By THE yoSHEta Editorial Desk
When parents think about their children’s first school, there are usually a lot of questions.
Is it a good school?
Will my child learn enough?
Will they be happy there?
Will someone actually notice when they are scared or uncomfortable?
For IAS officer Mitali Sethi, the answer came from an unexpected place — an Anganwadi.
Mitali chose to enrol her twin children at an Anganwadi in Maharashtra when they turned three.
It was not a statement. She was not trying to prove that government schools are better than private ones. She simply liked the place and, more importantly, she trusted the people there.
That trust grew from the little things she noticed.
At the Anganwadi, some children were afraid of the traditional sling used to weigh them. Instead of ignoring it, an Anganwadi worker noticed their discomfort and found a simple solution. With the help of a local tailor, she changed the sling so that the children could sit in it more comfortably.
It may sound like a small thing.
But for a mother, these small things matter.
Someone had noticed that the children were scared. Someone had cared enough to do something about it.
That was the kind of care Mitali wanted her children to experience.
Her family initially had their doubts too. After all, choosing an Anganwadi for the children of an IAS officer was not what most people would expect.
But Mitali had seen the place for herself. She knew the people working there. And she was happy with what she saw.
Then came another little moment that stayed with her.
One day, one of her children was playing with a sheep at the Anganwadi. When Mitali asked what the child was doing, the little one simply replied:
“She is my friend.”
There was no complicated lesson behind it.
Just a child playing, feeling comfortable and making a friend in the most innocent way possible.
And perhaps that is what Mitali saw in the Anganwadi — a place where her children could simply be children.
Her story is not really about choosing an Anganwadi over a private school.
It is about something much more personal.
As parents, we want our children to be around people who notice them, understand them and care about the little things.
For Mitali, she found that feeling of trust in an Anganwadi.
And sometimes, when it comes to our children, trust is the most important thing of all.