PART ONE: LIGHT IN AUGUST
Light in August
Path to Perdition
What Education Needs
Tales of Heroism from Gulbarga
Big Small Steps
Fun with History?
Surpur ke Sholay
Gangs of Malpura
Mystery of Nagala
Khalbali hai Khalbali, Toofan hi Toofan aur Ziddi
Hum Yahan
Vibrant Classrooms and Narcissism of Small Differences
Stranger in My Own Land
An Average Week in a School
Is There a Reason for Hope?
A Big Village in India

PART TWO: WHAT IS PUBLIC, IN PUBLIC EDUCATION?
What Is Public, in Public Education?
Every Ordinary Public Schoolteacher's Wish List for 2018
House of Education
Education Is Always Political
Divided by Caste The Swedish Education Experiment
Education Requires Research
Improving Teacher Education
India Needs a New Teacher Education System
Making the Wicked Wickeder
Teachers Are Central
A Fraying Lifeline
The Reversal of No-detention Policy is Regressive
Test Tyranny
Markets Cannot Deliver Healthcare and Education
Making Teachers Specialists
Drifting to Teaching
A Culture of Thinking
Perils of Innovation
Myths of Privatopia
The Ideology of Education
Education System Should Have Ideal, Not Practical, Goals
A Weak Support System
What to Teach?
The Making of a Rote Nation Limits of Small Successes The Gateway and the Chasm Limits of ICT in Education The Focus for Education in 2017 A Plea to Educators

PART THREE: UNDER THE BANYAN TREE
Under the Banyan Tree
Inspired by Grace
Finding Our Mahatma
What is Your Stand?
Cop and Teacher
Ambedkar's Teacher
A Measure of Life
The Continuing Importance of Being Ziddi
Dichotomy of Two Cultures
Using History to Build a Strong Nation Education in the Land of Extremes Building an Ethical Society
What Do We Do with Our Horses? Education for What?

PART FOUR: OUR NATION, IN SOME MEASURE
Our Nation, in Some Measure
Not by Education Alone
Of Motivated Teachers
Schools and Sand Dunes
The Education Battle Cry
Groundwater and Equality
Every Child Can Learn, Our Beliefs Matter
A Dark Day in April
Countering the False Narrative
The False Narrative of Teacher Absenteeism
Superstitions and Science
Gender Equity in Education
Politics and Education
Education: Who Is Accountable?
A Day on the Road
Seeking Philosophers
Expectations and Understanding of Education
Redemption of Faith
Good People, Hard Places
Profits and Schools
Land and Livelihood

PART FIVE:
THOSE WHO GROW TREES
Those Who Grow Trees
Kisko Fursat Hai Jo Thaame Deewanon Ka Haath
Coalitions on the Ground
Folk Tales from the Mountains
Hope Remains Alive in Education
Being Superwoman
School in the Desert
The School on the River Tons
From the Ruins
The Heart of the Forest What Does the Desert Have?
The Ordinary People
One Woman Alone
The Quiet River, Narmada
Making the Choice to Fight for Dharma A New Battle in Talikota
Inequity among Teachers
Bridging the Divide in Classrooms
A Tale of a Teacher Forum
One Man, David
Education in India: There's Still Hope Empower the Teacher
The Validation Phenomenon

PART SIX: ISS BAHAKATI HUI DUNIYA KO SAMBHALO YAARON

Let's Not Talk about Education Now Ta-hadd-e-nazar Ek Bayaabaan Sa Kyun Hai
Crossing the Bridge, Every Day
Chirag Dil Ka Jalaao, Bahut Andhera Hai Iss Bahakati Hui Duniya Ko Sambhalo Yaaron
Our Tattoos
Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani
Hum Hindustani
Pandemic in Farmland
Zara Mulk ke Rahbaron Ko Bulaao Zindagi Ki Lau Unchi Kar Chalo Baat Nikli To Har Ek Baat Pe ...
The Importance of Being stubborn

A BOOK ON THE STATE OF EDUCATION IN INDIA BEYOND THE MAIN CITIES AND AN ODE TO EDUCATORS WHO ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF OUR COUNTRY.
Education is the possibility of building something better—a better future, a better community, a better society, a better world. But what really is education? What does it mean to build a better future? And how does one build this future—beyond the metropolitan cities and the schools for the elite?
In this collection of essays, Anurag Behar takes us to schools in remote villages of India. He gives us insight into where our nation stands on education and, through that lens, into the nation itself. He shows us an India that is waiting for better infrastructure and one where the right to education is in constant struggle with the need for survival. But what emerges is the heart-warming and life-affirming story of how people and communities, energised from within, are changing lives—of individuals and the nation. This book is testimony to the essence of education: ‘The heart of the matter is that it is a matter of the heart.’

About the Author

Anurag Behar is one of India’s leading educationists and social sector leaders. For over twenty years, he has led efforts to improve education in India—from the grassroots level to national policies. A deep commitment to building a just, equitable and humane society motivates his work.
Anurag derives his understanding of India’s realities from spending almost half the year, every year, in some of India’s most remote regions, with some of its most vulnerable communities. Bringing his expertise and experience to bear, he was key to drafting India’s National Education Policy 2020.
Anurag is the Chief Executive Officer of the Azim Premji Foundation, one of the world’s biggest philanthropic institutions. He was the founding Vice Chancellor of Azim Premji University. In an earlier life, he led a successful global business in precision engineering.
He is a regular columnist for Mint, Hindustan Times and other publications.

English