Learning Together, Growing Together

“I firmly believe that education is the one treasure that can never be taken away.” With this belief, Subiksha Kannan, an Endodontist and Restorative Dentist, joined eVidyaloka as a volunteer teacher in 2024.

Hailing from Tamil Nadu, Subiksha expected to teach in her native language, Tamil. However, with no openings in Tamil Nadu schools at the time, she was offered an unexpected opportunity to teach at a school in Odisha. While her postgraduate experience had given her a grasp of the Odia language, she initially doubted whether she could successfully teach and engage with students in a non-native language.

“It’s better to have someone teaching them rather than them reading alone with no teacher at all”, these words of Mr Tabrez, from the volunteer relations team, made me reconsider.

“The only subject I felt confident teaching was English,” she recalls.

As Subiksha taught, she learned too—improving her language, building patience, and discovering the joy of seeing small transformations in her students. With her friend’s support, she gradually found her confidence in the classroom.

“I must give a special mention to my best friend, Dr. Kalyani Pattnaik, who is Odia—she helps me translate every class after I prepare it. It’s double the effort and can be overwhelming at times because you need to be interactive and confident during class. But every effort is worth it when I see my students trying to converse in English.”

Now in her second year of volunteering, she teaches at the GUHS Gurjung center in Odisha. Her students continue to be her greatest motivation. “Everything I am today, I owe entirely to the power of education, and I hope to bring that positive change to my students. Their success will be my greatest reward, and I look forward to being part of this beautiful organization for life.”

Subiksha Kannan’s volunteering journey beautifully illustrates that some of the most meaningful rewards lie beyond one’s comfort zone. Through volunteering, she shows how transformative the experience can be; it offers as much in return as the effort you put in and creates meaningful connections through a shared purpose.

eVidyaloka continues to unite passionate volunteers whose dedication is inspired by the mission and sustained by the joy of their students. These volunteers come from diverse backgrounds, yet they are all bound by a shared purpose—to make quality education accessible to every child.