Ajmal’s Story of Reclaiming Light After a Darkened Childhood

Ajmal’s Story of Reclaiming Light After a Darkened Childhood

For many children, education is just a pathway to knowledge. But for many others, it is a doorway out of fear, instability, and emotional turmoil. Mohammad Ajmal, an 8th-grade student from Noor Sait Matriculation School, is one such child whose journey reflects the quiet resilience born from hardship. Calm and academically inclined, Ajmal carries within him scars from a childhood shaped by his father’s addiction and the constant threat of domestic violence. Though he never spoke openly about it, the fear and helplessness of watching his mother and younger siblings suffer had etched itself into his personality. Anyone who observes him a little can visibly notice the way he held back his opinions, avoided conflict, and shrank from attention.

It was Ms. Aseena, a Shanti Ashram Bala Shanti teacher for the last 7 years, who sensed that Ajmal’s silence held a story. She recalls her first interaction vividly like, “His smile was too controlled. Children don’t smile like that unless they’ve taught themselves to hide something.” She engaged with the family, like a neighbour, and understood the emotional weight the boy was carrying, and brought him into the Ashram’s MESPL child support programme.

This scholarship, the Bala Shanti – MESPL joint scholarships, which Ajmal received marked a meaningful shift in his life. Financially, it ensured an uninterrupted schooling, but its emotional impact was even greater. He recalls how for the first time, he felt that someone beyond his family believed in his potential. He later shared, “I always felt like I was running inside a dark tunnel. The scholarship felt like someone finally switched on a light.” The Ashram became a place where he could breathe freely and a safe space where he was encouraged to speak in circles, participate in outdoor activities, and let himself be a child again.

Ashram’s Eco-trips, peer gatherings, Children’s Day tour to holy places of all the religions, in Coimbatore, the simple joy of exiploring new places helped him rebuild trust in people and the world. These experiences must have been the one that softened the hardness that had accumulated in him. Through guided activities, he began expressing the pain he never dared share at home. Teachers noticed a newfound confidence, he raised his hand more often, volunteered in group work, and even coached younger students in boxing.

His mother, who works long hours in a clothing store, describes the scholarship as “the first-time life gave us a pause.” She says it allowed her to stop choosing between survival and her children’s future. She expresses deep gratitude that Ajmal can now focus on learning rather than worry about household tensions. He’s a constant topper now in almost all the subjects who never misses his place in the first three ranks.

Ajmal is now dreaming of becoming an archaeologist, views his past not as a burden but as something that shaped his strength. “Maybe I had to see darkness early,” he says, “so I could recognize light when it came.” His story shows how a single intervention of guidance with empathy can help a child rise from emotional silence into self-belief, curiosity, and hope for a brighter future.

For many children, education is just a pathway to knowledge. But for many others, it is a doorway out of fear, instability, and emotional turmoil.

Ms.Aathirai Nallaal.S.
PhD Research Scholar, Mahatma Gandhi Institute for Peace Leadership & Development

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