A few students from poor socio economic backgrounds in Bidar district have performed exceedingly well in SSLC examinations, the results of which were announced on Monday.
The story of Santosh Madiwal of Kamathana village is inspiring. The student of the Government Kannada Medium School in Kamathana has scored 80 per cent marks. He irons clothes for a living. His mother Sharadamma, who works as a domestic help, raised him after his father died when he was in the first standard.
Santosh said he learnt to iron clothes from a “master” in Bidar when he was in the seventh standard. He continued to study after setting up his own ironing shop in Bidar around three years ago.
Explaining his routine, he said he takes the bus to Bidar every morning and works for two hours. He then leaves for school and returns to work late in the afternoon. He works for another four hours before heading home. “I want to study commerce and become a banker,” Santosh said.
Similar is the story of Vijayalakshmi Solankar. Her father died when she was young and her mother, a farm hand, struggled to send her two children to school. After completing fifth standard in a private school at Aliambar village, she cleared the entrance examination to the Morarji Desai Residential School. She has scored 95 per cent marks in SSLC and wants to become a doctor.
Balaji Babu Reddy from a Telugu family in Telangana has scored 125 marks in Kannada. His mother, a farm labourer, admitted him to the Sri Channabasaveshwar Gurukul at Karadyal village in Bhalki taluk, after his father died a few years ago. He has scored 621 marks out of 625.
Beerappa Shivarj Torne’s is among the highest scorers in the state. He got 622 out of 625 marks in SSLC. His father is a landless sheep rearer in Mehkar village in Bhalki. He joined the Karadyal Gurukul in fifth standard. He has three sisters. He wants to become a doctor and work in a charitable hospital.
Vaishnodevi Mallikarjun Biradar’s from Kadlabad walked around six km every day to attend the Gurukul in Karadyal. Always topping her class, she has scored 622 out of 625. Inspired by former President Abdul Kalam, she wants to be an aerospace scientist.
Another student of the Gurukul to score 622 marks is Pramod Jaiwant Kulkarni, a student from a Marathi speaking family, who has scored 125 in Kannada. He comes from Chikkalchanda, a village on the border between Karnataka and Maharashtra. He joined the school five years ago when bus services started between his village and Bhalki. He wants to be a doctor too.
