In Pune, One Woman’s Home Became a Safe Learning Space for 200 Marginalised Children

Twelve-year-old Roshini steps forward, a notebook clutched tightly in her hands and curiosity flickering in her eyes. Outside, the basti hums with its usual evening rhythm — pressure cookers hiss, buses groan uphill, and children call out to one another.

Advertisment

Add The Better India As A Trusted Source

Inside Khelghar, the noise softens. This is Roshini’s after-school learning space — a place where voices are heard, mistakes are allowed, and learning unfolds without fear.

She takes a deep breath and begins to recite an English poem. Her voice trembles at first, then slowly finds its rhythm. When she reaches the final line, she pauses, smiles, and blinks back tears of quiet pride.

“Earlier, I was scared of speaking,” she says softly. “Here, no one scolds us. There is no punishment. Khelghar gives me freedom, and because of that, I am no longer afraid,” Roshini tells The Better India.

For Roshini, freedom is not an abstract idea. It is the freedom to make mistakes, to ask questions, to be heard and to imagine a future where she dreams of becoming an athlete and winning an Olympic medal for India. 

For hundreds of children like her, Khelghar is not just an after-school centre. It is a safe learning space where childhood is protected, curiosity is nurtured, and confidence quietly takes root.

What Is Khelghar?

Khelghar literally means ‘a home for play’, but over the past three decades, it has evolved into a child-centric learning space for children from marginalised communities in Pune. Founded in 1996 by architect Shubhada Joshi in her home in Laxminagar, Kothrud, it has since grown into a safe and welcoming space within the community.

At Khelghar, learning does not begin with textbooks or punishments. It begins with the child — their experiences, emotions and everyday reality.

There are books and games, discussions and worksheets, outdoor play and quiet reflection. Teachers do not raise their voices, and children are not labelled as ‘good’ or ‘weak’. 

Instead, they are encouraged to listen, observe, ask, analyse, and express themselves — skills that many of them are never given the chance to develop in conventional classrooms.

Today, Khelghar works with around 200 children and youth from Classes 1 to 10, along with a youth group beyond Class 10. Its impact, however, extends far beyond one community.

How it all began

Khelghar began in the simplest way possible — with a few children, an open home, and the belief that learning could be kinder.

In 1996, its founder, Shubhada Joshi, an architect by profession, had already spent nearly a decade designing interiors in Pune. 

“It was honest work,” she says, “but it was work meant for people who already had everything,” Shubhada tells The Better India.

Somewhere along the way, she began to feel the urge to do something more meaningful — something that could reach those who were often left out. 

Around the same time, her young son was studying at Aksha Nandan, an alternative Marathi-medium school known for its experiential, child-led approach to learning. While most families in her neighbourhood were opting for English-medium schools, she chose differently, and that decision quietly changed everything.

Her son, with no classmates from the society around him, began making friends from nearby slum communities. Soon, those children started visiting her home. Conversations grew longer, trust deepened, and the house began to feel like theirs, too.

“I would read to them, tell them stories, and do small activities,” she recalls. “I wasn’t an educator, but I had learnt so much just by being part of Aksha Nandan.”

What started with four or five children soon grew. The children told their friends, and the count increased, and Saturdays became learning days. There were no fixed hours, no pressure to perform. If a child felt bored, they were free to leave. Slowly, a rhythm formed, and with it, a sense of belonging.

As the weeks passed, Shubhada began to notice deeper gaps. The children were attending school, yet struggled with basic reading, writing, and maths. They found it hard to listen, follow rules, or manage time. 

Frequent fights, the use of abusive language, and recurring health concerns were not signs of indiscipline, she realised, but of children growing up in environments shaped by stress and neglect.

As she began speaking to parents, the picture became clearer. Many families lived in overcrowded homes with little ventilation or sunlight. Alcoholism was common, along with unending scarcity not just of money but of attention, safety and dignity. 

“I realised the problem was never that children didn’t want to learn. The problem was that no one had created a space where they felt safe enough to listen, speak, and belong,” says Shubhada.

In 1996, Khelghar formally became a project under the registered NGO Palak Neeti Parivar, inspired also by the ideas she encountered through Palak Neeti magazine, which focused on education, parenting, and social responsibility. 

By 1998, the learning space had moved into the community itself, making it easier for younger children to attend. In the early 2000s, a permanent centre took shape near the founder’s home — a space her husband purchased so Khelghar could finally have a place of its own.

Long-term support from Tata Trusts, beginning in 2004, allowed the team to grow steadily over the next decade. Instead of opening multiple centres, Khelghar chose to deepen its work, sharing its learning through trainings and workshops from 2007 onwards, so others could build similar safe learning spaces in their own communities. 

Between 2021 and 2023, Khelghar received funding from Wipro Cares to support its community work and resource training. Since then, it has been operating independently, sustained by family and individual donations, along with support from CSR initiatives.

A place where no one is afraid

Ask anyone at Khelghar what makes it different, and the answer is immediate: there is no fear here, no competition, and no child is judged.

Teachers are trained in joyful learning and positive discipline, where rules are discussed with children rather than imposed on them. If something goes wrong, it becomes a conversation — not a punishment. The focus is on understanding the child, not correcting them through fear.

