While many of us may be cribbing about the small inconveniences in our lives, this 14-year-old is fighting her tough life circumstances without giving up. The life of this 14-year-old, Vaishnavi, who runs a small stationery shop in her house to support her family, has been anything but easy.
As per Hindustan Times, when the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced the Class X results on Wednesday, Vaishnavi (who goes by her first name) was working in the same stationery shop that she had set up at her home in north-east Delhi’s Bhajanpura to help out her family.
Though she could not write two of her exams because of the communal riots that broke out in her area in February and the Covid-19 pandemic, still she managed to score 92.6% marks under the new evaluation scheme. As the CBSE could not conduct the postponed class 10 exams owing communal riots in north-east Delhi, the board has evaluated students on the basis of the average of marks in exams that they took before the lockdown came into effect on March 25.
A student of the government girls senior secondary school, Vaishnavi divided her time between her studies and work at the shop throughout the year. Sharing how she had to take care of the family after her father lost his job because of an accident, she mentioned:
“My father had met with an accident last year and since then, he has not been keeping well and is jobless. My mother stitches clothes at home to make ends meet. To help my family, I opened a small stationery shop in our house. I would sit there after school hours till late evening. I later started keeping some groceries, too, at my shop. I studied while manning the shop; there was no time or money for tuitions.”
Sharing how it was difficult for her to take exams after the riots took place, she further added:
“I had appeared for my mathematics, science and social science exams in the aftermath of the riots. There was so much fear in our area and it kept us awake at night. But I am glad I managed to appear for some of the exams. I wish I could have appeared for the Hindi and English papers (postponed during the riots and couldn’t be held later owing to the lockdown) as well.”
She now wants to opt for science stream in class 11 and go on to become an engineer.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said students of Delhi government schools have proved that talent cannot be measured by wealth.
“I have heard a lot of people saying that a poor family does not want their child to study, that they would rather have the children earning money. These results have proved this wrong. These results have proved that when conditions at government schools improve, a poor family also wants to their children to study,”
At IFORHER, we are in awe of Vaishnavi and her determination & courage to not let her circumstances control her destiny. As she embarks on the new journey, we wish her luck and thank her for inspiring so many to fight for their dreams.
