Mother courage

At the village school here, a burqa-clad woman asked for admission to class VI. Nothing out of the ordinary here except the fact that the 28...

At the village school here, a burqa-clad woman asked for admission to class VI. Nothing out of the ordinary here except the fact that the 28-year-old woman, mother of three, wanted to enroll herself in class VI.

Maharishi Dayanand Secondary School 038; Viklang Ashram administrator Kamlesh Arya recalls: 8216;8216;The woman had come for the admission of a girl but soon she whispered 8216;Kya main bhi yahan par padai kar sakti hoon Can I also study here?8217;8217;8217;

Moved by her enthusiasm, Kamlesh and her co-administrator husband Dr Ajay Vir Singh relented.

That was in July last year. On Wednesday, Raeesa took her last paper in class VI. Going back to school at this age and taking exams with kids as old as her own is not easy. But Raeesa is undaunted: 8216;8216;Himmat hogi toh ek din kamyaab hongey8230;Zamaana badal gaya hai, ab toh school mein bachchon ka admission karaney jao, toh pehley poochhtey hain ki ma padi-likhi hai ki nahin, If you have courage, you will succeed8230; times have changed. Now if you go to a school for your child8217;s admission, they ask how educated is the mother.8217;8217;

Raeesa8217;s father worked at a liquor factory. Due to various social and family compulsions, she did not get to study at school. Last year, she just about managed to scrape through Class V from a maktab Muslim school. After that, no regular secondary school was willing to take her in. As far as Kamlesh8217;s school is concerned, since it8217;s a special school which also admits disabled children who often join late as compared to normal children, age wasn8217;t a deterrant.

Raessa8217;s family members were either amused or shocked. Her husband works in Shahjahanpur and was unavailable for comment. 8216;8216;Jag hasai ho rahi hai The world is laughing at me. Aap kyon merey barey mein chhapna chahtey hain, pehley hi mazak ban gaya hai Why do you want to write, I am being ridiculed anyway,8217;8217; she pleads.

Apart from the initial embarrassment she had in taking lessons along with kids, she had to juggle her studies, housework and her children8217;s needs. Eldest son Danish is in class VI, Arif is in class V and the youngest, Azim, is in class I. Once she has sent them to school, Raeesa takes the village tempo to her school two-and-a-half-kilometers away.

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8216;8216;We are allowing her to work at her own pace,8217;8217; says Kamlesh. 8216;8216;She asks me to give her tips to crack a paper,8217;8217; says her 12-year-old classmate Sanjeev. Another classmate, Nirvesh 14, is very fond of Raeesa. 8216;8216;I try to help her. We feel happy that she is working so hard.8221;

Raeesa8217;s teacher Neeta Rani 8212; a year younger than her 8216;8216;star8217;8217; student is 8212; says she is picking up fine. That could also be because Raeesa and her eldest son exchange notes, Neeta says.

Today, Raeesa says: 8216;8216;Inshallah God willing, I will be able to pass high school.8217;8217; Her school is upto class X. 8216;8216;But I would like to see her finish her graduation as well,8217;8217; says Kamlesh.