Inspiration
Will lack of funds stop the incredibly momentum this result topping girl has built for herself?
Ramalakhsmi, the school topper in class XII in Chennai belongs to a humble background. Daughter of a coolie, she not only studies but also helps her mother in daily chores besides helping out her classmates with studies. She needs additional funds to achieve her dream of a BCom degree.
Every year many students score well in class XII exams against all odds. Yet, even after achieving the seemingly impossible, higher education evades some. The Times of India, one of India’s leading publications runs stories on students from weaker sections ace the exams, but need aid to pursue higher education.
This Class XII school topper is an all round personality besides being a bright student. Daughter of a coolie, commerce student M Ramalakshmi who scored cent-percent in commerce and business maths also teaches fellow students, apart from handling daily chores. Her teachers say the amiable multi-tasker easily juggles many roles, thanks to her proactive approach.
Ramalakhsmi's mother, a homemaker, cites an example which shows her commitment, "During the December floods, when our home was submerged, she climbed atop a stool and continued studying under a candle light." The Chennai Higher Secondary School (Maduvankarai) topper credits her 50-year old father Muthalagan for her hardworking nature. Muthalagan earns a living lugging heavy bags at a warehouse in Guindy's Industrial Estate.
Meena runs the family of 6 with her husband's monthly earning of ₹10,000."Ramalakshmi has been focussed on becoming a successful accountant. Nobody in our extended family has ever scored such high marks. A bit of financial aid will take her a long way."
In another trademark of fiercely hardworking students, Ramalakshmi says she is disappointed for not beating the Chennai corporation schools' highest score of 1,1741,200 by Prem K who studied at the same school 5 years ago. Her score has been 1,1571,200.
Her next goal is to complete her BCom course at DG Vaishnav College. Her class teacher V Boobalan says, "She always finishes studying ahead of time. While many blamed the floods for affecting their performance, she had already completed preparing for the boards before the disaster in December." Ramalakshmi's economics teacher Natarajan says that his favourite student is always surrounded by a dozen friends. He says, "We asked her to help some of the students. She did just that and the students have passed with good scores."
Image used for representation purpose only