The ‘khanavali’that saved the school

Students in assembly 

Nagaveni Shankar at the khanavali that runs the school

Entrance of Basava Chethana Higher primary school. 

Basava Chetan Primary school. Students in classroom. 

In Kolar (K) village of Bidar, 40-year-old Nagaveni Shankar runs a primary and high school with earnings from her khanavali — a hotel that supplies authentic local meals. The restaurant’s revenue provides free education to the students of high school, which has been achieving 100% results since its revival in 2003-04.

In 1995, her husband, Shankar, along with his friends, established the Basava Chetan Kannada Medium School on rented land as the nearest school was tens of kilometres away. Many children of school-going age were deterred by the distance. Moreover, it was difficult for the lone government school to accommodate all the children from Kolar (K).

Without a regular source of funding, the school struggled to make ends meet and was on the verge of closure due to a severe financial crisis.

At this juncture, Nagaveni took the responsibility of fulfilling her husband’s dream. To support the school, she opened a khanavali, called ‘Ootada Mane’. The eatery has witnessed a heavy rush of customers since the day of its opening.

“Initially, I had taken a bank loan and sold my husband’s ancestral farmland to run the primary school. The government school in the village used to provide education only up to Class 4, and students had to visit adjacent villages or Bidar to pursue further studies,” says Nagaveni. This was when Nagaveni planned to open the high school.

She wakes up early in the morning to go to Bidar, which is at a distance of 10 km, to make jowar rotis in her khanavali. The profits from the khanavali helped Nagaveni save the school from closure. Soon, she was even able to set up a high school. Currently, all 20 teaching and non-teaching staff are paid salaries through profits from the khanavali.

Nagaveni is only able to return to her village at midnight after her work at the khanavali. Yet, she finds time to visit the school and handle its administration work during free hours.

“I am a regular customer of the khanavali and the couple serves delicious food daily. They use the revenue of the restaurant for the school. To find such people when commercial schools are charging hefty fees is truly a treasure,” says Vijayakumar Sonare, a folk artist and president of the Kalyana Karnataka Artistes Federation.

“Many customers generously contribute Rs 10 more, along with their food bill after hearing about the schools we run,” Shankar says.

The school has become a lifeline for parents who cannot afford to pay private school fees or spend money on transportation. Many students have gone on to be successful in their careers because of the sound foundation they received.

Briju Mangekar, a former student, for example, is now a software engineer working in Bengaluru. “The teachers provided a good, quality education. This helped me get my engineering degree from the National Institute of Technology, Trichy,” he says.

Mangekar adds that he received his education at the school free of cost. “I could not pay fees as my mother was working as a labourer in a dal mill and my father was employed in a factory,” he says. He was able to pass his matriculation exams with distinction.

The couple has two daughters and a son, who have completed their studies in the same school. One daughter is a doctor, the other is studying law, and their son is an engineering graduate. Many former students have become doctors, engineers, professors and managers in reputed companies.

The schools

The primary school is built on half-acre land and has a playground. It has a total strength of 285 students who belong to families with poor socioeconomic backgrounds. Parents are generally daily wage workers in factories, auto-rickshaw drivers and street vendors.

The school collects a nominal fee, depending on the paying capacity of the parents. Education is provided free of cost to 30 students in primary school and all of the 59 students in high school.

“I have four children and find it difficult to take care of the family as my husband passed away. The school authorities have not put any condition to pay fees,” says Roopa Bajenur, a daily-wage construction worker whose children attend the primary school.

“My children are getting a good education at the school, and they have secured good marks in all examinations,” she adds.

Another mother, Pushpa Chanbale, has admitted her Class 10 student Pawan to the high school. “My husband earns a daily wage at a local factory. Making ends meet had become a task,” she says. The school’s free education has come as a relief, particularly when, “teachers in the school are providing good education apart from conducting other sports activities,” she explains.

Adding to the quality of education imparted at the school are the various extra-curricular activities, including quizzes and sports, that are conducted regularly. “These activities are helping us enhance our general knowledge,” says Nashir M D, a Class 7 student, whose father works as a watchman in a factory.

“The Basava Chetan school is providing quality education,” says block research coordinator Vijayakumar Belamagi. “It is a service-oriented school, as the couple has the desire to impart education to the poor in rural areas”, he says.

Nagaveni and Shankar have bought a van on loan to pick up and drop off students from adjacent villages.

Nagaveni understands the value of education. She was just a 12-year-old when her parents married her off. She and her husband, an auto-rickshaw driver, struggled to make ends meet and look after their children.

She had only studied up to Class 4 in Marathi before she was married. Later, she completed her matriculation in the Kannada language while running the schools.

In the future, the couple has plans to establish a residential school on 50 acres of dry land along with an organic farm, garden, old-age home, children’s home and goshala (cow shelter) in Kanganakot village near Bidar within the next two years.

Shankar also plans to provide employment to 200 people, apart from providing accommodation by constructing homes for them. “We have kept a plan of action ready to accommodate their children in the residential school. We have bought land for this purpose and will take another 14 acres on lease to realise our dream,” he says.