Scientific studies have shown that it takes an MBA exactly 5 minutes 43 seconds to become an expert in a subject after hearing about it for the first time.

So 5 minutes and 43 seconds after hearing about Corporate Social Responsibility, we decide to assess, explore, and improve the projects being undertaken at our firm. We plan to go to the points of action, assess gaps and plug them, and then recommend ideas that would dramatically improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the CSR program.

This post is not the story of what we did and what we learnt and how much value we added to the company for our shareholders. This is a small tale of a small man named Paras Ram Juriya.

Between Jodhpur and Bikaner lies the district of Nagaur. It was the first district in India where Panchayati Raj was introduced. About 75 kilometres south of Nagaur headquarters is the village of Talanpur. In an otherwise nondescript village, we are introduced to a man who runs a coaching centre from his home and teaches students of standards one to ten.

His is a small house built using stones and strikes us brick-dwellers as peculiar but proficient. The entrance is low and full of creepers. This forces us to bend as we enter. There is a small open space ahead of us beyond which lie two rooms. A shaded space is present on our right, the shade provided by a roof made of leaves and thatch. We are in a land where women walk with their faces covered. It does not surprise us then that we are greeted by a woman whose face we can’t see. She is familiar with our guide and after a customary exchange of greetings, she allows the veil to shuffle away. The woman, perhaps aged forty or more, informs us that her husband is having his lunch. He was on a fast for the past five days because of Ramnavami and will join us once he is done.

That, however, turns out to be untrue as a thin and frail man with greying hair comes out wiping his hands and greets us. Our guide asks him if he is done having lunch. He politely points out that the arrival of guests is more important than the mundane task of eating. Our guide does not entertain this act of kindness and affirms his unwillingness to talk unless the teacher finishes his meal. Several such encounters later, we sit down to talk.

We had been told what Paras did. His passion had been glorified in exalted words. So far, I had seen nothing extraordinary in this man. There are similar teachers across the country working in villages and teaching students. I, therefore, wait to be either delighted or disappointed. MBA education also teaches you how to form opinions about things you know nothing of and does away with the near-useless ability to approach things with an open mind.

The man then starts talking. He is not a great communicator; he speaks too quickly to comprehend at times and is often stuck on things he wants to say rather than on what the group is talking about. Still, I listen. I listen because there is a deep passion in this man’s voice when he is talking about what he does. He tells us of his students and of the backgrounds they come from. Most of them are Rajputs here. The area in itself is dominated by people of two major castes – Rajputs and Jats. Seeing well-built men and fair women all around us, we don’t doubt this. The children have no one to teach them at home so they flock to his place in all shapes and sizes, every day. They take random spots on the floor as he instructs them on all subjects.

I am still not impressed, so I wait to see what this man does that gets him more than a hundred children.

He begins by telling us of how bright his students are and how the lack of resources forces them to not realise their potential. We see how he steps in and bridges this gap. Using meticulously planned question papers, he helps them prepare for the examinations to Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya schools. Any student from such a background gaining entry to a Navodaya is set on a path to a better future. The Navodaya system tries to provide quality education to children at very cheap and affordable rates. He achieves this by going through Navodaya entrance papers and guidebooks, setting questions using them and conducting them repeatedly for the sake of his students.

The other big thing he focusses is the entrance exam for the army to be taken by students who have completed standard 12. The pattern again is similar – questions and guides and then working with them to ensure access to resources for his students.

My mind starts observing the pattern now. For students who don’t know what options they can explore in the future or how to access these options, he is perhaps unintentionally becoming a bridge. His clear purpose is a better future through education. I again start searching for patterns – has he been denied the same while growing up?

It turns out that he has and he hasn’t. We learn that he was born in a family of educated people and hence his parents too took all care to have him educated. However, unlike his more illustrious cousins who made it to plum government jobs, he couldn’t make “great use” of his education and hence ended up being a school teacher. The desire to make up for what he was unable to achieve drives him. He wants the students to do well and get things in life that he was unable to get for himself. He isn’t selfless though; he hopes to be recognised and admired by the success of his students.

What does catch my attention is the spirit of “jugaad” this man employs to achieve his purpose. Not all students can afford to or have parents willing to buy books which help in preparing for the Navodaya examinations at various levels. His solution is a simple one. He tears pages out of his own books and gives it to some student. Once that student is done with the pages, the pages are dutifully returned to the teacher who then passes them on to some other student. In this way, a sharing and caring economy thrives within the confines of the stone walls. He personally also writes questions for his students for them to answer; the setting is of mock examinations. Since he can’t afford to print question papers, he puts in this extra effort.

He also tells us of his personal life. He persuaded his wife to complete her matriculation. She had taken the exams that year and her results were awaited. His children study with the others that he teaches. Needless to say, he has high hopes for them.

I am pretty sure that there must be many people like him who would be filling up the gaps left in the Indian Education system. I still believe what he does is extraordinary. It’s not because I have discovered something he does that I haven’t seen elsewhere; on the contrary, I have seen many people do almost the same things he was doing. I feel he is extraordinary because everyone putting in such efforts is extraordinary. It is their spirit to do something for the community that I salute today.

We spend a good three hours at his house. With the passing of time, we are transformed into complete learners from the analysts we had set out as. We learn a thing or two about passion. We learn a thing or two about social change. We learn a lot about learning.