ve seen them and I’m good at math and science,” she shrugs, having made up her mind, and goes back to her class work.

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