On a rainy July afternoon in Pune, I sat down with Safdar Rahman on the staircase of a Circle-incubated after-school, Panaah Communities. The centre was abuzz with preparations for a student film showcase that was underway in a few hours. This film showcase represented the culmination of months of dedication from the young storytellers of Panaah Communities, who worked diligently under the nurturing guidance of the Academy of Light at Lighthouse Studios. Just hours before the showcase, I had the chance to sit down with Safdar to discuss his project "Off The Ground" in collaboration with The Circle.
Students from Panaah Communities and budding filmmakers at the Student Film Showcase on 8 July, 2024 in Pune
The Lighthouse Team (Riya, Angela and Safdar) with the Co-Founder of Panaah Communities, Shoeb at the Student Film Showcase.
Safdar is an entrepreneur from The Circle's first Incubation Cohort of 2022. Today, he runs Lighthouse Studios, a Circle-incubated after school from Goa where he engages with youth from under-resourced communities, guiding them in their storytelling journeys. Minutes into my conversation with Safdar about filmmaking, he quipped, “There is a terrible need for good storytelling in the social impact space.” He had chanced upon this realisation after having occupied the “two parallel worlds of filmmaking and education” for more than a decade. Soon, he realised that the intersection of these worlds is “where it’s at”. With his background as an educator, filmmaker and now an entrepreneur, Safdar made for a perfect mould of a storyteller who could capture the stories of The Circle entrepreneurs keenly.
What were The Circle entrepreneurs like in the setting of their own schools?
What defines their conviction?
What is their story of reinvention?
We wanted to provide a glimpse of the answers to these questions. And lo behold, Off The Ground was born. Off The Ground is a series where we traversed across India to meet The Circle entrepreneurs and document their journeys as they work relentlessly towards reinventing education for India’s most disadvantaged students. To help make this dream a reality, Safdar and the Lighthouse Studios Team stepped in. While the journey of these entrepreneurs was documented through the camera, I wanted to learn more about what went behind the camera. It was this inquiry that led me to sit down with Safdar.
“For me, it was an experience of immense privilege and immense learning”, Safdar said when I asked him how he’d summarise his experience of directing Off The Ground in a sentence.
The Off The Ground films are available on The Circle India’s YouTube Channel.
As Safdar and the team went across India covering Jalalabad, Akbarpur, Pune, Bengaluru and Khed, Safdar had picked up a common thread. He explained to me that it is commonplace for us to hear stories of people carrying out impactful work, the kind of work that is building our nation but seldom, do we get to witness it. He exclaimed “This is it. This is how institutions are built. This is how countries are built.” For Safdar, Off The Ground is about documenting these stories as they unfold before our very eyes. He sees great merit and profound impact in sharing these stories. “How will people know about all the good work unless you show it?”, Safdar pointed out.
Off The Ground Team at ROSHINI Foundation, Khed run by The Circle’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Pravin Nikam from the Cohort of 2023.
As we spoke, he pulled out his mobile phone from his pocket, pointed at the camera and began to tell me that the future of the world was being documented on a phone camera and a microphone. Safdar believes that to not acknowledge the power of this powerful and accessible audio-visual medium means to not keep up with the times. Drawing from his experience, he highlighted that there remains a hesitation to pick this camera up and document the good work because the idea of documenting “good impactful work” is associated with “dirt.” Safdar thinks that we are reluctant to document good work because we have been unable to move away from the idea that storytelling only exists to sell something.
As we spoke, Safdar emphasised that “we need storytelling because phenomenal work is happening on the ground and we must record it.” Recording these stories of change means more people get the chance to hear about change and be inspired to initiate it in their capacities.
When I asked him about The Circle entrepreneurs who have been featured in this edition of Off The Ground, Safdar shared that he finds that these entrepreneurs are “very rooted in their context, driven by their communities and have a high bar of excellence.” He believes that they are incredibly articulate because they have a clear vision of why they choose to involve themselves in the herculean task of reinventing education in India. Safdar is certain that these entrepreneurs have a distinct and clear sense of what is plaguing the Indian educational system and they are driven by solutions to reinvent it. They may be separated by thousands of miles but they are united in their commitment to change.
Off The Ground Team with Sakshi Srivastava, The Circle’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence from the Cohort of 2022 and Founder of HOPE School in Jalalabad.
As Safdar and I spoke about the abstractions behind the need for storytelling and reinvented education, the concrete was right in front of us. Throughout our conversation, the children at Panaah Communities ran all around us given that it was just another day of schooling for them. They smiled, they played, they fought and they fell and they made sure they told us all about it.
Students of Panaah Communities.
Ultimately, all the hours we pour into our work is for these children. Educators and innovators across the world have taken into their stride, the responsibility of tackling systemic issues in the education system because they want our children to be able to realise their full potential and access better lives. Lives where they can dream without inhibitions and lives that can be led with love.
Safdar quipped, “For all the strange times we are inhabiting, there is hope and that hope is people doing good work.” He holds on to the belief that to kindle that hope and make it a reality, we need to “get involved with that work, train that hope and ultimately create a world where more stories of hope can occupy our timelines than destruction.”
As the Student Film Showcase came to an end, Safdar’s words about storytelling kept ringing in my head. As the room echoed with an applause of appreciation for these students and their beautifully stitched stories, I was left in awe of the ideas that could see the light of day if students were given the space and agency to share their stories.
How long has our education system stripped children off of that basic enrichment? How long have we handed a script for life to our children and instructed them to memorise it?
At The Circle, we see through this and we are pouring ourselves to make a case for reinvention. We hope that The Circle entrepreneurs and their journeys can become testaments for what reinvented learning can look like.
Off The Ground is our attempt at capturing the inception of these stories as they launch into their boundless potential.
Dreamers need Dreamers.
Without Safdar’s keen eye and fervent dedication to tell stories, we wouldn’t be able to do this. Safdar is a filmmaker who knows how transformational the power of storytelling is and he is certain that he wants young storytellers to share their stories, on their own terms. With Lighthouse Studios, Safdar and his team are committed to sharing the light.
Dreamers need dreamers because both Safdar and The Circle imagine a world where our hopes for children are not audacious dreams, but everyday realities.
You can read more about Safdar here.
You can find the Off The Ground films on The Circle India’s YouTube Channel.
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