The rigidity of school curriculum often isn’t enough to help children battling the oppression of caste, poverty and abuse. Learning through art, though, can provide a safe space for them to express their emotions and discover both, their identity and the world outside
Door Step School’s flagship programme School on Wheels provides education, including arts and crafts, to children living in street settlements at various locations across the city. Pic/Anurag Ahire
Education is the ladder that helps youth climb towards a better future. But what happens when the rungs of that ladder are broken by hammers such as caste, class and other social barriers that make learning an uphill battle?
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For many children from marginalised communities in India, school isn’t always enough to bridge the gaps life throws at them. According to the most recent report published by the Ministry of Finance, dropout rates at the primary level (Standard 1-5) stands at 1.9 per cent, 5.2 per cent at the upper primary level (Standard 6-8), and 14.1 per cent in secondary school (Standard 9-10).
Akash Dhangar, creator, HipHop Paathshala
UNICEF India claims that the country has the world’s largest adolescent population, with 25.3 crore individuals—every fifth person is between 10 and 19 years old. However, children from rural areas, slums, urban poor families, scheduled castes, tribal communities, and other disadvantaged groups face multiple challenges, including poverty, lack of access to quality healthcare, child marriage, poor school attendance, and low learning outcomes.
This is where the expressive arts come in. Spanning painting, storytelling, music, dance, theatre, and more—expressive arts are increasingly being recognised as powerful tools for healing and empowerment among marginalised children in India. In communities where systemic inequalities stifle education and self-expression, arts programmes offer an alternative language, helping children reclaim agency over their narratives.
Door Step School’s initiative, School on Wheels, parked outside the Indira Gandhi Institute of Research and Development in Goregaon, provides crafts classes to children living on the streets. Pic/Anurag Ahire
Sulbha Bongarde, a trainer at the Door Step School—an NGO committed to changing the pre-defined reality of India’s urban poor by ensuring that every child, regardless of socio-economic background, gets access to quality education—notes, “When the Door Step School was first established 30 years ago, we introduced art and music classes for the children. We quickly realised that many children who struggled to communicate fluently, lacked confidence in expressing their thoughts, or were naturally reserved, found solace in art. Art became their medium of expression.”
Bongarde recalls a recent incident where a young student had drawn a picture of a man behind steel bars. When she asked him about it, he revealed that his father had been arrested and was now in jail. Another child had drawn a large bird sheltering a smaller one. When Bongarde enquired about its meaning, she shared that her mother was pregnant, and she feared being abandoned once the new child was born. “Through art, these children express their feelings without words, allowing us to understand their emotions and provide better support,” she says.
Learning through expressive arts transforms education by making it interactive, engaging, and deeply personal. “We founded the Pehlay Akshar Foundation in 2008 with the aim of providing quality English language education to children in government schools,” says Radha Goenka, the founder of the NGO. “In a country like India, where colonial legacies run deep and the legal system primarily operates in English—with all Supreme Court and High Court proceedings conducted in English as per the Constitution—education in the language remains a weak link”.
According to the 2011 national census, only 10.2 per cent of the population speaks English. This includes all those who use English as a first, second, or third language: 0.02 per cent of Indians speak English as their first language, 6.57 per cent as a second language, and 3.6 per cent as a third language. This is despite English being central to the country’s legal and administrative frameworks.
Naina Shahri, Maru Jeet, Sulbha Bongarde, Nandini Kochar and Radha Goenka
“At Pehlay Akshar, we believe a curriculum is not just about what we teach but how we teach it,” she continues. To address this, the foundation emphasises creative expression as a tool for language learning.
“Spoken language skills develop through continuous interaction,” Goenka says. “Confidence is key. Many children we work with lack confidence in using English, so we integrate drama and performance into our teaching methods. In June 2024, we began conceptualising a fully English-language recital, which was later staged at the Kala Ghoda Festival on February 1, 2025.”
Iqra Shaikh on the set of her short film Hijabi Hacker. Pic/Nazaria Foundation
For the production of this recital, students from 10 BMC schools in Mumbai were involved in every aspect of the play, from crafting props and sets to managing finances, marketing the performance and, of course, acting, dancing and singing. “This hands-on approach ensured they developed a range of crucial skills alongside their language abilities,” Goenka notes.
