An aspect that I often notice nowadays is that when we have more, then the will to face the challenges in life, is less. While some cower down to challenges, some decide to overcome each one till they have realized their aspiration! That in fact was the story of the twin sisters that I met recently.
The Symbiosis Centre for Outreach Programme and Extension offers scholarships to deserving girls from the villages surrounding Symbiosis International University campus at Lavale, near Pune. Every year, eight girls are selected from several profiles for this scholarship and interviewed by me and the university’s Vice Chancellor. This year, during the scheduled interview, I met eight girls, out of which a set of twins, caught my attention. They belonged to the remote village of Katarkhad, in Mulshi taluka. The village doesn’t even have a regular transport system, with only a once-a-day visit by the public transport bus. The village does not have a secondary school or a junior college. The children there go to a primary school with infrequent visits from the teachers.
The twin sisters live in a family of five. While their father is a labourer, their mother suffers from an ailment that does not allow her to work. They have an elder sister who takes care of most of the household chores. In such a setting, one would expect a different outcome. But instead of becoming despondent, these two girls took it upon themselves to better their situation and their family’s. So, in their bid to do so, they completed their primary education at Katarkhad. They would then travel to another village every day, which was about 10 km away, to complete their secondary education. To complete their junior college, they enrolled in a college in the city but decided to do it externally because they did not have the money to travel by bus daily.
When the twins came for the interview, they completely blew my mind as they spoke fluent English! One was smarter than the other, and she stood out because of her confidence. While I was asking her questions in Marathi, she was replying in fluent English without any grammatical errors. Given her challenging background, I was amazed to see her skills and asked how she could speak such good English. To which she replied, saying that she had picked up English by watching videos on YouTube. She would then stand in front of the mirror and practice. She would even speak to her parents in English, which surprised me as her parents did not understand English. I asked her the same, and she said that though they did not understand English, it allowed her to speak the language without inhibitions and grew her confidence. Her vocabulary was also far better than many children who come from English Medium schools. She then said that she had always aspired to be a doctor, but she could become one because she could not afford NEET coaching classes. But she was equally happy to have the opportunity to become a nurse as that would allow her to work in the hospital and take care of patients which she is very passionate about. In due course of time, having uplifted her family’s status, she wants to help at least two other girls, such as herself.
On the other hand, her sister who was relatively shy, wanted to become an engineer and could not afford to due to lack of opportunity and resources. She said she would be happy to take up a course in Computer Application and later work for a globally recognized organization in the USA. She, too, harboured the desire to uplift her immediate family and then help other girls trapped in the same crises as herself.
This is a story of everyday inspirers. They may not have the means to fulfill their dreams, but it does not stop them from dreaming big. They have the want to achieve and follow their heart despite the hurdles. Such stories should be narrated to students who belong to affluent families and have the wherewithal to perform well yet do not perform.
Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar says, “Your aspirations are your possibilities. Always keep them high.” I could not agree more with him. Also, the book ‘More from Less: The Surprising Story of How We Learned to Prosper Using Fewer Resources―and What Happens Next, by Andrew McAfee, talks about the human desire to achieve more when we have little.’
Let us not look at what we do not have but push ourselves to overcome our challenges. We may draw inspiration from others or from our own situation, but in the end, it is us who have to work towards an actionable change.