The Maharashtra State Board declared the results of the HSC (12th Standard) exams yesterday. Today's Newspapers are full of stories of those topped the exams, passed in flying colors in spite of several challenges like dissabilities, living conditions, health issues, financial conditions etc. Many of those are tall examples of what one could achieve in spite of extreme challenges in life. I vitnessed one such example this morning - when our "Bai" (maid ) walked in with a little smile on her face. Her daughter passed the HSC exam.

She is our maid who comes everyday - all days a week - works for around 2 hrs every day in our house. Does similar work for many more homes. Stays in a 1 room house given to her family by Slum Rehabilitation Authority. She possibly works for more than 12 hrs a day cleaning other's houses, washing utensils, dusting thier expensive furnitures, sweeping floors all along the day.
She speaks very little. I realized today that behind her quite dedication and extreme hard work, is a much larger goal - to educate her three children so that they don't have to undergo the same ordeal which she did through out her life. Her youngest daughter passed HSC exam yesterday. The elder is in the final year of graduation and the eldest son is already employeed.

The lady who could not even pronunce names of the subjects her kid just passed with decent marks, had a sense of achievement for her daughter. I think more than her daughter, it is her own achievement. She never went to school herself, but has learnt the importance of education through hard lessons of life.

I asked her, "so what next?". She replied without any doubt, "Pudhcha Shikshan" (Further studies) and moved into the kitchen to complete her work.

My salute to the spirit of the this woman. The respect for her in my mind has just gone up.