The play’s theme, Jungle vs Zoo, was chosen for its universal appeal—animals resonate with both children and adults. “This theme allowed us to incorporate multiple characters, giving more children the opportunity to take the stage, speak in English, and gain confidence in the process,” reflects Goenka. In language education, especially, creative expression fosters confidence and fluency by shifting the focus from rigid grammar rules to active communication, equipping them for real-world challenges.
Preeti (Left) and Naaz spend evenings post school at Jeet Drawing Classes. Pic Courtesy/Maru Jeet
At the India Art Fair 2025 in Delhi, artist Yogesh Barve presents a striking outdoor installation titled I Am Not Your Dalit. The work addresses caste discrimination in India, drawing inspiration from James Baldwin’s I Am Not Your Negro and incorporating Dr BR Ambedkar’s writings on law, human rights, and social justice. The running text also includes extracts from Mahatma Phule’s literary works, Savitribai Phule’s poems on education and the collected works of Periyar EVR.
Barve employs LED tickers, commonplace in public spaces like railway stations and markets, as a medium to disseminate Ambedkar’s critical ideas. Through this, he hopes to urge a re-evaluation of anti-caste activism, technology, and their intersection in shaping future societies.
Shaili Shah, founder of Crestar Studio, believes art nourishes the soul. This belief led Crestar to supply over 2,000 art kits—with paints, brushes, and social-issue-themed cutouts—to various BMC schools across the city every month. Pic Courtesy/Crestar Studio
A central theme in Barve’s artistic philosophy is accessibility. “In my understanding, art is a medium that creates common ground and dialogue across societal divisions. My LED ticker installation stemmed from the idea of making anti-caste literature widely available in public spaces that also demonstrates that education can take various forms,” says Barve.
For Barve, his own experiences in the leather industry and the arts have reinforced his belief that providing marginalised communities with access to education and creative platforms can lead to transformative societal change. “If this community gains access to education, just imagine what can be done for human society—for a just society.” Expressive arts, in this context, serve not just as a means of individual expression but as a powerful instrument for collective awareness and systemic change, tying in with Ambedkar’s belief that “Education is a weapon of creation of mental and educational development, weapon of eradication of social slavery of economic development of political freedom.”
Students of Nariyalwadi BMC School in Santacruz East, affiliated with Pehlay Akshar Foundation, performed A Tale of Two Worlds—Where the Zoo Meets the Jungle for their Annual Day. Pic/Kirti Surve Parade
Expressive arts often tend to help kids discover talents that open doors they never knew existed. Maru Jeet is an artist and teacher, who hails from the small town of Vartej in Gujarat. His students’ artwork was recently showcased at Crestar Studio’s Artfest Odyssey, held in Khar on January 26. The charcoal, acrylic and watercolour paintings created by children aged 12 to 15, were sold for a total of Rs 30,000.
“Growing up, I was never a confident child,” says Shaili Shah, founder of Crestar Studio and curator of Artfest Odyssey. “But I always found my voice through art. That’s why I founded Crestar—to help children discover their voices, build confidence, and prioritise mental health through creative expression.” Guided by the belief that art is the food of the soul, Crestar recently showcased works by children from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, highlighting the power of artistic expression in fostering self-assurance and emotional well-being.
Pehlay Akshar Foundation’s ethos lies in the belief that integrating performance arts into their teaching methods helps build confidence in children from underprivileged backgrounds. Pic/Kirti Surve Parade
“I noticed that after 5 pm, most children would go home and spend hours glued to their phones or watching television, with little productive output,” reflects Jeet. That’s why, three years ago, I decided to start free art classes for children from humble backgrounds. Many of their parents work as domestic helpers, some are unemployed, and others struggle as single-income households after losing their husbands”
Jeet, who currently works with a marketing agency in Vartej, has always been passionate about art. “Supporting these girls is important to me because I see immense potential in them. They have the talent to thrive as artists and change-makers, and I don’t want their underprivileged backgrounds to hold them back,” he explains.
