Chetan's story

This was sometime around the time I turned 30, ten years ago.

At this age — all of a sudden, a short poem that I had read as a seventh grader came back to me with a new meaning, a new message. The poem, “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death” goes as follows:

I know that I shall meet my fate

Somewhere among the clouds above;

Those that I fight I do not hate,

Those that I guard I do not love;

My country is Kiltartan Cross,

My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,

No likely end could bring them loss

Or leave them happier than before.

Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,

Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,

A lonely impulse of delight

Drove to this tumult in the clouds;

I balanced all, brought all to mind,

The years to come seemed waste of breath,

A waste of breath the years behind

In balance with this life, this death.

-William Butler Yeats

A bit heavy, yes, but then inspirations don’t have weighing scales. Around this time, I’d decided to firmly move into the development sector. Started off by getting a grounds-up view on Education at Pratham. The three years spent here were no less exciting than the ones at college, and certainly more purposeful. Then followed 18 months at American India Foundation, where I headed the Digital Equalizer Program. More learning, more experiences. Next, a brief stint with Bharti Foundation…and by August 2009, the internal tug was compelling enough to guide me to found Edulever.

Last month, Edulever turned two. All of two. But we’ve had great fun these two years. Trained over 500 teachers. Created content for first-generation English learners. Visited remote villages. Gave leadership gyaan to Madarsa leaders. Tried to fix worker-retention issues at a large auto-component factory (and failed!). Thought of new ways to measure learning achievement. As of now, we’re trying to figure out how best to teach Life Skills to the hearing impaired…no, we’ve not learnt the sign language…not yet!