Meet seven-year-old Seelu, who could well be the youngest teacher in the world. A native of Anantrampatti village of Mirzapur district, the little girl has ushered in a wave of self-reliance in the lives of over 400 women, who are three to six times her age.
Seelu Mishra’s father, Ramji Mishra, a farmer with four daughters and a son, says, “ My wife Saroj used to run this school, but following her illness, we had no one to run the school.”
The answer came as Seelu, who used to learn Hindi and English alphabets, while her mother taught women to sew at her ‘Silai School.’ Seelu declared in a lisping voice that she wanted to don her mother’s mantle.
And then Seelu took the baton from mother Saroj to shape up lives of many other women.
Saroj proudly says, “She has already taught how to sew clothes, school uniforms and even shirts and trousers during her four-year-old teaching career.”
It is time for the family to raise a toast to Seelu’s success. She is among the three nominees for the Pogo Amazing Kids (Leadership) Award for which Seelu and her father boarded their maiden flight from Varanasi to Mumbai, where the function will take place.
By Anuraag Singh, Hindustan Times