Three teenagers overcame tough obstacles and passed this year’s Madhyamik exams on Friday.
The marks scored by the trio not only narrate stories of achievements but also bear proof of their resilience and spirit to not give up in the face of adversities.
Metro spoke to the three.
Diya Adhikary
Tiljala Balika Vidyalaya, Kasba (50.2%)
Diya Adhikary had dropped out of school after being promoted to Class IX in 2021. Not because she did not want to study, but because her mother could not afford to send her to school.
The girl resumed school at Tiljala Balika Vidyalaya in 2023 and passed Madhyamik on Friday with 50.2 per cent.
Adhikary’s father was suffering from cancer. Her mother was finding it difficult to manage the household and arrange for her husband’s medicines.
“Studying in a government-aided school was not expensive, but buying books and paying for private tuition required money,” said the 18-year-old.
“This was during the Covid pandemic, and there was no money at home. I did not want to quit studies, but there was hardly any option,” Diya said.
At that time, Adhikary’s mother worked in a factory.
After quitting school, she started going to the factory with her mother to increase the family income. She made ₹180 a day. “I worked there for a year and quit after my father’s death in 2022. My father was a driver, and while a source of income had dried up, there were no savings to buy medicines. Cancer treatment was expensive,” she said.
Finally, her mother got a better job and now works as a peon in a company that sells saris.
“In 2023, I resumed school after my mother started earning a little more. My father, too, wanted to see me in school. I completed Madhyamik and now I want to complete higher secondary,” she said.
Priyanka Kayal
Chetla Girls High School, Chetla (75.2%)
Priyanka Kayal shares a one-room tiled house in a Chetla shanty with her mother and elder sister. Her books fight for space on a shelf that stores their clothes, utensils and other household items. Kayal does not complain.
When the neighbourhood is quiet, almost in the dead of night, this 17-year-old studies hard. She has scored 75.2 per cent in Madhyamik.
Her mother is a domestic help, who leaves the house early in the day.
On some days, Kayal cooks for her family before going to school. “My mother works in five houses and she doesn’t complain. So what should I complain about? If I study well, I might be able to help her,” said Kayal.
Her father, who used to work as a security guard in a residential building, passed away less than a year ago. Her elder sister had to quit college midway to join work.
“My mother and elder sister did not let me quit school, and I am grateful for that. My sister started working in a mall because my father did not have much savings, and we needed money to run the family,” she said.
Shaurya Mitra
Bloomingdale Academy High School, Kalikapore (67.2%)
When Shaurya Mitra’s father told him that he had scored 67.2 per cent in Madhyamik, the 17-year-
old with Down Syndrome smiled, conveying a sense of contentment.
“We are happy with his achievement,” said Shaurya’s father, Subhadip Mitra.
Studying seven subjects, which included mathematics and science, is no mean task for Mitra, said teachers.
“He found it difficult to memorise, and we had to go through the text slowly with him, but he managed. We would focus more on short answers,” said his father.
He is now looking forward to new subjects in Class XI.
Mitra has made his teachers proud at Bloomingdale Academy, where he has been a student since pre-school.
“We have to be patient with them. The teachers would simplify the text and repeat the topic with him, which helped him to memorise and retain what he was learning,” said Pradipta Kaunungo, the school’s director.
Mitra’s challenges were not limited to academics. His parents try hard to help him lead an independent life, something that he does as well as his studies.
“Since Class IX, we have put him in a pool car so that he could travel without us from Jadavpur to Madurdaha. We don’t want him to be dependent on us. He should be able to live an independent life, and we are preparing him for that,” said his mother,
Sangita.