Sunshine Story: Muslim girl who mastered the Bhagwad Gita saves cash awards to help educate the poor

This 12yrold Muslim girl was recently declared to be the cityrsquos beacon of communal harmony after she won a Bhagwad Gita contest On Friday Maryam Asif Siddiqui received a very special honour she was felicitated at the Rashtrapati Bhavan by President Pranab MukherjeeAlso read Here she is Mumbais beacon of communal harmonyPresident Pranab Mukherjee felicitates Maryam at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday as proud father Asif Siddiqui looks on in this picture released by Rashtrapati Bhavan yesterdayIn the past one month Maryam has been felicitated by several other dignitaries including Sonia Gandhi Sam Pitroda and ministers in the state and she has also collected over R80000 in cash awards midday was the first to report about Maryam on April 3 lsquoHere she is Mumbais beacon of communal harmonyrsquo after she won a contest organised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness ISKCON in the cityAmitabh Bachchan Sonia Gandhi and Devendra Fadnavis are among the many who have felicitated Maryam File picsMaryam says now that she wants to donate this money towards education of other children She was also recently declared the brand ambassador for communal harmony by the Uttar Pradesh government ldquoI only followed my heart and did what I did but the response that I got has been unbelievableSonia GandhiEven today I try to read about new things not to win any awards but just to understand the world Irsquom living inrdquo said MaryamOn Thursday Maryam and her father flew to Delhi for the second time in a month While last time she was invited to meet Sonia Gandhi this time around she has got an invitation from Rashtrapati Bhavan to meet President Pranab Mukherjee on FridayDevendra Fadnavismidday spoke to an excited Maryam before the meeting ldquoIrsquove only read about Rashtrapati Bhavan and seen pictures on TV this time Irsquoll get to be there and Irsquom really excitedrdquo added the 12yroldA shining lightIn the contest organised by ISKCON in the city 4617 students participated from 195 schools 90 government and 105 private schools Proving all sceptics wrong Maryam won the ldquoGita Champions Leaguerdquo and was one of the three students felicitated by ISKCON where she bagged the first prizeIn the past one month Maryam has been invited as a chief guest at various functions and also felicitated by the likes of Amitabh Bachchan who lauded her for the message she tried to send midday had previously mentioned how this girl has read the Bible Quran as well as an English compilation of the Bhagwad Gita and her message was of humanityWords of wisdomldquoNone of the religions preach violence in fact every religion looks at humanity as the biggest lesson Sadly people have forgotten this bit and are making their own versions of these religious texts I hope with this new platform that Irsquove been provided I can spread the message of peacerdquo said MaryamOver the past one month Maryam has also been gifted cash prizes for her feat and has collected over Rs 80000 in cash However the amount stays intact as Maryam has plans for the same ldquoShe told me shersquod rather spend this money on someone who canrsquot afford a decent education than buy things for herselfWe are honouring her word and not a single paisa has been spent still People also gave her a few hundreds to buy chocolates but she refused to spend the same on herselfrdquo said her father Asif Siddiqui who is travelling with her in Delhi at presentThey are also hoping to meet Rahul Gandhi in this visit as promised by Sonia Gandhi when they met her earlier this month ldquoI wanted her to use this opportunity to spread her message of peace and love and Irsquom glad she is doing just thatrdquo he added