For Kamble, or Vasantkaka as he is more popularly known among the students, the institute has been a second home. ``When I joined in 1984 on a part-time basis, I did find it difficult to understand the language that the director and the students were conversing in. I used to ask the students what I could not understand, and now that I have heard it for so long, I have even picked up a few French phrases,'' he smiles.

Work for Kamble consists of looking after the office work. ``I go to banks to deposit cheques, make sure that the benches are in order, look after the operation of films, and even the books. In fact, there was a time when I could make out if any of the 5,000 books in the library was missing,'' he says.

He has a special link with the directors at the Alliance Francaise - he has worked under four of them so far. ``From my experience, I have learnt that the French have a high regard for discipline and punctuality. They are also very friendly - when I was involved in an accident, the then director, Dominique Fossard, visited me at my home. They also get me gifts like T-shirts and chocolate from France,'' says a beaming Kamble.

Kamble has a special regard for education. ``I like the atmosphere of learning at the institute. I grew up in the slums of Mangalwar Peth, in an atmosphere where gambling, drinking and rowdy behaviour were common. No one was interested in going to school,'' he says. Inspired by a street play put up by the Lokakraantidal, Kamble, who had educated himself upto Std. IX, decided that education and creating social awareness would be an answer to this problem. ``I started to participate in the activities of the Community Aid and Sponsorship Programme (CASP), which would put up one-hour balwadis at the slums in Mangalwar Peth. I was also involved in the Social Welfare Department's Sakas Aahaar campaign of distributing bread to children.'' Realising that theatre could be a potent medium for public awareness, Kamble began to take part in street plays of the Dalit Rangabhoomi as well, along with wife Megha. At the moment, he is engaged in writing a play, As Kasa Ghadla?, which he hopes to stage.

His job takes up most of his time, sometimes the whole day, when he works on a double shift. And Kamble has definitely made himself indispensable to the staff at the institute. Says Vasantha Venkatraman, lecturer at the Alliance, ``He knows so much about the institute now that we sometimes jokingly call him the second director!'' For his own part, Kamble is indebted to the staff members. ``When I needed a place to stay, Monsieur Fossard, Vasantha Venkatraman and Sudnya Athale, who teach at the Alliance, helped me financially,'' he says gratefully.

Kamble is determined that his daughter, studying in Std. IV, also becomes a teacher in French. ``She attends classes at the institute and I have also bought a French-to-Hindi dictionary for her,'' he says proudly, hoping that the French connection will continue.