This approach shapes Khelghar’s curriculum. Children from Classes 1 to 10 receive daily academic support in language and mathematics, helping them strengthen basic concepts and work towards completing their SSC. 

Alongside this, life skills are woven into everyday learning — from communication and decision-making to emotional regulation, problem-solving, and adaptability. Sessions on self-awareness and personal safety, including good touch and bad touch, are an integral part of this process.

Support continues beyond school years. Through its youth group, Khelghar offers career counselling, financial guidance, and academic support to help students transition into higher education or vocational pathways. 

Parents, too, are engaged through regular interactions that encourage reflection and strengthen community participation.

Sapna Langde (30), whose three children in Classes 3, 4, and 6 attend Khelghar, shares how the programme eased her fears and transformed her children. Initially worried about letting them step out, she soon saw real change. 

“My child’s confidence has increased, his studies and behaviour have improved, and he has become more independent,” she tells The Better India.

Adding that her children now communicate openly and share their problems. What once caused constant worry has turned into reassurance, as Khelghar helped build confidence, trust, and stronger family bonds.

Beyond its own classrooms, Khelghar shares its learning through CSO outreach, training and mentoring educators and child-focused organisations across India in its child-centric methodology — extending the idea of safe, joyful learning to many more communities.

Roshini shares how Khelghar transformed her relationship with learning. Earlier, she had little interest in studying and struggled with basic reading and writing. Today, English is her favourite subject.

“I joined Khelghar in 2024, and after that, my life changed,” she says. “I had difficulty speaking Marathi and reading or writing in English. But here, with so many activities, studying feels fun.”

Roshini adds that learning at Khelghar goes beyond academics. Life skills sessions introduce important conversations around topics such as good touch and bad touch, helping children understand personal safety and boundaries.

She also speaks about how her own behaviour has changed. “Earlier, I used to bully other kids,” she admits. “Now I have friends, I am more confident, and I like learning.”

The people who make it ‘ghar’ 

Twelve teachers work daily with children at the Khelghar centre, supported by four to five volunteers at a time. One of them is Soma Imandar, a 20-year-old BA History student who has been volunteering here for three years. For her, the biggest gaps she notices are not just academic — they are emotional.

“Children here are always eager to talk,” she says. “It feels like they have so much to say, but no one really listens to them at home.” Along with limited resources, many children grow up without the reassurance of being heard or respected — a reality that quietly affects their confidence and interest in learning.

In the classroom, Soma saw this reflected in academics, too. Many children struggled with basics, especially English, making it hard for them to keep up with peers. 

“At first, I tried teaching from a grammar book, but I realised that wouldn’t work,” she admits. Today, her sessions look very different. Lessons unfold through pictures, discussions, games, and small activities — breaking language down into pieces children can understand and enjoy. “If learning feels safe and fun,” she says, “children start believing they can learn.”

She has seen quiet transformations — like Kaveri, a girl who barely spoke when the year began and now walks into class chatting confidently with friends.

Volunteering at Khelghar, Soma says, reshaped how she understands inequality. “It’s not just financial. It’s psychological. Even the language we use, ‘society’ and ‘settlement’, changes how children see themselves,” she adds.

When learning changes lives

Over the years, many Khelghar students have gone on to build lives once thought impossible.

Shubhada recalls Aniket, a boy who scored just 40% in Class 10 and struggled with behaviour issues. With consistent support, English training, and trust, he completed a vocational course, then a diploma, then an engineering degree, and today, he works with a multinational company.

Parshuram, 24, now a BSc Nursing graduate working in a Pune hospital, grew up in a basti where his world revolved around home and school. 

He remembers the first time he walked into Khelghar in fourth grade, a room full of children learning through play, and everything changed for him. 

“This is the first time I understood what a real ghar (home) is,” he says. “Every child should have a place like this to learn, grow, and believe in themselves.”

Khelghar has created a transformative learning environment for children and educators alike. Every year, around 200 children experience joyful learning, with 80% pursuing higher education after 10th grade and 95% staying away from anti-social behaviour. 

Girls continue their studies beyond 18, resisting early marriage and supporting their families, while parents actively contribute as ‘Khelghar Mitra’ to improve community conditions. 

Through its outreach programmes, Khelghar has trained over 1,800 teachers across India and mentored 127 organisations, extending its joyful learning methodology to thousands of children nationwide.

To track this impact, Khelghar uses a structured evaluation system. Children’s progress in language, mathematics, and life skills is rated every six months on a 10-point scale. 

Longer-term outcomes are monitored through key indicators: continued school attendance, passing the 10th-grade exam, avoiding crime or addictions, willingness to pursue higher education, and, for girls and boys, delaying marriage until adulthood. 

This approach ensures that the learning at Khelghar translates into sustained growth and positive life choices.

In cities where opportunity is scarce, children from marginalised communities are often overlooked. Khelghar shows they can thrive when respected, listened to, and allowed to learn with joy. 

Safe learning spaces aren’t a luxury; they are a lifeline that can transform generations.

All images courtesy Soma Inamdar