Every morning, three-year-old Kanishka comes to R Sundari’s home, groggy-eyed, her hair all messy. Sundari gathers her in her arms, combs her hair, and feeds her breakfast in case she’s not eaten. She then walks Kanishka to the anganwadi centre near her home in Sriperumbudur Thandalam village, about 40 kilometres from Chennai. Sundari is a teacher at the centre. “Around six children get dropped off at my home every morning,” she says.
The anganwadi centre is open from 8.30 am to 4 pm. It is not part of Sundari’s job description to work beyond those hours, but she still does. “Many parents in the village work long hours, starting their day very early, coming back home late at night,” says Sundari. “They need someone to take care of their children in their absence.” Some of the parents are migrant workers from Odisha and Uttar Pradesh; some work in the Government’s 100 days employment scheme, while a few others do odd jobs.
If the parents didn’t have someone to fall back on to take care of their children, they would have probably been sent off to a relative’s house. “That will be a shame. Parents will not get to see their children’s growing up years,” she says, “This will haunt them all their lives.”
Sundari knows this from experience. The 40-year-old is a mother of two girls, one aged 21 and the other 15. “When I was a new mother, I worked at a small printing company. It was back-breaking work, but I needed that job since we were not well off.” Sundari had no choice but to send her babies packing to her mother’s village. “They grew up there,” she sighs. “I missed so many precious moments with them.” It’s a guilt she carries with her every day. “Which is why when I got a job in the anganwadi centre, I decided to help parents like me.”
To begin with, Sundari keeps the doors of her house open for parents who leave early for work. “They just give me a shout out, drop their children at my doorstep and rush for work,” she says. Once the centre is closed at 4 pm, she takes home the children whose parents don’t turn up to pick them up on time. “I’ve bought toys for them and they play at home till their parents return from work,” she says.
At the anganwadi centre, she’s busy through the day, teaching 25 children aged between two and five the alphabet, names of fruit and vegetables. “I spend ₹350 every month from my pocket to buy things such as educational charts for them,” she says. Sundari ensures her centre is top-notch in terms of facilities, and that her children are well-fed. “I play ball with them, make them recite the Thirukkural... I enjoy what I do,” she says.
Among her biggest successes, is the fact that the little ones come to the centre without any fear. “It warms my heart to see that they are happy here,” she says. Sundari’s job has taken over her life. “So much so that when someone asks me how many children I have, I hesitate for a moment. In my mind, I have 25,” she says.