Tribute to Madhavi Kapur: ‘She was an educationist in the true sense’

“Adi, as we call her, at Revachand Bhojwani School was a very motivational person. I was part of the naughtiest batch of kids and it was a daily thing for us to stand in front of her in her office. But after that, the next day she would still behave the same way with us. We have different mentors in life, like for driving, for any sport but Adi was a mentor for life. She taught us things like right way of cooking food to washing clothes which we wouldn’t learn in the classrooms. She was a very supportive woman and always stayed positive. She would run for students at once if they needed her and she dedicated her life for the education of children. Many people teach us many things throughout our life, but she was the one person who taught me the most.”–Parth Nair, former student

“I knew Madhavi as a friend since we had a lot of common friends. I know her for the last five-six years and was in close contact with her since she lived closeby. I did not know her professionally but she always came to my art gallery exhibitions. Even a short conversation with her left a deep impact on me. When she was unwell, she used to visit my gallery and said it felt great to be here since she wasn’t able to go out much.” — Lisa Pingle, friend

“I knew Madhavi for almost 18 years. She was an educationist in true sense. Pune, considered as Oxford of the east, has a changing scenario of education at the grassroot level and I would rightly call Madhavi as a pioneer of this. It was fantastic to see her with new ideas and her outlook towards children. She was a dear colleague and we started out careers together. I have great respect for her and I owe her many ideas. She did workshops in my schools and it was absolutely fantastic to see her conduct them. When I moved from Mumbai to Pune and was just starting out, she was already a known name in the field. She stood for the children and tried to change the educational practices. Parents started looking at education from a different lookout because of her. We are sad and we will miss her, her ideas, her standing on the podium delivering amazing speeches.”— Masarrat Tavavala,colleague