What is common between Monalisha Chowdhury of Bally, Manish Kumar Mahato of Rabindra Sarani, Jhilik Das of Baghajatin & Soham Kumar of Kamarhati?? Well, all of them have written their class XII board exams this year from their respective schools. But this is not what brings their stories in the forefront. Their stories have gained traction not due to their Board Exam Results 2016, but because of the underlying struggle which can be taken as an example for many a student across the nation.
Monalisha Chowdhury lives in a single room house with her parents and brother. Her school was 3 km away and that meant a regular walk of 3 km for her. Her father is a fishmonger who manages to earn roughly 6000 rupees a month. Her elder brother could not continue his studies after class XII due to financial constraints which forced Monalisha to throw tuitions. She earns 400 Rs per month by teaching a class IV student which she deems enough to pay her college tuition fees and books. She aspires to join the B. Com in Belur’s Lalbaba College. But all this couldn’t deter her from scoring 91.6% in the HS exams. She recalled how she took up this challenge after failing to do good in Madhyamik 2 years back. The girl has not only made her school, Ghoshpara Nischinda Balika Vidyapith proud of her achievement but has also proved that financial crisis need not always be an excuse.
Similar is the story for the boy from Sree Didoo Maheshwari Panchayat Vidyalaya, Rabindra Sarani who despite of the adversities have managed a decent 81 % score in HS. He has taken up a job at a shop right after his class XII exam as he wants to pay for his college tuition himself. Manish Mahato lives with his parents, grandmother and brother in the Girish Park area. With a monthly income of 6000 Rs earned by his father, who is a worker at a garment shop in Burrabazar, financial strain is very high on his family. Manish however did mention of his guardian angel, the CINI centre near his house where he got free tuition for his HS studies. His only aspiration is to further complete his higher studies and get a job to help his family financially.
Borrowing books from her friends due to her inability to afford such pricey materials did not stop Jhilik Das from scoring a very high percentage of 92.6 in HS this year. Jhilik, originally a student of Jadavpur Sammilita Balika Vidyalaya is the daughter of Bandana and Shyamal Das, both of whom are educated till class X. Her parents are involved in a small self-run business of food delivery which fetches a monthly income of 6000 Rs. Though they couldn’t study more, they have high hopes for their daughter. Jhilik is a recipient of the Udayan Care Scholarship, an organization that trains underprivileged girls in computers, spoken English and handicraft. She aspires to study Botany from Lady Brabourne College and herself gives tuitions to supplement her family’s income.
Soham Kumar, from The Aryans School, has a different challenge than the rest of them. He is living with cerebral palsy due to which his right hand is permanently stiff. He in fact did not answer the geometry questions and physics questions regarding reflection and refraction as he cannot draw those diagrams. He wrote his entire paper using his left hand and still managed to score 68.6%. The brave teenager said he feels he is losing it when using a writer on his behalf and therefore decided to write his exams on his own. His mother Srabani, recalled of how studious Soham is as he informed of 12-14 hour study stint by him on days when there was no school. He does mention how important his mothers’ role is in his endeavor against his physical abnormalities and how she inspires him to study hard and complete his education. Soham urges to opt for Commerce in class XI and wants to be a CA later in his life. His mother was thankful to Soumitra Mallik, the school principal who allowed Soham to have an in-class attendant when most schools refused to even admit him. It is really stories like this which lifts up the readers spirit and shows us that we should stop complaining about what we don’t have , because what we have and we don’t often appreciate is often a luxury for someone else, a luxury that few cannot afford.
Source: http://goo.gl/hEAnZ3
