Talk To Me! has its roots in a slum called Begumpur in Delhi, where I started a remedial education programme along with two friends. Looking back after ten years, I knew our efforts had shaped our students into grounded, motivated youngsters, and significantly enhanced their academic performance. However, in a group setting, we could not bring their English to the level where they could use the language confidently in a work environment.

Sidestep into another part of my life; I was blessed to find my Guru, Swami Satyasangananda, in a hamlet called Rikhia in Jharkhand. The essence of her teachings and her life’s mission is distilled into three words: SERVE LOVE GIVE. She knew of my work in Begumpur but constantly urged me to do more, much more. On one of my trips back from her Ashram, I sat on the train, returning from an oasis of simplicity and serenity to a frenetic and urbane Delhi. As I sat looking past the dappled swathes of green that rushed by, an idea brushed aside my reverie. Was it my idea, or was it a mandate? Let me call it a mandate. The cardinal points of the mandate were crystal clear: I was going to start a programme to mentor children from underserved backgrounds, mentorship was to be one-on-one, not part of a group programme; we would help our mentees to converse confidently in the English language; interactions would be conducted on WhatsApp; and, most importantly, there would be no monetary transactions. Our mentors would give freely of themselves! That was in 2017.

From there on, the Universe took over. Almost immediately after I got home, my sister asked me to meet her friend Debika Lahiri, who was interested in working with me in Begumpur. Little did I know that Debika was the instrument that would shape the mandate into reality. In walked Debika, and I shared with her the skeletal idea that had manifested on my journey home. Debika was hooked! She was determined to be part of this new journey! She started talking enthusiastically about developing lesson plans. Lesson plans? I had not gotten beyond thinking about the four cardinal points that were planted in my mind on my return journey from Rikhia. And here was Debika talking about lesson plans! Debika knew what she was talking about as she is a grammarian, with decades of experience in teaching English! Off she went on an exuberant cloud and was back in a few days grasping a sheaf of papers that held a set of brilliant lesson plans. And TTM! was born!

After that, all the pieces fell rapidly into place. Till then, all our mentees were drawn from Begumpur. Then Nai Disha came on board. As we worked with them, we realised that our future lay in developing long-term partnerships with educational institutions. Today, we partner with 18 institutions, and many more are knocking at our door. Mentors and mentees started to flow into our lives.
We now have an impassioned family of two hundred and fifty mentors, across India and across continents. Our mentors are passionate and compassionate; they are dream makers. They give our mentees the confidence to dream and then guide them to realise those dreams.

As we grew, we needed additional support to manage TTM! We dipped into a younger generation; we now have Surita Banerjee and Tanu Priya Puri to manage and imagine our future. Together, they have been an invaluable asset, and have led TTM! confidently into fresh pastures. We have added four initiatives to our flagship one-on-one mentoring programme:

  • A BRIDGE PROGRAMME to bring aspiring TTM! mentees to the level where their language skills qualify them for entry into our flagship programme.
  • A CBSE English tuition group for Grade 9 and Grade 10 mentees.
  • MAGICAL BUS to broaden the horizons of our mentees. Carefully curated videos showcase the diversity of culture, geography, and nature across our planet and are presented by vibrant anchors. These are Zoomed into classrooms of a select group of educational institutions.
  • EARLY LEARNING PROGRAMME, again Zoomed into classrooms, to introduce early learners to English.

A seed was sown, its destiny was to bear fruit! And so, TTM! continues to SERVE LOVE GIVE! I thank you, my TTM! family, with every fibre of my being! You have made TTM! what it is today. Look up at the skies. You are TTM! and TTM! is you!

~ Malavika Sharma