Cycling to success

Armene Modi of Poona was among the 24 "ordinary people with extraordinary endeavors” handpicked by the television news channel CNN-IBN for its unique initiative, Real Heroes 2007, to commemorate 60 years of Indian independence. Rajdeep Sardesai, editor-in-chief of the television news channel said that "for too long, Indian media has been criticized for being celebrity chasers and for being negative about everything,” as per a report in CNN-IBN’s Lifestyle section dated April 15, 2008. Real Heroes was an effort to "recognize, acknowledge and celebrate ordinary Indians who made a difference to people’s lives.” On the evening of April 14, 2008 at a glittering ceremony in Bombay attended by the country’s who’s who, the triumph of the human spirit was celebrated by awarding the Real Heroes for their work spread over eight categories including education, environment and wildlife conservation.

The Bicycle Bank enables girls in Shirur to commute 10 kms to school

While receiving her award of five lakh rupees (sponsored by Reliance Industries), Modi who felt "truly blessed” attributed her achievement in attempting to eradicate illiteracy through her unique Bicycle Bank to the never-say-die spirit of young girls in Shirur taluka in Poona district who have shown zest for empowerment through education. Modi has, so far, provided 300 bicycles to girls to enable them to cover the long distance between their homes and schools or colleges. Modi, who has a Bachelor’s degree in English literature from Poona University and an MA in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from Teacher’s College, Columbia University, New York, had earlier taught English in colleges across Japan for 11 years. Disturbed by the high rate of illiteracy among women in India (61 percent), she decided to "attack this statistic.” Modi approached the general secretary of Ashta No Kai (For a Better Tomorrow), a Japan-based non-governmental organization (NGO), who wholeheartedly supported the idea. Ashta No Kai was born on April 11, 1998. Today it has five chapters with 400 members in Japan and one chapter in Poona of which Modi is the founder chairman, states the NGO’s report, April 2006 to September 2007.

During the past six years, over 500 girls have had access to education thanks to Ashta No Kai — India’s Bicycle Bank, as per the report. Since schools in Shirur do not have classes beyond standard VII "most girls were forced to leave their education midway because they had to walk up to 10 km for the higher classes. Parents were, but naturally, concerned for their safety and therefore would rather get them married at early ages than run the risk of securing education and special skills,” Modi explains. "Many of the girls who began using the cycles in 2002 are now on the verge of completing their degree courses in such streams as law, commerce, pharmacy and agriculture,” she adds. Since the girls can now reach their schools/colleges in 15 minutes instead of the one hour it took them on foot, they have time to study as well as help out their parents at home.

Armene Modi: fighting illiteracy

Initially 100 bicycles were donated by Modi’s Japanese friends, and an appeal in the local newspapers elicited a reasonable response. When these bicycles were loaned to the girls to enable them to commute there was a marked decline in the school dropout rate. However, since the girls did not own the machines some did not take good care of them and the cycles were returned in a damaged condition. The scheme was then modified so that the girls could either buy the bicycles at highly subsidized rates or return them.

This is not the sum total of Ashta No Kai — India’s work. Apart from initiatives for the girl child, the NGO has formed self-help groups to empower women in rural Maharashtra, as well as introduced village projects for literacy and education, banning the sale of liquor, legal awareness workshops, building toilet blocks, establishing balwadis (kindergartens) and building water tanks to provide an accessible water supply. Its power-packed board of trustees comprises Lila Poonawala, Dr Statira Wadia, Pratima Kirloskar, Noshir Dadrawala, Deepa Kunte and chairman Modi herself. The NGO, which is a registered trust, welcomes donations which are exempt from income tax under section 80G. It can be contacted at ANK-India, 591 Sachapir Street, Poona 411001; village office: Ranjangaon, Shirur Taluka, Poona; postal address: PO Box No 221, GPO Main, Poona 411001, tel: 020-26344592, mobile: 9823079686; e-mail: ankindia@vsnl. com