Akash Dhangar (left), popularly known as BBoy Akku, the creator of Dharavi’s first hip-hop school HipHop Paathshala, believes that the discipline that dance provides helps the children in Dharavi to stay focused and make better life choices. File pic/Ashish Raje
However, he notes, Vartej is a small village whose orthodox residents frown upon the girls staying back for art classes until 8 pm. One of his students, 15-year-old Preeti Jogdiya from MGM High School in Vartej, was criticised by neighbours for being out of the house after dark.
Preeti notes, “Drawing and painting give me a sense of peace. After a long day at school and completing tiring household chores, art class is my escape—it’s a place of solitude where I feel at ease.”
Yogesh Barve’s own experiences have reinforced his belief that providing marginalised communities with access to education and creative platforms can lead to transformative societal change. Pic/Nishad Alam
Convincing parents of the viability of art as a career has been another challenge. Whenever Jeet encouraged children to consider art professionally, their families questioned its feasibility, asking, “Kamaai kitni hogi?” But those doubts faded when Crestar Studios placed an order for 50 paintings for the exhibition. The children completed the works, and received their earnings after the fest. Preeti earned R12,000, and another student, Suhani, earned R6,000, which was a significant help to her family. “Suhani’s mother called me saying that the money was a blessing as she raises Suhani alone, doing odd jobs to make ends meet,” Jeet shares.
In a world where not everyone gets an equal shot at opportunity, creativity becomes a superpower. Nandini Kochar—the co-founder of Nazaria, a grassroots organisation dedicated to empowering youth from low-income backgrounds through education in social justice and training in multimedia arts like visual arts, photography, filmmaking and journalism—notes, “My co-founder Riddhi and I were both teaching as Teach for India fellows in government schools when we started Nazaria three years ago. Both of us have backgrounds in film and have always believed in the power of creative expression, but we were confronted with how few spaces the young people that we taught on a regular basis had to express themselves.”
Art works created by Maru Jeet’s students from Vartej, Gujarat were displayed and sold at Crestar Studio’s Artfest Odyssey. Pic Courtesy/Crester Studios
According to Kochar, these children had very little room to be heard, to explore their identities, or to see themselves beyond the rigid confines of subjects like English, Math, Science, and Social Science.
“Hence, we started Nazaria with the aim of creating a physical safe space for our students,” she notes. “We needed a place that was neither school nor home—somewhere kids could be themselves without fear of judgment. We wanted to remove the hierarchy, fear, and rigid assessment methods that dominate formal education.”
Yazdaan (second from left), the voice behind Basti ka Heera, in the studio. Pic Courtesy/Nazaria Foundation
This ethos led to the inception of a small room called Kahani Lab—a safe space where stories were shared, heard, and created. Nazaria’s focus is two-fold: building social justice consciousness among young people and introducing them to various media forms. “Nazaria has always been about reframing education as both a mirror and a window—a mirror reflecting a child’s lived experiences in relevant and contextualised ways, and a window opening them to new perspectives,” notes Kochar.
Under Nazaria, many young artists have flourished. One such 17-year-old is Yazdaan, who comes from a low-income background household based in Shankarwadi, Jogeshwari. He was known as a backbencher in school, often frustrating teachers, and was on the verge of dropping out. But at Nazaria, he thrived. He explored different mediums and eventually created a rap video called Basti Ka Heera, which we uploaded on YouTube. The rap talks about the invisibility of people from his socio-economic background and their determination to rise above their circumstances. Though he struggled with expressing himself in a formal setting like school, he found his voice through rap.
Another example is 17-year-old Iqra Shaikh, notes Kochar. “She was a quiet and shy presence in a traditional classroom setting. But at Nazaria, we often say that she reminds us you can be both quiet and loud at the same time.” Shaikh directed a short film called Hijabi Hacker during Nazaria’s four-month filmmaking programme ReImagine, which concluded with a screening of five short films created by teenagers from marginalised communities in Mumbai. Her film was a thriller featuring a punk-inspired ethical hacker taking on corrupt politicians—an effort to challenge stereotypes. “The film was a huge hit among audiences. Since then, she has interned as a communications assistant at a local organisation and has started working on professional ad sets,” exclaims Kochar.
