A few awardees of The Telegraph School Awards for Excellence with some of their benefactors from Hariyana Vidya Mandir. Picture by Rashbehari Das

The son of a cleaner and a domestic help, Abhijit Kundu passed Madhyamik 2004 with 69.8 per cent. The boy from Behala is now studying commerce. His father cleans roads, toilets, gardens and tanks to come up with about Rs 350 per month. Mother Kalpana, whose right eye was ruined due to an illness, says no matter what happens, ?I want my children to realise the value of education??

Monday morning was all about courage and determination, hardship and heroism. Eighteen youngsters were honoured for their will, talent and spirit in fighting for survival ? and doing it all in a day?s work.

What makes their struggles worth much more than awards is that they come out on top, and with a smile.

The time has come for The Telegraph Education Foundation?s School Awards for Excellence 2004. But ,in a prelude to the big event on November 5 at Science City auditorium, there was a mini ceremony in Hariyana Vidya Mandir school, Salt Lake, on Monday.

While last year?s event had as chief guest the man who was to become Prime Minister, this year the woman who refused to be Prime Minister will make her presence felt.

In September 2003, Manmohan Singh had said he was ?touched and moved? by the experience of awarding excellence against the odds. In November 2004, Sonia Gandhi will sit in at the ceremony to salute little bravehearts.

The programme this year has been split into two, because, happily enough, the number of scholarships increases every year, thereby creating time constraints. So, for the first time, it will be held in two halves.

The first, on Monday, was memorable for another reason ? 11 of the 18 scholarships were sponsored by about 100 teachers of the host school, Hariyana Vidya Mandir. Their kitty for the second year running came to Rs 65,000, no less.

?The teachers have shown the way,? said Barry O?Brien, who managed, yet again, to leave a lump in the throat and a moist eye while conducting the day?s affairs. ?We will be with you for whatever support you need in future,? he promised the awardees, on behalf of The Telegraph Education Foundation.

Some of the parents who made it to the programme on Monday beamed with pride and joy at the accomplishments of their children. Most of them sacrifice themselves to make the youngsters? dreams come true. Sometimes, even older siblings do the same.

Priti Halder studies with the help of a kerosene lamp, but she wants to be a journalist. Debjyoti Chakraborty?s father sells herbal medicine on footpaths, but his dream is to be a cardiologist.

And Narayan Chandra Roy?s mother Kajal makes as many thongas a day as her tired hands will allow her to, so her son can go to school?

Many more such stories shall unfold at the Science City auditorium next month.