Saraswati Sadhak
The city of Nashik is often associated with being one of the most religious places in Maharashtra, boasting of a number of temples and other sacred sites. Apart from the sanctity that the city enjoys, courtesy of its religious affluence, Nashik has grown to become one of the leading education hubs in the state. Driving the education growth is a brother-sister duo, who has been involved in the noble cause of teaching for the last 22 years. Avinash Ballal and Neeta Bobade have played a pivotal role in carving the growth story of the education sector in the city. By the name of Ballal Bobade classes, Ballal sir and Bobade madam have been running an educational coaching class since 1999 in Nashik and have been instrumental in making umpteen number of engineers, doctors, corporate leaders as well as civil servants. Over the last two decades, over 10,000 students have sought education from them.
Ballal sir and Bobade madam have been toppers in their respective academic careers and their mission to impart quality education laid the foundation stone of Ballal Bobade classes. While Bobade madam started teaching students from her home in 1993, Ballal sir joined her in 1999, after completing his civil engineering, coupled with brief stints at industry and academia in Mumbai. Prior to starting her own classes full time, Bobade madam, an M.Sc (Organic Chemistry) graduate, who was a topper in Mumbai University was associated with VPM’s Polytechnic Institute as a lecturer.
“After graduating as a civil engineer from a reputed government college, I could have bagged any lucrative job. However, I decided to get into teaching, thanks to Puranik sir, one of my teachers back in school, who always emphasized on the importance of earning money through satisfaction. To me, there could have been no better means to satisfaction than teaching,” says Ballal sir.
He started teaching in Jondhale College of Engineering and within the first six months itself he won the best teacher award. It was as if teaching came naturally to him, not to forget his strong teaching genes that he acquired from his parents and grandparents. “While I was doing well as a teacher, I sensed that there was a gap between theory and practice. So I decided to go to industry to get some practical experience, which would later help me in teaching. I worked in the corporate sector for two and a half years and in 1999, I went to Nashik, where Neeta was there and decided to join hands with her,” he avers. Ballal Bobade classes was born in 1999 and at present there are two branches, one in Indiranagar and the other on Gangapur road.
Just like any other start-up, Ballal Bobade classes had its fair share of challenges. “In the education sector, trust is very important. When parents go to any education coaching class for admission of their pupils, they ensure that their children are in safe hands. When we started we had just four students. However, going forward, we started getting many students, courtesy of word of mouth, coupled with our rate of success. I feel happy to share that today we have the second generation students, meaning children of the students, whom we taught, have joined us,” exclaims Ballal sir.
Apart from Ballal Bobade classes, there are many others who have found their feet on the education map of Nashik. However there are certain things which make the Ballal Bobade classes stand apart from its peers. Ballal sir elucidates, “I believe in giving practical knowledge alongside theoretical information. Before working as a full time teacher here, I gained valuable industry experience, which has helped me in my teaching. Apart from that, I enhanced my academic credentials by pursuing a masters in structural engineering. My hunger for knowledge is abundant and I believe in constant learning. To add a different dimension to my engineering, I also attempted the MPSC exam and cleared class 1. With this background, I am not just able to guide students for engineering, I am also able to help those who are interested in civil services. In addition, we also organize English speaking and personality development workshops on a regular basis.”
Over the last 18 months, the world has been grappling with COVID-19 and the pandemic has hit different economic sectors, education, ofcourse not being an anomaly. The physical teaching was replaced by online mode, compelling both the stakeholders, teachers and students to adapt to the change. Ballal sir states, “There is no doubt that COVID-19 has had an adverse impact on our classes, but somehow we have managed to convert this adversity into opportunity. With online teaching gaining popularity, we have crossed borders as we have many students taking our classes from outside India. I don’t think that would have been possible pre-pandemic.”
Conducting educational classes for more than 20 years now, Ballal and Bobade have carved a niche for themselves not only in Nashik but also outside India, where some of their students are based. “It would not have been possible without the able guidance of Dr. Vivek Bobade (HOD – Chemistry), Shri Prabhakar Morankar sir (MTech, IIT), late Shri Ugaokar sir and Ugaokar madam and late Shri Vinay Thingle sir. Behind the success of our classes, I would also like to mention the contributions of Jogi sir, Y.S Sonawane sir, Pritish Kulkarni sir, Kirti Tak madam and Pravin Kanhale sir,” emphasizes Ballal sir. The next generation has also joined forces as Neeta’s son Vineet has entered the venture. The Bobade scion is also associated with the architecture college of NDMCP as an assistant professor. Apart from Ballal sir, Neeta ma’am and Vineet, Ballal sir’s sister runs a school for small children, while his brother is involved in helping students go abroad for higher studies.
Talking about his dream and vision for the future, Avinash Ballal concludes, “At present, we impart free of cost teaching to the needy students. Going forward, I want to make sure that all the students in our classes get quality education without investing even a single penny.”
Read E-Magazine – Avinash Ballal – Sept 21
