Anjali
From 43% to a Future Full of Promise
Every evening at a busy street corner, Anjali helps her mother run a small tea and chop stall. While her mother works to support the family, Anjali takes care of the stall and her younger siblings.
With no father to lean on, her mother became the family’s sole provider — working tirelessly to feed three children. Anjali, being the eldest, felt the unspoken pressure to grow up fast. School was never the priority — survival was.
When she joined Gyandeepak Foundation, Anjali was reserved, unsure, and scoring just 43% in school.
“She hardly spoke,” one of our educators recalls.
“You could tell she was bright, but life had taught her to stay small, to not take up space.”
But GDF was a different world.
In our after-school program, Anjali found something she never had before — a space where her voice mattered, where questions were encouraged, and where struggles didn’t define her potential. Slowly, she started showing up — not just physically, but emotionally. She started staying late to revise, asking doubts, even helping her peers.
And then, the impossible happened.
From scoring 43% in Class 8, Anjali jumped to 81% in Class 10.
The numbers speak, yes — but what they don’t show is the quiet confidence now in her walk, the way she helps her younger siblings with homework, or how her eyes light up when she speaks about her dreams.
She is leading the Naitik Shiksha program at GDF by organising the event every fortnight, taking care of all the minute details and managing 100+ younger students every session.
Anjali has a natural flair for language and strong listening skills — and today, she’s one of the most articulate, thoughtful students at our centre. She often speaks about how she looks up to GDF’s founder, who started with nothing but a dream and turned it into a movement.
Anjali wants to do the same — not just for herself, but for her family.
Her goal now is clear: to support her mother, become financially independent, and show her younger siblings that they can dream bigger, too.
“They watch everything I do,” she says. “If I give up, they’ll think they have to do the same.”
Recently, Anjali’s hard work paid off in a way even she hadn’t imagined — she was awarded a scholarship by EY that will support her education all the way through graduation. For a girl who once believed she wouldn’t even finish school, this was life-changing.
She says it simply, but powerfully:
“GDF made me believe I can do anything. Today, I don’t feel small anymore — I feel seen.”
Anjali is just one story. At just one GDF centre, over 500 children are walking their own path to transformation — and many more Anjali’s are waiting for that one chance to be seen.
Contact Us
Gyan Deepak Foundation
- Suite no 10, 1st floor, 55, Gariahat Road, Kolkata – 700019 West Bengal
- gyandeepak.ballygunge@gmail.com
- +91-8240629266
About Us
Quick Link
Gyan Deepak Foundation (GDF) is a registered NGO based in Kolkata with centres across Bihar, empowering underprivileged children through after-school education—led and driven by dedicated homemakers.