Once A Teacher, He Now Drives A Mobile Library To Deliver Books To The Less Fortunate

It is when the time is tough that real heroes emerge, and they do not necessarily look like Thor or Captain America. Take, Sandeep Kumar from Mohali, for instance. In the pre-COVID world, Sandeep was a teacher in a school. Things changed for him, as for everyone else, once the pandemic took over the world and our lives.

We realised that COVID was going to be around for a while, and we started trying to define our new normal. A big part of it was how educational insitiutuions were going to function - Online classes became the norm and instead of a classroom, kids sat in front of laptops or smartphones as teachers conducted classes. But did everyone have the necessary equipment to study, like stationary, internet connection and smartphones?

Sandeep realised that many students did not even have basic necessities like pencils and notebooks, and that is when he came up with the initiative of a mobile library. He provides books and other study material to the less fortunate, who do not have adequate acess to the same. "I was a teacher at a school, but then I realised students don't have basic things, such as pencils & notebooks. That's when I decided to help them this way," ANI quoted him as saying.

Punjab: Sandeep Kumar from Mohali runs a mobile library & provides books/study material to children living in slums; says, ¡°I was a teacher at a school, but then I realised students don't have basic things, such as pencils & notebooks. That's when I decided to help them this way" pic.twitter.com/LTNnX2Hhg3

¡ª ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2020

According to the website of the 'Open Eyes Foundation' - a non-government organization established by Mr. Sandeep Kumar Badsra - the project is called 'Hope on wheels'. One side of the vehicle is a mobile library, while the other has a LED screen that can be used to teach kids. The same vehicle also carries sanitary pads to be distributed among less fortunate women who do not have access to the same. At a time when uncertainity and insecurity are at an all-time high, and when people are struggling to look after themseleves and their families - justifiably so - it takes a lot of heart to help others. It is people like Sandeep who make the rest of us believe in the power of compassion and kindness, and inspire us to do more.