Call it cooking up a miracle. The ‘tribal chef of Meghalaya’—Nambie Jessica Marak—created ripples in the culinary world and became the first runner-up of Masterchef India 8. But what won the hearts of viewers was her rustic life in Meghalaya’s Upper Rangsa village, and her school, bustling with students in the nearby Nongrisan village. This school, abandoned and dilapidated, was revived a year ago by Nambie and her husband, Sunny Arokiadoss, giving hope to families that have had to migrate to Assam for the sake of their children’s education.
Nongrisan, a village predominantly inhabited by the Garo tribe, is located in the West Khasi Hills district. It is home to around 50-odd households, with a population of 250; it does not even exist on the map. A few kilometres from Nongrisan is where Nambie lives. Here, even having access to a motorable road is a privilege. To deliver her homemade chicken and pork pickles to customers across India, Nambie has to travel to a border town in Assam, where the nearest post office is located.
Four years ago when the pandemic struck, 19 kids were left astray after the founder of the school in Nongrisan ran into losses and could no longer sustain the school. The teachers tried to continue with the classes for free, for almost a year, until they couldn’t. A few months later, Nambie and Sunny found the village headman and members of the village panchayat at their doorstep.
“They wanted us to adopt the school, and resume classes for the children of the village,” says Nambie.
“We always had an inclination for teaching and when we were handed this school on a platter, we accepted the opportunity wholeheartedly,” says Nambie, who holds a postgraduate degree in Mass Communication, like her husband.
The school, named Sunbeam Foundation, revived in 2022, has now grown from 19 students to 85. Their four-year-old daughter Avira attends the same school. The school runs with seven teachers, including Nambie and Sunny. It also boasts of a diverse demographic, with children not only from the local Garo community but also from the Khasi and Nepali communities from neighbouring villages.
They run classes from nursery to eight, and follow the state board syllabus. A nominal amount of Rs 300 per month is collected as fee from the students, which is used to pay the teachers and to buy books and other school utilities. “We pay the teachers a meagre salary. We’ve been trying to form a trust for the school so that we get funding from outside as well,” Nambie says.
The revival of the school is a boon for parents, most of whom are farmers. The lack of a proper school in the village led many families to abandon their farmlands and migrate to nearby towns in search of education opportunities for their children.
Sunbeam Foundation embodies slow life. The classrooms are made of woven bamboo walls, with tin sheets for roofs. Some of the students are often accompanied by their pet dogs, who patiently wait for their human friends to finish their lessons for the day. The children come neatly dressed in uniforms, albeit ones that don’t necessarily match. “We didn’t want parents to spend extra money on new uniforms. What is crucial is that they attend school,” Nambie explains.
Speaking about her recent win, Nambie says that her students are aware that something significant has happened. While they might not fully grasp the dynamics, their pride is palpable. “The fact that they saw themselves on screen has left a lasting impression on them,” she says. For Nambie and Sunny, there’s hope that the Masterchef win might catch the government’s attention, potentially leading to grants or additional support for the school. “The school is my way of giving back to the community,” she says.