Wastepickers’ kids leave excuses behind

PUNE: Their houses are usually 10x10 tin sheds and the neighbourhood is not exactly conducive to studying. The general noise here often competes with blaring music. But children of wastepickers from the city have done it yet again. They have beaten all odds, conquering poverty to pass with flying colours in this year’s HSC examinations.
Sonia Dholare of Aundh’s Indira Vasahat scored 63%.She feels it is going to be a valuable addition to her resume when she sets out to become a chartered accountant. ‘I have seen my mother picking waste and earning very little. She still has a big enough heart to support my education. My father too has unflinchingly supported me throughout my academic pursuit, despite having very little to offer. It is this tenderness that makes me want to pursue this path further so that one day I too could return the favour and support my parents,” said Sonia.
Sonia’s father is an autorickshaw driver in the city and earns too little to be able to support a family, let alone pay for his daughter’s education. And yet, he is adamant on educating Sonia. “My father has forbidden me to take up work and wants me to concentrate solely on studying. There were times when he could not pay for my education and had to go without meals for days to save enough money for my college fees. He would eat ‘vada pav’ and other roadside food to save money so that I could go to college. It is my turn now. I have resolved to study harder. Once I get a job, I would provide my family with half my income even after marriage,” said Sonia.
Bhagyashree Jadhav (18) studied for her HSC exam by borrowing text books from friends, for she could not afford her own. “My father passed away ten years ago and I am all my mother has. She picks waste and most of whatever little she earns is spent on my education. The day I saw her piling waste into garbage trucks I decided to pursue a good enough vocation to be able to give her a better life,” said Bhagyashree who scored a 69%.
She wants to become a lawyer and support her family so that her mother does not have to pick waste again.
Someshwar Netake from a slum in Padmavati is a painter at heart, but one cannot discount his brilliance as a student. Having scored 80% in the examination, he wants to either pursue interior designing or a career in defence. “I stay in a one-room house and studying here was difficult. Often I would try to study during the early hours of morning when everybody slept. At times, we did not even have enough money to pay my college fees and my parents would borrow it from others,” Someshwar recounts.
But he never felt bad about his predicament, for he knew that poverty would only teach him something positive in life. “My teacher had once told me that poverty is not a curse, but a blessing. What he had said is true as being poor has instilled in me the conviction to always help those in need. It is perhaps this conviction to aid the needy that has helped me bag such a good percentage,” he said.