In India, factors such as low income, poor living conditions, and domestic violence significantly contribute to neglect and abuse of children. A 2021 study published in BMJ Open, titled “Prevalence of Child Maltreatment in India and Its Association with Gender, Urbanisation and Policy”, highlights the growing recognition of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) over the past two decades. ACEs encompass various forms of maltreatment and household dysfunction that impact children either directly or indirectly. The World Health Organisation defines child maltreatment as “the abuse and neglect of children under 18 years of age, including physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, and neglect, resulting in harm.”
“Expressive arts serve as a mode of emotional literacy, especially when we don’t have access to language or vocabulary to express our feelings,” says Naina Shahri, a counselling psychologist and arts-based therapist since 2019 who runs her own practice in Khar West.
Emotional literacy refers to the ability to understand, express, and regulate one’s own emotions, as well as recognise and respond to the emotions of others. “Through my work with NGOs that cater to empowering children from marginalised backgrounds, I realised that some of these children found it difficult to adjust and concentrate in school and also displayed aggressive behaviour. Many of these children came from home environments where physical abuse was normalised and they learnt to express discomfort through aggression or even violence,” recalls Shahri.
“Difficult childhood experiences can seep into adulthood. If the impact of these experiences is not processed, it can get internalised and show up in the form of chronic stress, and feelings of anxiety, shame and isolation,” Shahri explains. According to her, the impact of difficult experiences often deepens with isolation or neglect, and early care and intervention is crucial.
Expressive arts also play a crucial role in transforming the behaviour of children from marginalised communities, offering them a constructive outlet for emotions often suppressed due to hardship.
“It’s very easy for young teenagers to go astray, especially in an area like Dharavi” says Akash Dhangar, popularly known as BBoy Akku, the creator of Dharavi’s first hip-hop school, HipHop Paathshala. “I have personally witnessed children engaging in substance abuse, drinking alcohol, and using profanity because they believe it makes them look ‘cool,’” says Dhangar, who also works as a tour guide hosting tours around Dharavi.
“Many times, I find that these young children [from Dharavi] carry deep discontent towards their lives and families. This often leads them towards drugs, alcohol, or even a life of crime. Dance helps them channel their frustration productively. It gives them a sense of purpose” he notes.
“Dance is a form of both mental and physical education,” he continues. “It instils discipline through routine, and because it is physically demanding, you have to push yourself.” Dhangar believes that the discipline that dance provides helps the children to stay focused and make better choices.
A 2024 UNICEF report titled Study of Children in Street Situations in India claims that children living on the streets are deprived of basic necessities such as safety, access to education and healthcare. These children often have limited family support, are orphans, have left their families or been abandoned, and in such situations, they are forced by their circumstances to take up odd jobs like rag-picking and begging to sustain themselves. Addressing the unique challenges faced by street children and providing them with essential support and protection is crucial to ensuring their well-being and safeguarding their basic human rights.
The Door Step School’s flagship programme, School on Wheels, is a mobile classroom designed to reach out to children who live on the streets and lack access to formal education. In a space-constrained city like Mumbai, the School on Wheels, which is literally a classroom designed inside a school bus, provides an essential learning space without occupying permanent infrastructure.
“Many children who come to us initially exhibit unruly behaviour, use inappropriate language, and struggle with classroom etiquette because they have lived on the streets and seen many hardships in life,” notes Bongarde. “We spend a great deal of time helping them settle down and understand classroom norms, and believe you me, arts and crafts has really helped us achieve this” she adds.
Every day, four classes of two-and-a half hours each are conducted at six different School on Wheels, catering to 25 out-of-school children per session per location. “While we cover a range of subjects, we dedicate a significant portion of the curriculum to arts and crafts, which the children absolutely love. They are incredibly talented!” shares Bongarde.
School drop out rates
1.9 %
at the primary level (grades 1-5)
5.2 %
at the upper primary level (grades 6–8)
14.1 %
in secondary school (grades 9–10).
Source: Ministry of Finance
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