Tejomay Charitable Trust

24/07/2026

** Celebrating the Mentors Who Inspire: Tara Basavaraju*

As a volunteer educator, I am passionate about empowering underprivileged children through education, mentorship, and life skills development. I believe that every child deserves access to quality learning opportunities, regardless of their socio-economic background.

It was my privilege to work with many dedicated kids at Tejomay.

One who had completed formal education only till 4 th grade and had started working as house help but who wanted to study more and achieve larger goals in life and finally was able to finish board exams and is doing her Bachelors degree in Arts.

Another who was a cook and went on to become a beautician at a famous salon chain meeting their pre-requisites of knowing English language along with basic computer skills to do her beautician course.

Like this there are many students who have got help from Tejomay Trust and built beautiful lives for themselves and have become great citizens of this country!

It was so nice to listen to their goals and see them work hard for it with the limited time n resources they had to achieve those.

Beyond teaching, I strive to build trusting relationships with children, encourage curiosity, and nurture their self-esteem.
Working with underprivileged communities has strengthened my understanding of the importance of empathy, patience, and community engagement. It has also reinforced my belief that education is a powerful catalyst for social change. Seeing children become more confident, expressive, and enthusiastic to achieve their full potential inspire my commitment to volunteer service.

Somewhere I felt though our schooling system was providing the academic education needed for kids to build their careers , felt there was lack of needed Life Skills to our kids. With nuclear families increasing and both parents working leaving no time to impart these skills at home for the kids, made me to think of starting Life Skills classes during summer for kids aged 8-12 years where we taught the life skills through various activities and stories which both kids and parents loved.

Thanks to Tejomay Trust for providing these opportunities to serve our society and help build great community!

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Tara has been associated with Tejomay charitable Trust for the past ten years. With patience and dedication, she has mentored both kids and adult learners in academics & computer skills. Last year she started summer life-skills classes for children. We truly appreciate all her efforts and the positive difference she continues to make. Thank you very much Tara.

https://tejomay-ngo.org/our-mentors/
of Tejomay Charitable Trust's “Celebrating the Mentors Who Inspire” series.
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11/06/2026

Tejomay Young Changemaker : 2025-26
Anushka Kulkarni

Young changemakers remind us that you don't have to wait to make a difference.
With passion, dedication and a desire to help others, they are creating meaningful impact in their communities every day. We hope their stories inspire others to step forward, share their talents and be part of positive change.

Meet Anushka, an 18-year-old changemaker who believes knowledge grows when it is shared.
Here is Anushka's journey and her experience as a tutor in her own words.

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I'm Anushka, an 18 year old, 12th grade student, and this is my experience working at Tejomay charitable trust as a Computer Science and English teacher (intern) to a fifth grader.

I discovered my love for teaching when I would help my friends in understanding a concept right before our exams. Afterwards, when they said 'thank you , your explanation really helped, ' I felt happy and satisfied. For a long time, I had been wanting to use my skills in order to give back to society.

So, I began working as a tutor at Tejomay. I taught Computer Science and English at the beginning, it was really difficult. The process of explaining a concept simply and easily was in itself, a complex process. I am not a patient person by nature, but I knew that if I was doing this, I had to do it properly and give my absolute best. Letting go of frustration, explaining something again and again, trying new ways to make sure my student understands what I am teaching; in all these months, I have learnt more than I have taught.

My student, Somnath, is very curious and has improved a lot in becoming an independent thinker. He tries his best with all kinds of classwork and homework, no matter how difficult. He has a lot of knowledge about different types of animals and we always talk about that whenever an animal comes up in our lessons.
I try my best to be not only his teacher, but his mentor and friend whenever he brings up incidents or stories from school as well as him home. I have always tried to encourage him to be his own person and I will do that for as long as I teach.

I am extremely grateful to Tejomay and Aparna ma'am for giving me this opportunity and I will always be proud that I get to introduce myself as a teacher to this world.

04/06/2026

** Celebrating the Mentors Who Inspire: Subashree Ramkumar**

Hi, I am Mrs. Subashree Ramkumar. Teaching kids gives me pleasure and satisfaction. I have taught Mathematics, English, Science to the kids of different grades in the last few years.
Teaching each and every kid gave me a great experience as kids capabilities differ and their level of learning needs individualized framework.
I have seen kids with difficulties in understanding concepts, calculation errors, writing spellings and remembering what they learnt.
I taught them by dividing the larger parts into smaller segments and giving exercises for repeated practice.
Consistency gave them clarity and confidence in learning their subjects. Their hard work showed in their scores too.

