Tamil Nadu

He has a dream… to join civil service

S. Rajkumar

ERODE: G. Rajkumar, a student of Government Boys Higher Secondary School, Bhavani, may appear to be just another student with his 420/500 marks in SSLC. But he is not.

This son of a tea master has battled many odds to score 84 per cent. The foremost was poverty. The pecuniary condition was so bad that even purchasing notebooks took time.

“It took my father R. Ganesan more than a month to buy notebooks and a little more for guides,” says the boy.

The father says: “I would divert a portion of my income for the boy’s needs, even if that meant not eating good food.” A Rs. 40 guide took two to three days for the tea master, whose daily wage is around Rs. 140.

Last year when the 15-year-old entered Class Ten, the father borrowed Rs. 1,000 to meet education expenses. He repaid the loan only recently.

Poverty, however, did not deter the boy. Rajkumar’s dedication was soon rewarded. A school teacher offered tuition free of charge.

He wants to pursue engineering and then civil service, which, he says, has been his childhood dream.

The boy, though cannot afford a newspaper, reads one daily by borrowing from a neighbourhood shop. So much is his dedication that he managed to buy a yearbook from his pocket money. Rajkumar says he wants to have a good education. Father Ganesan agrees but does not know how. They say a little support will be of great help.

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