At a time when women weren’t given freedom to make their own choices, Maniben Amin from Gujarat defied decaying cultures and stood for herself. For her, kindness begins from the point of standing up for oneself, spreading the wave of change around and making an effort to bring a difference in the society.
This is the story of Maniben Amin and her journey of kindness and fierce ideas of change. She devoted her entire life to educating children in the Montessori and making a stronger foundation for them to grow.
Born in 1911 in Baroda, she got married at the young age of 14, and was widowed in 1939, at the age of 28. She became the anti heroine of her own story when she announced in front of the family that she is not going to follow any traditional widowhood rules.
She stood her ground and eventually went to Bombay to be an apprentice under Tarabai Modak, and Gijubai Badheka, who were among the pioneers of Montessori education in India. She trained to be a teacher under them. When she returned to Baroda in 1940, she transformed one of the bungalows in her colony to Shishu Kunj, a Montessori school. This is how her story of educating children began. She then decided to devote her entire days into imparting education to these children.
Fondly known as Mani Ba, she remained dedicated to the cause of Montessori education and a favourite to all the children at her school.
She used her newly learned skills of interactive education and fun learning as tools in Shishu Kunj, which earned her a great deal of popularity in Baroda. Established in 1940, Shishu Kunj was renamed the Alembic High School and became a full-fledged high school in 1960. Maniben was offered the position of school headmistress, but she’d declined the offer. She wanted to continue as a teacher.
She then started individually tutoring children with learning difficulties. Her ways of teaching were unique. She was against corporal punishment. She also didn’t believe in burdening children with homework. She was always more interested in co-curricular activities as a means of teaching students. She wanted children to cultivate a scientific temper and explore creativity. She just didn’t care for education for learning’s sake, she also focused on the health, nutrition and development of the children outside of the school.
On her personal front of politics and beliefs, she was against patriarchal traditions and gender based discrimination. She was also known immensely for her encouragement of diversity, and for being an open-minded person. Following the Gandhian notion of hard work and will power, she was a pioneer of the right to education for every child, irrespective of caste or class. Mani Ba accepted all students in her class, even when other teachers refused to admit students with dyslexia or health problems.
Maniben lived a very simple and kind life, always looking for ways to serve her community. She was a far-sighted woman, raising her voice on issues affecting women around her.
Even during the last years of her life, she stayed active, reading and learning, and often consulting teachers in Baroda. She reached her demise in 1987 in Baroda, Gujarat. Maniben left a legacy unparalleled for the education of children along with accepting and supporting them, without a judgement or preconceived notions. Her way of kindness is perpetuated through helping the society raise to better standards!
Here’s to more women like Maniben and their zeal to change the world, one school at a time!
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