Berkley Center

Background: As part of the Education and Global Social Justice Project, in May 2011, undergraduate student Deven Comen interviewed Neha Deshmukh, an undergraduate student enrolled in the Bachelor of Managment Studies (BMS) Program at St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai, India. In this interview, Deshmukh discusses her experience at St. Xavier’s, focusing on community service, the Social Involvement Program (SIP), and the dedication of St. Xavier’s to social work.

Can you tell me about your experience at St. Xavier’s College as a student?

After I finished my tenth standard, I had to decide whether to do science, arts, or commerce. I would have liked to do biology, but I was deathly afraid of physics and chemistry, so science was out of the picture. Commerce seemed like too many numbers, and I almost felt it was kind of soulless. That’s why I came to arts. I had wonderful Xavier’s junior college teachers. I got a good enough percentage in the twelfth to go for my B.A., but then I got interested in some of the business subjects and joined the BMS department.

Before doing SIP, I had already worked for Akhanksha during vacations. Then a blackboard fell on my toe and fractured it! I also have worked at the [Xavier's Resource Center for the Visually Challenged, XRCVC] and worked with a student, Ethinath, who now has an offer from Reliance. In my first year of junior college, I helped organize an environmental awareness exhibition. I joined the SSL [Social Service League] and love volunteering at our blood drives.

I think the college is very sensitive. They don’t need to legally set up an institute like the XRCVC or the language lab. They didn’t need to do that; if someone is coming to English-speaking institution, they are expected to be well versed in English. It is very nice to see that the college is looking out for the needs of people. When I see initiatives like this, I feel sensitized to the challenges of the visually challenged and am inspired. When I visited New Zealand, I saw the special parking spaces for the disabled and special toilets. Here we don’t have features like that, but I think we could move in that direction.

What are the core values that St. Xavier’s tries to instill in its students?

I think excellence is definitely the fundamental core principle. We have the best teachers and a brilliant, constantly updated library. There is a lot of passion. Our teachers are very inspiring and tell us to put our hearts into what we do. Another value is an emphasis on social work. Those three are the main ones. Another one would be belief in yourself. The teachers have produced so many brilliant graduates and make us all feel like winners. Environmental consciousness has become a new one. For example, the student council wrote letters to Fr. Frazer [Mascarenhas, principal of St. Xavier's] about the canteen’s use of paper, and we now use reusable plates.

What was your experience with SIP like?

I like teaching and planned on working at Akhanksha, but the timing didn’t work out. I have worked at Pavement Club for the past year.

I know not everyone likes SIP, but a few people really do it with their hearts. The lady at Pavement Club told me that some students try to fake their hours and her signature in their journals. I don’t like writing the journal. I just like going there and doing my thing. I think SIP should not be mandatory because it does more damage than good. Some students go and shout at the young children about not understanding. I think most of the students are either in this category or apathetic. It sounds very nice, you know, to say our college has students doing service work. But I really feel like children shouldn’t be shouted at that way. I also worry about the lack of structure for the children with the volunteers who come so irregularly. They already have to deal with abusive teachers at the municipal schools. It must be frustrating.

Even if people don’t like SIP, everyone thinks Father Frazer is wonderful, and he has an aura around him.

What are the greatest challenges facing Mumbai and India?

Mumbai’s challenge is water scarcity. Garbage disposal is not streamlined, because not every place segregates their waste. The collectors usually throw it all together anyway. I also worry about disease because the city is very crowded and there are so many of us.

India’s number one issue is education. Skills education is important so the poor can get better jobs. Some of the current NGO jobs training workshops are flawed. For example, who uses candles anymore? We shouldn’t be training entire villages of women how to make them! I have a maid at home, but I don’t want her son to become a driver. My grandfather lived in the village, and somehow he got a scholarship to go to the University of Michigan. I want more stories like that for our kids at Pavement Club. All of them are so smart.

The SIP can improve by making students who are teaching turn in their lesson plans ahead of time, to improve accountability.

Mahar also has a social service component, called Mahar Spreads Cheer. It has included an environmental clean-up and other NGO visits.

In the back of my mind I know, if I want to do something, I will most probably have the support of Xavier’s College and its resources.