Vacations have started but the campus of Sri Sarada Vidyavanam Matriculation Girls Higher Secondary School in Madurai is buzzing. Five young girls are being groomed by their teachers. They are polishing their pronunciations, practising Bharatanatyam, getting briefed on Indian and American culture and reading up a lot.
Clearly everybody is on a high. The entire school appears to be behind its five students who brought them one of the most unexpected laurels a fortnight ago.
The five girls are: S.B. Vishakanandhini, M. Shenbagam, S.G.Yogalakshmi, K. Kamali and P. Dhivya Priya. These class eleven students beat participants from 30 other countries to win the third prize in the NASA Ames Space Settlement Design Contest-2014 under the literary merit category. It is the only prize winning team from Tamil Nadu this year.
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“I still can’t believe it,” says Dhivya. “It is like a dream,” says Vishaka. “I feel I am flying,” says Yogalakshmi. “I have no words to express my feelings,” says Kamali. “We didn’t expect it and still keep pinching ourselves,” says Shenbagam.
Between March 26 and now they have faced the media. “We have grown up seeing photos of celebrities in newspapers and magazines. And now we see our own photos!” The girls can’t stop giggling.
This was the first time that the school sent five teams for different categories of competitions. The girls had 10 days to prepare. They lost three days in preparing an essay initially. Not finding it interesting, they decided to convert it into a story and submit their paper under the literary category.
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“Till the last minute we were rewriting our script and were the last to submit the project,” recalls Vishaka. There were moments when ideas tumbled out but not the words. They found many beautiful photographs but not enough matching text. There were days when they fought with each other too about the inputs.
“We spent those 10 days almost entirely in the library and on the internet,” says Shenbagam. But their friends rallied around them. They copied notes in class for them and brought food when they were hungry. Their parents too allowed them to work till late on the project. The girls are grateful to their teachers and the principal, Ms.V.Prema, for encouraging them. The principal invited experts to school who gave special lectures on space science, explained the topic and tweaked their scripts, besides giving valuable suggestions. The principal spent hours with them, getting them books and highlighting important points that could be referred to.
It was team work and everybody backed them. The girls declare that they have never worked so hard, not even for their exams!
And now that these girls from ordinary homes have walked away with the big prize, they feel even more humbled and responsible. “So many people have congratulated us and blessed us that I feel we cannot let them down,” says Yogalakhsmi, who now along with Kamali and Shenbagam wants to become a doctor. Dhivya wants to join the civil services to serve the society, and all Vishaka knows is that she wants to serve the country in some way.
Ms.Prema beams, “This kind of an exposure will do them good,” she says. She is now motivating them to participate in various on-the-spot contests that will be held during the four day convention before the prize distribution ceremony. “Again intensive coaching is on and we are aiming high, she says, “from this experience I have learnt that if we encourage our children, hidden talents come out.”
While they are not training, the girls are busy googling information on what all they can do and see in Los Angeles. So are they nervous? Not really, excitement overrides all other emotions now. Their only wish now is to be allowed to receive the prize in their school uniform – a white and pink half sari. Says Vishaka, “In that gathering, if we are in our attire, we will feel we have done our school and city proud”.
What won them the prize?
A work of fiction set in 2250 AD titled Cronus -- The Utopia . The story is about a disaster on earth that forces human beings to settle in Cronus. Here, the resources are similar to Earth but still different in many ways as the settlers are efficient in conserving nature, recycling waste and making best use of solar and wind energy. They are untouched by corruption and dishonesty.
(Making a difference is a fortnightly column about ordinary people and events that leave an extraordinary impact on us. E-mail soma.basu@thehindu.co.in to tell her about someone you know who is making a difference)