Apart from regular teaching work, I guided adult students in skill-development activities such as newspaper bag making, silk thread bangle designing and also trained students in singing for Annual Day celebrations. I got immense pleasure watching them learn with a lot of interest.
Patience and positive reinforcement is the ultimate key. I learnt and improved my teaching skills by teaching them. They became teachers too.
I wish them all a very bright future and I thank Aparna for giving me this great opportunity.
Proud to be a Tejomay Teacher!!

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Subashree has been associated with Tejomay charitable trust for the past nine years. During this time, she has mentored many children and guided adult learners in a variety of skill development activities. We sincerely appreciate her dedication and the positive impact she continues to make in the lives our students. Thank you, Subashree.

https://tejomay-ngo.org/our-mentors/
of Tejomay Charitable Trust's “Celebrating the Mentors Who Inspire” series.

27/05/2026

** Celebrating the Mentors Who Inspire: Seema Chitlangia**

I am a teacher by profession, and my love for children along with my passion for keeping our culture alive inspired me to start Balvihar classes associated with Chinmaya Mission for children aged 5 to 15 years.

For the past year, I have also been associated with Tejomay Charitable Trust. It has truly been a privilege to have Tejomay students Tara and Sonia as part of this journey.

Sonia and Tara joined our Balvihar classes almost a year ago. Initially, I was in a dilemma about whether they were understanding the language used in class. Gradually, I realised that although they do not understand everything, they are able to follow partially. They have started sitting with their eyes closed during chanting, and they listen to the stories very patiently. At times, when asked individually, Tara is even able to share the moral. We are still working with Sonia to help her overcome her shyness.
In these classes, we engage children in shlokas, bhajans, value-based storytelling, discipline, and various cultural activities. The children also participate in competitions organised within the larger Chinmaya family, which provides them with wonderful exposure and opportunities for learning and growth.

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Seema has been associated with Tejomay charitable trust and she has been mentoring our students in values, discipline, and life skills, which are very important during children’s formative years. We truly appreciate her dedication and the positive impact she continues to make. Thank you Seema.

https://tejomay-ngo.org/our-mentors/

of Tejomay Charitable Trust's “Celebrating the Mentors Who Inspire” series.

15/05/2026

Recently, Tejomay Charitable Trust conducted a workshop for women house helpers on the theme “Celebrating the Dignity of Labour and Self-Respect.”
The workshop was led by Shweta Dalal and Aparna Dixit.

Along with the househelpers, Tejomay mentors and other participants, our 12th grade intern Anushka Kulkarni and 9th grade volunteer Ania Dalal also attended.

What made this especially meaningful for us was seeing these two young participants engage so sincerely, listen closely to the experiences of the househelpers and reflect on all that they learned through the workshop.
We are very happy to share their reflections here. We hope you take a moment to read their reflections and encourage them.
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By - Aania Dalal, Grade 9
Co-author of 'Destiny Duo - The Revelation'

On April 10, 2026, Tejomay hosted a two-hour workshop on “Celebrating the Dignity of Labour and Self-Respect”, inviting domestic workers (house helps) from the communities in the neighbourhood. The workshop was facilitated by Shweta Dalal (Career Transition Coach and Life-Skills Trainer) and Aparna Dixit (Founder and Life-Skills Educator), as they interacted with and taught the participants crucial values that will stay with them forever.

The hosts explained to the workers the importance of having pride and respect in their work and in every other job.
Using detailed examples and interactive activities, they stressed the idea that every small job has an impact on the economy and helps with the functioning of society, eventually benefiting the
ecosystem.
As I watched the session, I was fascinated by the conversations. I learned a lot about the difficulties and hard work the domestic workers experience - waking up early around five in
the morning to run their households, walking or cycling long distances to get to their places of work and sending money back to their families. I was struck by their positivity and ambition, but
disappointed by how little respect they get for their contribution to society: by others and even by themselves.
I was touched by how the workshop effectively changed their point of view as they absorbed every word, thus boosting their self-worth and confidence.
The hosts succeeded in engaging with the participants in such a way that they left the session with their heads held high
and with a smile on their faces.

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By - Anushka Kulkarni, Grade 12

The workshop 'Celebrating the Dignity of Labour and Self-respect' conducted by Aparna ma'am and Shweta ma'am was an eye opening experience.
I learnt so much about the lives of domestic workers and their hardships. What was taught in the workshop is an essential facet of life; I was so glad that so many ladies had turned up to learn and grow.
I am very grateful to have been given a chance to be a part of this workshop; had a lot of fun.
This should be taught in all schools.

