PERSONAL SPECIAL THE INDOMITABLES
(2)
They rose above their grim financial
circumstances, overcame all sorts of odds and defied stereotypes to top exams,
get into IIMs and even pursue a PhD at 15! Here are their incredible stories:
of unrelenting struggle and hard work.
A DOMESTIC HELP DOING
HER B TECH IN ENGINEERING
'I didn't want anyone's pity'
Forgive me, my English is very poor,” says 17-yearold Shalini
Arnugam. But for someone who has gone from a Tamil-medium to a Kannada-medium
school, and is in an English-medium engineering college – Bengaluru-based
Shalini has caught up pretty well.
She was the school topper in class 10 and scored 84.8 per cent
in class 12. But while students took breaks from their exam routine, Shalini
shuttled between houses, doing household chores to keep her family afloat.
Shalini’s father, who used to paint hoardings, has been
bed-ridden for over a decade after he fell off a building. Her mother began
working as a domestic help. But they were hit by another tragedy:
Shalini’s
brother was diagnosed with blood cancer earlier this year, just before her
class 12 exams.
Immediately
after the exams ended, Shalini took over her mother’s part-time jobs, while her
mother stayed with her brother at the hospital.
Shalini
wakes up at 4:30am – finishes chores at home, draws rangolis at five different
houses, scrubs floors, washes utensils and clothes – her day passes by in a
haze, with college classes in between. She studies late into the night, sitting
at the entrance of her house and reading in the orange of the streetlamps.
“Tuitions cost no less than 60,000 a year. We don’t have that kind of money.
But there's no point brooding over that.”
Despite
the setbacks, Shalini never thought of giving up her studies. “Everyone around
me was from ICSE, CBSE schools. They would talk in perfect English. I was from
a Tamil-medium government school. But gradually I realised, now that I have
joined college, I have to study.”
Shalini’s
mother never asked her to give up studying despite their financial problems.
“Maybe because I was juggling work and my studies. But she's been a huge moral
support,” says Shalini.
Eventually
Shalini made friends in college. But she didn’t let anyone know about her
struggles: “I didn’t want their pity.”
Shalini
did well in the Common Entrance Test (for admissions in medical, dental and
engineering courses) and got herself a seat in REVA University, Bangalore,
where she's studying BTech.
But
right now she has another pressing matter to think about. “My brother is at the
end of his third course of chemotherapy. They'll soon start with the fourth.
Let’s see how we manage in the times to come.”
She
still hopes to do a Masters abroad, though she’s also considering the civil
services. “I’ve made it this far with others’ help, so I too want to help those
who’ve been struggling in life.” HTBR
13SEP15
No comments:
Post a Comment