Monsoon Semester 12: Bridges, Not Islands
English

In July, they arrived with the rain.
Now it's December. The paths
are dry, the sky is clear, and
three hundred first-years are
counting the days to the holidays.
Good morning. My name is Kabir,
and my project is called...
No. Again.
Good morning, everyone.
I'm Kabir.
Louder. Some people sit
at the back, you know.
Ma'am! How long have you been there?
Since July.
Eleven in the morning.
A civilised hour, at least.
Everything okay, ma'am?
The Dean of Students wants to see me.
And Arjun.
Is that... good?
We'll find out. From the top, Kabir.
'Good morning.'
Kamala. Arjun. Thank you for coming.
I'll be direct.
I've read the court's
guidelines four times.
They tell me what we must do.
I want to know what we should do.
So I need a campus well-being plan,
written by people who know the students by
name.
And I hear your faculty
circle has twelve members now.
Twelve, sir. We started with six.
We'll help. On one condition.
Only one?
We write it with the students.
Not just about them.
And with the staff.
Mani Anna noticed Kabir
before any of us did.
And I'll help write it,
but I won't carry it alone.
That's the whole point.
Agreed. All of it. So,
tell me what you'd change.
Can I start with me?
I used to post marks on the noticeboard.
By roll number.
We remember.
The plan took three weeks, eleven
meetings, and a great deal of chai.
Farah finally got a second counsellor.
I had lunch today. Sitting down.
With a plate.
And the waiting list fits on one page now.
Students trained as peer supporters.
Tanvi was among the first.
Rule one: you're a
bridge, not a counsellor.
You listen, and you walk them over.
Mind if I sit? I'm Tanvi. Third year.
Okay.
Long week?
...Long semester.
Mine too. I stopped sleeping for a while.
I asked for help. It got better.
Honestly.
The Wellness Centre has
two counsellors now.
Want to walk over together, after lunch?
...Yes. Okay.
Every first-year got a faculty mentor.
Ishaan. Fatima. Deepak.
Tsering. Nandini. See?
All five.
Marks were shared privately, by default.
Students joined the welfare committee.
I read the whole draft.
Page nine has a typo.
Noted.
And every department's noticeboard got
a referral protocol, so anyone worried
about a student knows exactly what to do.
What changed wasn't one teacher.
It was the whole campus.
The classroom, the hostel, the
lab, the mess: everyone who meets
students had a part.
There's a name for this: a
whole-university approach.
It treats well-being as the whole
institution's job, not just the
counsellor's.
It's the idea behind the Okanagan
Charter, and the UK's University Mental
Health Charter.
India already has working models.
IIT Madras has MITR, a peer group.
IIT Kanpur has Samvad.
Bharati College has Feelings Ka Adda.
CHRIST University has peer educators.
And the Manipal Academy of
Higher Education has Manam.
Sangath's CAMPUS project trains students
to lead well-being work on their own
campuses.
And the Supreme Court's
fifteen guidelines?
They're the minimum.
A campus can always do more.
Good morning, everyone.
I'm Kabir.
In July, half my problem wasn't physics.
It was the English.
So I made Pul. A Hindi–English
glossary for first-year courses.
Pul means bridge.
Tanvi di tested it on
her entire quiz club.
They were... very thorough.
Any questions?
Can it do Tamil?
Not yet. Next semester.
You asked for questions.
In July, you sat at the
back, by the window.
Now Kamala ma'am sits there.
The view is very good.
Maa, it went well. The presentation.
Arre wah! Hamara topper!
Maa... I'm not the topper here.
Not even close.
But I'm learning. I have friends.
I'm okay. Really.
Topper-vopper chhodo.
You sound happy. Bas,
that's the result I wanted.
Khana theek se kha rahe ho?
Haan, Maa. Three times a day.
Mess food, but still.
Aur sun, bring that
steel trunk home empty.
I'm filling it with laddoos.
Okay, Maa. Empty trunk.
Well done, Sonam. The
committee was impressed.
Even by the experiments that failed?
Especially those. You
were honest about them.
And you replied to my draft
at four in the afternoon.
I noticed.
It's in our compact.
Agreed reply times.
Then chapter four is on your desk.
Reply by Monday?
...Agreed.
Anna. This is for you.
For me? What is this?
A thank-you card. Arjun sir told me.
About my cycle.
Thirty years, I get punctures,
broken chains, lost keys.
First time, a card.
Same cycle. Somebody new.
Oil that chain before you go home!
Two chai, please. Full.
We're not in a hurry.
Next semester's list came today.
Two hundred and eighty names.
Start with the ones at the back.
I know, ma'am. I know.
In July, I told you this was
the counsellor's department.
And now?
Now I think it's everybody's.
Careful. You're starting to
sound like a well-being plan.
Ma'am... how are you? Really?
You asked.
You told me I never did.
Tired. But well. I took two weekends off.
Two! Should I inform the Dean?
Don't you dare.
No rain. I almost miss it.
It'll be back in July.
And so will they.
In July, it was a few kind teachers.
By December, it was a whole campus.
Bridges, not islands.
Try this week: write down three
commitments in your GuruSetu notes.
One conversation, one change to your
course, and one colleague to work with.
And here is a phrase to keep.
Be the lamp. Be the bridge.
Support details and sources
are below this video.
Thank you for spending
this semester with us.
Take good care of your
students, and of yourselves.
Be the lamp. Be the bridge.