Inspiration
Family sponsors underprivileged girl’s education on 5-year-old daughter’s birthday.
5-year-old Shravani Piddi recently celebrated her fifth birthday in a very inspiring way. Rather than cutting cakes and having a doll themed party, the five-year-old’s father sponsored the education of an intelligent girl from an underprivileged family.
Shravani Piddi, studying in LKG at the Jaycee School in Gadag recently celebrated her fifth birthday in a very inspiring and path-breaking way. Rather than cutting cakes and having a doll themed party, the five-year-old sponsored the education of an intelligent girl from an underprivileged family.
The idea was the brain child of Sudheer Piddi, Shravani’s father who is a CSR trainer at an MNC who wanted to sensitize people about human values outside the MNC set-up including his daughter, family members, relatives and friends.
Sudheer said his mother Shobha Piddi is a writer who has planted the seeds of social causes around family ceremonies right from the beginning. For instance, a couple's poetry recital was held during Sudheer’s sister's wedding. Sharavani's first four birthdays saw tree plantations and donations to orphanages. This year, they decided to sponsor the education of a girl in-line with the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign being carried out at the national level.
Shravani's mother Hema admits that they did not know how to find a truly needful girl and hence they approached a government high school in Gadag. Upon discovering that government schools provide free education to girls, they shifted the search to private schools. Eventually they zeroed in on the SSK High School at Bavangadde, Gadag, where students from poor and lower middle class attend school.
Sanjay Merwade, principal of SSK High School confirmed that the Piddi family had approached the school and requested them to identify a genuine beneficiary. "We had a teachers' meeting and chose a girl, whose father has passed away and mother works as a domestic help. However, at the mother's request, we're not revealing the girl's name," he said.
The chairman of the school, RK Habib lauded the initiative for those who splurge on birthdays and other occasions. Sudheer elaborated that the assistance would include school fees, uniforms, books, study materials and educational tours for the girl. "We plan to extend it to other students. Though we're middle class people, we just want to share what we have," he said.
* Read the original story by Sangamesh Menasinakail on www.indiatimes.com