INKtalks

The Geek and the Guru: Steve Wozniak and Babar Ali

Dec 4th, 2011 Leave a comment

INK team with INK Curator & Host Lakshmi Pratury (third from left) and Steve Wozniak.

He loves numbers. Just by looking at numbers he knows what they are trying to tell him. Wizard of Woz, Super Geek Steve Wozniak knew for sure his room number 1644 at Bangalore’s ITC Royal Gardenia was a “good room” since “16 is a binary number and so is 4, so it’s a good room.”

He also loves to talk to his phone. Unlike us mere mortals he does not need it to talk to his friends, but says “the phone is closer and closer to being my friend.”

Everything about “the other Steve” of Apple Computers from his persona to his achievements is fascinating as the INK team found out on a busy Saturday afternoon.

The occasion was the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) meet in Bangalore, where Steve Wozniak was the star speaker. There was yet another speaker, though less flamboyant in attitude and size, who shined through his talk at the same meet.

The world’s youngest headmaster, a guru and teacher to his students, who started his own school in his village in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district when he was all of nine, Babar Ali, got a standing ovation for his talk.

On stage with INK Curator & Host Lakshmi Pratury, Babar Ali gave a glimpse of his quiet life that is bringing about a big change not only in his village but those around it as well. With its vision of turning dreams into reality, INK is helping Babar to turn his makeshift school into one with a proper building.

Steve Wozniak and Babar Ali are as apart as probably the sun and the moon. Yet, if you think about it the core ingredient that defines the two is the same – passion to pursue their inner calling no matter what.

Surrounded by INK staff members and stray guests of the hotel, Steve held forth on all things he is passionate about: building faster computers, emotional intelligence, his Nixie tube watch, and his super ‘best friend’ phone. He even showed us how close their relationship is when he asked his phone to tell him the five largest lakes of the world! And guess what, like a true friend it listed out the names in order, unlike Google which would take you to links and leave you to figure out the correct answer.

Whenever he is surrounded by people eager to congratulate him, Babar tries to compensate with his broad smile. For it is just as well, because there is no set formula to success and achieving great heights, whether it is Steve Wozniak who can silence you with his incredible knowledge of numbers, or the quiet Babar Ali who believes numbers are the steps that will liberate his school kids from poverty.

Dipti Nair

 

INK team with Babar Ali


Dreaming big with Babar Ali

Sep 30th, 2011 Leave a comment

Dreaming big: Babar Ali stands under the guava tree where he started his school when he was 8. His sister was the first student.

A class in progress at Anand Shiksha Niketan.

This lady, quite a powerhouse, helps at the school and rings the bell to announce the start and end of school.


Young students pose for the camera. (Photos: Lakshmi Pratury)

Babar Ali, better known to the world as the youngest headmaster, is a bit restless these days. The school that he runs in his backyard, Anand Siksha Niketan, will close for Puja vacations starting tomorrow. The Durga Puja holidays are a much sought after break in West Bengal, the state that Babar Ali belongs to. The 10 days of the holiday are filled with prayers, feats and celebrations. The air is crisp and light as if freed from the collective weight of worries of daily life. To rephrase Robert Browning, it’s almost as if God’s in his heaven and all’s well with the world!

Babar though is a reluctant merrymaker. He is not looking forward to an empty school even if it is only for a week. But he consoles himself that he has more than enough administrative work that needs his attention. He brushes aside the suggestion that he could catch up on his reading. “I won’t be able to concentrate so what’s the point,” he says.
It has been more than five years since Babar Ali began Anand Siksha Niketan, an evening school for the children of his village Bhapta in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, India. The school now has 100 plus students, including young boys and girls who trudge long distance along muddy paths criss-crossing paddy fields from the surrounding villages to Babar’s school.

Anand Siksha Niketan does not have a permanent building as yet. For the moment the makeshift sheds — that double up as classrooms — stand testimony to Babar’s enduring spirit amid squalor and ignorance.

On September 27, INK host and curator Lakshmi Pratury visited Babar’s school to see how INK could help Babar in his mission to light up the lives of children in his impoverished village. A back-breaking journey from Kolkata, which stretched to eight hours, brought Lakshmi and an INK well-wisher to Babar’s doors.

They were greeted by a group of senior students from the school, Babar Ali and an assortment of teacher volunteers and staff. “There were more girls in the class and all of them were bright and smart,” observes Lakshmi. “We trooped into a tiny room that served as Babar’s office. The affair turned out to be a heart-warming reception ceremony where each of us talked about lending support to Babar and his school,” says Lakshmi.

This year, his girl students have made Babar really proud scoring first division in the class X board exams. Babar too scored a distinction in his first year of college where he is studying English Literature.
If everything goes well, the headmaster’s dream of a proper building equipped with labs, play grounds and auditorium should become a reality soon.

(To view Babar Ali’s INK Talk, click here)
INK Correspondent