While most of us whine about how we have no time, energy or the mental space to dedicate our personal time to anyone but ourselves, Madhusudhan HN is a police constable who dedicates his personal time to taking free tuition classes for school students. A resident of Chamarajanagar near Mysuru, he works in the office of the Superintendent of Police. Despite his busy schedule at the office, he takes tuitions for two hours every morning. Madhusudhan, who has been conducting these classes since 2015, says, "It does not require an investment of lakhs to start these classes. All it requires is time. Every day, the classes take place from 6.45 to 8.30 am. These are the free hours that I get from work. My work starts from 9.30 am and it goes on till 9 or 10 pm."
Madhusudhan completed his Diploma in Education (DEd) and joined the police department in 2012. Even before joining the department, he always wanted to serve the society in the best way he could. Narrating what led him to start the classes, he says, "It all started in 2015 when I and a few youngsters from my village decided to renovate and clean one of the ancient temples and a kalyani (a stepped temple tank) built by Hoysalas and Wodeyars. When we cleaned it, the villagers supported us for our other initiatives too. That's when we decided to start the free tuition classes and it began in June 2015. Initially, there were only 13 children, primarily from government schools. Now, there are around 40 children, from class I to X, who attend the classes every day without fail."
The 29-year-old police constable calls his tuitions Swami Vivekananda classes and runs it on the temple premises. He says, "The responses that we have been getting from parents has been overwhelming. We ensure that the classes continue, come what may. When I am deputed on duty elsewhere or if I need to go to the office early, then one of our team members takes up the classes. Our team includes six members and all of us have completed our graduation and postgraduation."
Apart from supporting school students with free tuitions, Madhusudhan has purchased books that can help youngsters prepare for all kinds of competitive exams. "These books are kept on a shelf in one corner of the temple and whenever aspirants want to read them, they visit the premises and make use of these books. There are at least 40 students who make the most of them. As the word spread about my tuitions, a retired professor asked me if he could take classes and help the students prepare for competitive exams too. Since he comes all the way from Bengaluru, we pay him some money as travel allowance. Professor Ramanath conducts History and General Knowledge classes for these students and it happens only during weekends."
Though Madhusudhan is happy about his work being recognised by the villagers, his future plans include adding more and better books to the shelf to help those who aspire for a government job. Madhusudhan also wants to raise awareness about cleanliness among the villagers. He says, "Self-help is the best help and I think with citizen-bound initiatives like these, we can make a lot of difference."
