The heroes who passed the SSC exam against all odds

Suvarna Dongare 36 went one step ahead to support her son Ashutosh 16 who recently gave his Secondary School Certificate SSC exams by appearing for the tests with him She scored 60 per cent while her son secured 57 per cent Suvarna last appeared for the SSC exam in 1990 but she couldnrsquot clear the Maths and Science subjects With encouragement from neighbours who are teachers and owners of a coaching class Suvarna applied for the SSC exam much to the surprise of her son Suvarna Dongare 36 supported her son Ashutosh 16 by giving the Secondary School Certificate SSC exams with him PicKiran Bhalerao Survarna said ldquoI am happy that we both passed the SSC exam together Though he scored less thatrsquos absolutely fine My scores are only a little higher because I chose Maths Or else he would have done better than me We are constantly getting congratulatory calls now I havenrsquot decided about studying further but will give full freedom to my son to choose his careerrdquo lsquoWant to go to officersquo Priya Chowdhary 24 a domestic servant and resident of Chembur scored 51 per cent in the SSC exams The mother of a fiveyearold son whose husband works in a private company in Dadar fulfilled her dream of passing SSC yesterday Talking to MiD DAY Priya said ldquoI work in three houses a day I hardly earn Rs 2000 a month I failed in my SSC when I was 15 years old as I did not have the textbooks or the time for studies due to the domestic choresrdquo Bhakte Karki aimed for 90 per cent and scored 87 He is an orphan who was rescued by an NGO at a young age PicRane Ashish Priya said that she used to help her mother financially at that age by working as help in several houses She added ldquoAfter marriage I learnt of Pratham an NGO that helps women like me to study I decided to appear for my SSC and studied hard at night My husband used to tease me and call me crazy I even fell sick but managed to pass I will continue to study further and work in a better place like an office I donrsquot want my children to do the work Irsquom doing at the momentrdquo In right direction Saijid Shaikh 18 a resident of Kurla who worked as a zari worker also managed to clear the SSC exam Shaikh who lives in the slums of Kurla scored 51 per cent He was rescued from the clutches of child labour by Pratham NGO when he was 13 He said ldquoAt the age of 9 I sold tea with my grandmother and at 11 I became a zari worker Being the eldest in a family of three sisters and four brothers I was pushed to work and earnrdquo He added ldquoI never imagined I would crack the SSC exams In my childhood I worked hard to earn the daily bread for my family My younger brother was a ragpicker I did not want to do that so I entered the zari trade I used to get paid Rs 50 per day but sometimes got nothing despite workingrdquo He added ldquoLater Pratham NGO rescued me and I never looked back The volunteers at the NGO helped me study I am very interested in dramatics and want to be a director in the futurerdquo Starting a new chapter Bhakte Baji Karki a resident of Sneha Sadan shelter for homeless children at Andheri is a runaway orphan from Nepal He scored 8709 per cent in his SSC exam Some seven years ago he ran away from Nepal at the age of 12 on the pretext of finding work in Mumbai after having been put off by studies Here after meeting a volunteer of Sneha Sadan he was brought to Andheri Karki said ldquoI had lost all interest in education and had come to Mumbai just to work and earn money Through the NGO 11 boys appeared for SSC and passed with good scores When I was brought here I was told about the advantages of educating oneself So slowly I developed an interest and decided to achieve 90 per cent in SSC But I am happy that I scored 8709 per cent That was the highest at Sneha Sadanrdquo He added ldquoThe second topper is Sujit Pathare with 79 per cent I studied in a BMC school from Stds V to VII and after that at BL Ruia High School in Vile Parle till Std Xrdquou00a0