Jesmina Khatun on the campus of Calcutta National Medical College. (Sayantan Ghosh)

Sumana Gupta at the cycle stand she runs near Chinsurah railway station. (Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya)

The triumph of the girl child is not in one being born to Bollywood’s first family, it is in the success stories of bravehearts from Bengal’s hinterland like Jesmina Khatun and Sumana Gupta.

Jesmina is studying medicine at Calcutta National Medical College, aiming to fulfil a dream she has nurtured from the time she would take goats out to graze at Arbetai village of Nadia. Sumana is a student of philosophy at Hooghly Women’s College, studying hard to become a teacher so that she wouldn’t have to go back to running a cycle stand in Chinsurah to support her family.

The 19-year-olds were among the stars of The Telegraph School Awards for Excellence 2011, Jesmina receiving the K.K. Varma Memorial Scholarship and Sumana the Banani Sen Memorial Scholarship.

“The goats are still my responsibility when I am home. It would do it for two to three hours every morning and afternoon since I was in Class VI. Another of my duties was to help my father harvest mustard and put the plants out to dry,” says Jesmina, one of six sisters of a Nadia daily-wage worker.

Father Bilal Mondal’s encouragement is one of the reasons Jesmina has made it to medical school. “I managed to clear the joint entrance exam only because of my father’s determination to see me through all the financial difficulties. He spent Rs 800 every month on me when I was preparing for the exam and that is not a small amount for a family like mine,” she says.

It helped, of course, that Jesmina has always been a good student. If her Madhyamik score of 75 per cent was the first stepping stone to a career in medicine, her entry into the Al-Ameen Mission was the turning point.

“There isn’t a proper HS institution for science within a 20km radius of our village. So I was lucky to be the only one among 15 girls from our school to be selected by the Al-Ameen Mission. I got the opportunity to study at Memari Rasiklal Smriti Balika Vidyalaya and then prepare for the joint entrance exam,” says Jesmina.

The 19-year-old scored 72.6 per cent in the Higher Secondary exam and spent a year at the Khalatpur centre of the Al-Ameen Mission in Howrah preparing to crack the entrance test

For Jesmina, becoming a doctor is not only about fulfilling a personal ambition. “I have seen many people die, including my uncle and grandmother, for want of medical treatment. I will try to ensure that doesn’t happen to others,” she says.

Sumana is no less determined to surmount the odds and reach her immediate goal of completing her education and clearing the School Service Commission. “Our hard life became harder after our mother’s death in 2006. Our sole source of income is a cycle stand beside Chinsurah railway station that I have had to manage since her passing away,” says Sumana, who lives with her two sisters, one older than her.

The tarpaulin shade standing on bamboo poles can accommodate around 200 bicycles. People start coming in at 5am and the last of the owners doesn’t take his bicycle back until 11pm. “We charge Rs 35 to Rs 40 per cycle for a month, while occasional customers pay Rs 2 or Rs 3 for a day. Some people haggle with us for an even lower fee. If a bicycle gets stolen, we have to pay for a new one. It’s tough managing the stand,” says Sumana.

Last year, the family had to pay for three bicycles that were stolen from the stand.

So how does she manage to make time for studies? “During the Higher Secondary examination, it was very difficult running the cycle stand and studying. But I somehow managed a decent performance,” adds Sumana, a shy smile playing on her lips.

Do you know anybody like Jesmina and Sumana? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com