In today’s article, we have Kunjal Sehgal, a qualified chartered accountant, who shares with us her journey of how she quit her corporate job to pursue her calling in life—educating street kids.
Kunjal is the founder of Adhiyagya, an organisation working to provide quality education to underprivileged children.
She claims that because of these two letters “CA,” I am trustworthy. She is proud that her CA qualification has been a catalyst for helping so many children and influencing so many others to do the same.
Here is her story.
Pursuing CA and Working in a Corporate
I am Kunjal Sehgal, a qualified chartered accountant from the ICAI (The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India).
I passed all of my ICAI India CA exams on the first try.
By default, I was expected to take up a corporate job, and I did so. I was selected by Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. (the leading private bank in India) with a good salary and a good designation.
It made me all happy, but I still felt something missing. I always knew in my heart that this was not my calling in life.
I continued working for 2 years until my parents’ words started playing in my head:
- That knowledge is only a means to follow your passion, and it should never interfere with one’s life goals.
- I was always encouraged to study for the knowledge and freedom that come with “education,” not just to become a doctor or an engineer.
Knowing the impact of education in my own life—where my qualification alone brought me respect and remuneration—reaffirmed my belief that “education” was the only way to bring about a constructive change.
Quitting My Corporate Job to Teach Underprivileged Kids
After working for a few years, I quit my job in 2015 and chased my passion, “TO EDUCATE.”
I started Adhiyagya as an attempt to create opportunities for slum kids.
Since I had chosen education as the cause that I wanted to work for, the first task was to understand what would interest the children and why they would come to another place to study after school instead of spending that time to play.
Therefore, I started drafting curriculums, thinking of fun and engaging games that would develop their interest.
The following points also needed a lot of consideration:
- The slum where I wanted to work
- The place where classes would be conducted (we have conducted classes in community halls, parking lots, open areas outside garages, etc.)
- The children and the age group that we wanted to work with
Adhiyagya focuses on:
- Education
- Health
- Hygiene
- Nationalism
- Moral Values
Regular yoga classes are conducted every Sunday in the K&L pocket park to encourage children to follow a healthy lifestyle.
Over the last few years, the children have shown immense improvement in terms of studies as well as personality. When children are exposed to opportunities, their talents shine through.
A lot of girls are now enrolled in the University of Delhi, paving their way for a better future.
Challenges
The initial challenge was to gain the trust of the children and their parents.
It is difficult to make someone believe that you are willing to do something for them without any returns or favours.
So building that trust was one of the first few challenges.
Dealing with the insecurities of their school or tuition teachers was another challenge, but with time we overcame that too.
Funding My Social Cause
In the last four and a half years, funding has been provided by me and my parents.
We have been lucky that at a few centers, our well-wishers have provided us with a place to conduct classes free of charge.
Some of the volunteers also come forward and contribute at the time of events.
Also, a lot of people come forward and get stationery and goodies for our children at the time of festivals, etc. However, apart from that, it has been self-funded.
Going forward, we wish to start raising funds as we want to expand our activities, and our team has been working on how to go about it.
Volunteers
Volunteering is all about passion and the willingness of an individual to work towards a cause; hence, it has to come from within.
Word of mouth has been our best form of advertisement.
The other medium has been our social media pages; we put out the actual work that we do, and that inspires people to become a part of this journey.
And it is heartwarming to see that some volunteers who joined us right at the start are still with us and taking on bigger roles in the organization.
We are very proud of the fact that Adhiyagya is a voluntary-based organization where people from all fields and age groups come forward and devote their time to the betterment of the children.
What started as my individual journey in 2015 with just 12 kids in a nearby slum has now become a cause impacting the lives of over 200 underprivileged children from two centers: Rajasthani Camp in Sarita Vihar and Sector 45 in Faridabad.
Do I Still Miss My Paycheck?
I love what I do. It is so fulfilling when my students show even the slightest improvement. My CA knowledge is still with me; it is not wasted.
The CA journey has taught me the value of hard work, patience, perseverance, and a lot more! It is correctly said that “knowledge can never be wasted.”
In Conclusion
The decision to quit a monetary job and do social work is very personal and based on each individual’s circumstances.
At Adhiyagya, however, we have team members and volunteers who work full-time but are actively involved in all activities and continue to work for the society in addition to their jobs.
If you are passionate about something, you will be able to make time for it.
Also, the first visit to an NGO is difficult, but once you make that first visit, you’ll keep going back, not for the difference that you are able to make but for the satisfaction that you get.
I believe that if enough educated people start doing constructive social work, the impact could be tremendous.
I am inviting you all to be a part of Adhiyagya and SHARE your time, knowledge, and suggestions so that we can reach out to more children and make the world a better place.
