In March 2019, just days after losing my father, the founder of Odser Charitable Trust, I walked into a small school he had once supported. I was carrying grief, confusion, and the weight of responsibility that had arrived too quickly. I told myself, If I am going to continue his work, I need to understand what these children truly need.
That afternoon, I met a little girl named Meena.
Class 4.
Quiet.
Avoiding eye contact.
Afraid to read aloud.
When her teacher mentioned she struggled with reading, I asked Meena if she would try a paragraph with me.
She hesitated, then nodded.
She stumbled through the first line.
Stopped.
Looked up with fear.
Waited for judgment.
In that moment, something inside me shifted.
Her struggle was not inability.
It was simply the result of a child who had never received personalised guidance.
No extra help at home.
Overcrowded classrooms.
A syllabus moving faster than she could follow.
A system that didn’t have the time to pause for her.
So I sat with her.
Patiently.
Gently.
Word by word.
Twenty minutes later, she completed the paragraph. And she smiled – the kind of smile that comes when a child realises she can. Her teacher whispered, “She just needs someone to stay with her long enough.”
That sentence stayed with me. It stayed with me through grief.
It stayed with me as I stepped into my father’s shoes.
And it became the seed of what I now know Odser must build.
This moment became the birth of Meri Pathshala.
Not a new building.
Not a separate centre.
But a “school within a school”… a layer of support inside the classrooms children already attend.
A space where no child is left behind.
A program that strengthens what is already working.
A system that fills the gaps that push children toward failure.
A way of learning that tells them, every day: “You can.”
Meri Pathshala did not begin as a project.
It began as a commitment .. my commitment.. to ensure no child sits in a classroom feeling invisible.
As I write this, we are still shaping the first modules, assembling a team, and designing the approach one step at a time. We are learning, listening, refining. But I know with complete clarity: This is the work Odser must do.
If you believe every child deserves someone who stays by their side long enough for confidence to grow, I invite you to walk this journey with us.
Together, we can build Meri Pathshala.
Together, we can build futures.
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