For A. Ashika Beham, the daughter of a buttermilk vendor and the Plus Two topper of the Dr. Maduram Corporation Higher Secondary School in Tiruchi, the death of her mother could not have come at a worse time.
Her mother lost the battle against lung cancer in January this year just as the girl was busy preparing for the public examination ahead. The burden of having to run the household fell on her.
Yet, the girl braved the family tragedy and the added responsibility to emerge the topper in her school, scoring 1,101 marks.
Ashika has done well in almost all the subjects, scoring 190 in Tamil, 188 in English, 176 in Physics, 190 in Chemistry, 189 in Biology and 168 in Mathematics.
Wannabe doctor
The girl, who wants to study medicine, has appeared for NEET after undergoing a month-long coaching programme, sponsored by actor Suriya’s Agaram Foundation in Chennai, as suggested by her teachers.
“I want to be a doctor; I do not know whether I will manage to get a seat. Though I took the exam in Tamil, the entrance exam was tough except for the questions in Biology,” she says. She also has no idea whether her father, who sells buttermilk at the Gandhi Market in the city on a bicycle, and her two elder brothers, both carpenters, would be able to afford her higher studies. Ashika also has a younger sister, who is in Class X now.
Despite the meagre income of the family, her father, A. Abdul Rahim (48), who sells vegetables once the summer is over, is equally determined to find the means to ensure his daughter gets to pursue higher education.
