Bal Kalyan Ashram—An orphanage which is more than a home!

There are no alarm clocks in the Bal Kalyan Ashram in the Talaulim village near Ponda. All the 44 boys who reside in the ashram wake up at 5 am. Thanks to their biological clock.

The boys, mostly orphans or children with single parents have been divided into groups of eleven each. Each group resides in large, separate rooms in a newly constructed building. The designated group leader, usually the oldest boy is responsible for getting his team up and getting them ready for the morning run. The boys aged between 5-18 have to sweep and mob their rooms, the building lobbies and staircases, perform exercises, wash their clothes and bathe, eat  breakfast and get ready for school or college as the case may be. While half the boys go to the Mahalaxmi English medium school, the other half studies at the Sharada English school situated in the neighbourhood.

The ashram is run by the Ponda based Matruchaya Trust and provides the boys with lodging, boarding, schooling and health care. According to Madhukar Dixit, committee member, Matruchaya Trust, the trust is grateful to Pradeep Talaulikar and family for donating the property of the Late Madhav Talaulikar to the orphanage. “We were able to buy an adjacent plot and construct this large building for our children,” Dixit said.

On the afternoon of my visit to the centre, the primary school boys had just returned from school and were seen playing with gay abandon in the lobby of the building. A family from Ponda was celebrating the birthday of their little son at the centre and the ashram children were playing a ball-game that was  initiated by the birthday boy. The boys were soon shepherded into the common dining room, where they all settled down to a sumptuous meal. Five ladies served the children with a lot of love and care. The plates were full, but none of the boys picked a morsel until the traditional prayer had been recited.

Dixit was hoping that more people visited the ashram on their respective birthdays and anniversaries.  

Post lunch, the boys trooped into their designated halls for a period of intense school work between 3pm-5pm. A group of visiting teachers come every afternoon to help the boys with their school work. Thankfully there is a great emphasis on sport at the ashram and the boys play kabaddi, kho-kho or practice the ancient Indian sport of Malkambh between 5pm-7pm every evening in the large open playground surrounding the ashram. The boys are also taught chess, with a special tutor coming every Thursday evening for the same. Hanumant Pujari ( 18) one of the ashram boys recently won a local chess tournament in Ponda.

Goa state malkambh player, Amit Karvande visits the ashram every Sunday evening to coach the boys. According to Amit, the ashram boys are strong and enthusiastic.  “At least three-four boys are very good at the sport and with daily practice could become very fine players,” Amit told Herald.

In the evenings, after a bath, the boys troop into the main hall Around 715pm for a one-hour session  of moral science and storytelling followed by prayers. According to Subhash Oke, the genial ashram superintendent, volunteers from satsang groups in Ponda often visit the ashram for short prayer sessions with the boys. Dinner is served at 830pm after which it is lights out by 930pm.

In order to infuse the boys with social consciousness, they are made to clean up the neighbourhood Mahalaxmi temple periodically. According to Oke, the boys celebrate all festivals with a lot of fervour. The Ganesh festival sees the boys bring an idol of Lord Ganesha in the ashram, they recite prayers in the local temple during Ram Navami and visit the homes of local villagers during Diwali and Dassera.

The ashram boys have also done well academically. Last year, Veerbhadra Hiremath scored 65% in his SSC. This year, twin brothers, Jayant and Jayesh Gaude are appearing for their SSC examinations (see their quotes above). The  ashram has also been focussing on vocational courses.  According to Oke, some of the ashram boys, have completed a one-year vocational diploma in culinary arts from the Ponda Catering college guaranteeing them instant employment.