I still remember the day I first started teaching kids maths. My friend’s mother, who was affiliated with an NGO called Anukulan, had assigned me three students. I couldn’t help but feel nervous. What if I stumbled over my words while teaching? What if they could sense my anxiety? Questions like these swirled in my head as I reviewed the chapter I was going to teach them.

My mother reassured me, telling me I’d do just fine since I was great at maths. Still, my insides were knotted as I joined the meet. Tenth-grade math was supposed to be a piece of cake for me, right? I kept chanting that inwardly like a mantra, trying to believe it.

Soon, all the students had joined. I asked for their introductions and the names of their schools, and they promptly responded. They called me “ma’am.” That address was new to me—someone who had always used it for others. I gave my own introduction and began the class. The topic was trigonometry, one of my favorites.

This is a picture of me and Bharti, one of the three students. She wanted me to solve one of her doubts regarding ‘Sequence and Series’, a chapter in the NCERT maths textbook for class 10.

My students were more than welcoming! That instantly melted away my inhibitions and helped me teach them to the best of my ability. They grasped the concepts well, and I was genuinely impressed by their involvement in the discussion. Bharti had a competitive spirit, Anshul loved learning something new, and Aniket never failed to answer any of my questions.

For me, teaching them wasn’t just about lessons—it was about communication and bonding too. I loved interacting with them, and sometimes, we’d talk about things beyond the textbook. This experience shaped me in ways I hadn’t expected. It helped me come out of my shell and taught me how to manage people.

My three students were the heart behind EduBuddy. They were bright, curious, and full of potential—but once our classes ended, they were left to learn on their own, with little support. I loved helping them, answering every doubt they had—but I hated the helplessness I felt knowing that, outside of class, they had no one to turn to. Coming from underprivileged backgrounds, they didn’t have access to the resources they deserved. That ache, of seeing potential go unsupported, stayed with me. So I created EduBuddy: a platform that could be there for them even when I couldn’t.

I even had to scold them occasionally when they didn’t practice, despite my repeated reminders. Still, they were learning well. Teaching taught me not just how to explain better but also how deep a student-teacher bond can go.

It’s changed how I view my own teachers, who make immense efforts just so their students can progress and grow. I’m grateful I got the chance to teach—and even more grateful for everything those students ended up teaching me in return.