Kathir, a factory laborer, was blessed with a girl child. He was the happiest person in the world. The daughter filled each and every moment
of his life. He decided to give the best of everything to his daughter.
He understood that education is a powerful tool to transform
lives. He ended as a labor in a factory just because of his lack of education.
He had no parent to give him higher education. Of course, he received basic education from a school attached with an orphanage. He decided to equip his daughter
with education, to the maximum possible by him. The journey of search for
education started in him.
As a first step, he thought, he should equip himself with
minimum education. As he was the only bread winner, he could not join any
formal course or offered to spend money on him. He started reading English
Grammar, and started learning a lot of books from the Library. The Librarian
saw the interest in him to study for himself and for his daughter. He encouraged
him by giving the right book subsequently and asked him to practice writing to
improve his handwriting and writing skills. Kathir did enough writing practice whenever
he got time.
Being from a very remote village, where educating a boy was
considered a big thing Kathir decided to educate his daughter. In his opinion,
education is not restricted to learning to read and write. Apart from school education, he also he trained her
daughter to ride cycle and went around the village and sometimes to the nearby
town. He trained her to be independent. In those days, possession of a cycle was a luxury in that remote village.
Both father and daughter were found cycling frequently. When the days of motor
bikes came, Kathir made his daughter to ride motor bike. She was the first girl
of the village to ride a motor bike. Those were the days when even men were afraid
to ride. He admitted her in a convent school, 10 Kms away, the best school of
those days. The fees for her schooling took almost everything of his monthly income. She had to take a bus to reach the school. Sending a girl alone is
in a bus, was something unique. Kathir was a pioneer in various fronts of parenting his daughter. Many villagers even commented Kathir about his
way of grooming his daughter, saying girls should stay home and learn household
chores and she should be a home maker.
Kathir was strong in his decision that he would like to groom her
as Jawaharlal Nehru groomed his daughter. This was because he had started
reading the book “Letters from a Father to His Daughter”. It is a collection of
letters written by Jawaharlal Nehru to his daughter Indira Priyadarshini. The book
had 30 letters sent in the summer of 1928 when Indira was 10 years old. The
letters were education pieces on the subjects of natural and human history.
As Kathir wanted his daughter to speak in English, he
introduced her to the Anglo-Indian family, living in that village. On the
weekends, the girl spent time with that family. Though she was admitted in an
English Medium school, and learnt to read and write, she was not confident
enough to speak. Being with this Anglo-Indian family, she soon picked up spoken
English and creative writing in English. She also learnt Chess and some board
games like Scrabble.
Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score
points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board
divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in
crossword fashion, read left to right in rows or downward in columns. By playing
Scrabble the little girl, learnt many English words in a short time. This reflected
in her school performance as well. She scored well not only in academics and
also shined in extra-curricular activities, especially creative writing. The Librarian
also was suggesting a series of books for her to read, most of them were in
Reference section. She spent more time in the library than anywhere else. She was
a voracious reader.
She happened to appear a National Talent Search Exam, she
easily cleared it and got an opportunity to study in a school of Great standard
of those days. She was also provided with free Boarding and Lodging. There too
she excelled in her education, and creative writing and even was selected to
represent in a National Student Exchange Programme. She completed her school
education with flying colors. She got the District First seat in a reputed
Institution to pursue her college education. Her research paper gained a National
Award. Kathir and his daughter went to receive the award.
Now she is an Officer, well settled in her personal life and
professional life. It’s time for her to Give Back to the Society. She is
actively engaged in career guidance to poor children, helping the poor by all
means possible by her. She strongly believes that Education is a powerful tool
towards Development. Hence she works to provide education to many.
P.S.: Photos Courtesy - Internet
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