Six years later, these youngsters wanted the other children to receive an education, in matters of both academic and practical importance. Finally, their endeavour climaxed in Koshish, a non-governmental organisation which 46 of them set up in May this year, to impart non-formal education to the children in the 25,000-strong slum.

``I had no idea what we were beginning when, utterly frustrated with the lack of effort to combatcommunalism in Tulsiwadi, I told the kids I would be starting classes for them the next day,'' says Feroze Mithiborwala, who along with his wife Henrietta began coaching the initial group of 15 after the riots subsided. As their numbers grew, the classroom moved from the Janta Kendra verandah to the Yusuf Meherally School in the Hindu-dominated locality.

Scarred by the savagery and stunned at the sudden divide between the Hindus and Muslims (Tulsiwadi was one of the worst-affected slums by the riots), the coaching was just the right balm for the troubled communities. It included academic subjects and more importantly discussions on issues that affected their lives the most. Personality development, sex education, dramatics, sports and creative activities were also part of the `curriculum'.

Over the years, this was extended in a series of camps at Panvel, where Feroze and Henrietta brought Hindu children from Tulsiwadi and Dahisar to interact and study communal harmony up-close. ``It was amazing howmistrust turned to friendship,'' recalls Henrietta.

At the last camp in May, these children, all grown up now, decided to set up Koshish. They elected their own leaders and formulated an action plan. ``We want to coach children who can't afford expensive tuition classes so that they can do well in school,'' says Farzana (16) who has just finished school. Likewise for Sakeena (17), who is the first person in her family to be educated.

Koshish already has 27 `teachers', who each coach five to six children. ``We charge Rs 30 from those who are not well-off and Rs 50 from those who can afford to pay,'' explains Farzana. This is to make sure that parents value the classes and send their children regularly, adds Henrietta.

``We also try and convince parents of girls to continue sending their daughters to school. It is difficult because many of them don't want their daughters to study beyond Class X. It is time for marriage, they say,'' reveals Shabana (21), adding that some mothers ask to be educated as well.It's the fathers and older brothers who are the problem.''

Like Shabana, who has enrolled for a Bachelor's degree in Social Work with Nirmala Niketan, some of the others from the original group of 15 have graduated beyond a basic education. Rizwana and Sakeena have applied for a Bachelor's degree in Education. ``I want to be a teacher not only because I can educate others but also because it is a respectable thing to do,'' explains Sakeena. Kamrunissa is already a teacher in the local municipal school while Mohammed Islam reads the Koran to those who cannot read Arabic in the basti.

Learning for life is an important agenda for Koshish. Cleanliness, for instance, is a priority. The children have approached the `D' Ward Office and got the municipality garbage bin moved further into the basti to encourage residents to keep their locality clean. Also, since the two municipal sweepers deputed to clean the slum are obviously not equal to the task, the children volunteered to help.

Through playsand posters, they also want to bring awareness about health and sanitation to their neighbours. ``Now we want to lobby against gutkha because children don't know that they can become victims of cancer,'' says Rukshana (16).

Education has empowered these children to heal the wounds left behind by the riots as they revolutionise their little world by taking responsibility for it. Still they acknowledge how much remains to be done.