11/05/2026

Thank you Dr. Lavanya Duraisingh- the founder of Hum_makerz_club , Bangalore for featuring Aparna among 30 inspiring women leaders this Women’s Month.
“She Leads the Change” is such a powerful theme that celebrates women creating impact with purpose and inspiring positive change along the way.
Grateful to be part of this meaningful initiative and truly honoured by the recognition. Thank you.

https://www.instagram.com/hum_makerz_club/

27/03/2026

** Celebrating the Mentors Who Inspire: Shalini Kansal**

I started teaching Maths to Sonia almost one and half years back… Previously my daughter was teaching her and I used to interact with her during that time…
Sonia is a very quiet and never use to interact….that was a big challenge…I was never able to make out if she understands the concepts…it took around 2-3 months for her to open with me…

Initially she was struggling with basic addition and subtraction…So we started from the scratch and now she is able to do 2 digit division..Progress has been slow but very steady.

She has shown a massive improvement in the subject. She is becoming quite confident and vocal about her feelings now…

I wish her all the success in the world…May she makes her family proud always

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Shalini has been associated with Tejomay charitable trust and has been mentoring for nearly two years. We truly appreciate her dedication and the positive impact she continues to make. Thank you Shalini.

https://tejomay-ngo.org/our-mentors/

of Tejomay Charitable Trust's “Celebrating the Mentors Who Inspire” series.

17/03/2026

** Celebrating the Mentors Who Inspire: Mansi Shah**

Hello I am Mansi Shah from Mumbai.
I started with Tejomay in 2020, the covid days. My best friend from Bangalore Shweta asked if I could tutor a 12th grade girl Shubhangi in Foods and Nutrition, my subject and thus my stint with Tejomay began with Online classes.

I'm very grateful to Aparna to give me this great opportunity to be a part of such a wonderful initiative of sharing our education with others.

I had enthusiastic students like shubhangi, Tina, Munna who wanted to make a difference in their lives with education and they did pass their exams with flying colours.

The only challenge I faced was that students spoke different mother tongues, making it hard to teach in English with some Hindi they could understand. In many situations, Google Translate helped me explain various Home Science topics.

There were some students who couldn't complete their exams due to personal reasons but Tejomay gives an opportunity to all who want to study and go way ahead in life.

I am blessed that I have been a part of such a wonderful and giving organisation. Kudos to all the teachers who are a big part of Tejomay.

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Mansi has been associated with Tejomay charitable trust for the last six years. Based in Mumbai, she has been teaching online since the COVID-19 period—a challenging time for both teachers and students. Her dedication and patience in mentoring children and adult learners have made a meaningful difference. Thank you, Mansi!

https://tejomay-ngo.org/our-mentors/

of Tejomay Charitable Trust's “Celebrating the Mentors Who Inspire” series.

08/03/2026

What does empowerment really mean for women?

After working with women through the Tejomay charitable trust for 18 years, I have realized something simple yet powerful -Empowerment begins with the freedom to make her own choices.

At Tejomay, we support women through education because education opens doors to a better future. But real empowerment happens only when women are trusted to make their own decisions.

The problem is not a lack of talent it is a lack of freedom to make decisions.

I remember a 21-year-old woman who had completed her BA degree and had knowledge of computers. After marriage, her husband and family told her she could not go outside & work.
After a year, she was finally allowed to work but only as a domestic helper. Very difficult to understand. She worked as a domestic helper for two years until she became pregnant.
Despite her education and skills, she could not use her full potential, make her own decisions, or fulfill her dreams.

Stories like hers remind us that real empowerment is not just about opportunity it is about the freedom to make one’s own choices.

I believe true empowerment starts at home.It’s where respect, shared responsibilities, and attitudes are first learned and where real change begins.
We must raise our boys and encourage the men around us to respect girls and women. They should not see women as objects, possessions, or dependents, but as equal human beings. Boys and men should also share responsibilities at home and in society.

Equality does not mean women must do everything men do.
It means respect, fairness, equal opportunities, and the freedom to make their own choices.

At the same time, women supporting one another is very important. Empowerment grows stronger when we stand together and lift each other up.

When women are trusted to make their own decisions, and boys and men understand respect and shared responsibility, empowerment becomes real.

Not just something we talk about but something we live every day.

Happy Women’s Day!!!!

By -
Aparna Dixit
Founder - Tejomay Charitable Trust

Happy women's Day!!!Thank you to each & every mentor who continues to inspire and empower others.Thank you to all our students for their commitment, dedicati...