Giving up? Not an option
Rayesha Bharati, born with sparkling little dreamy eyes, in a small almost unknown residential area in the Hooghly district of West Bengal.
The couple was overjoyed with the birth of the little one. From two it became a family of three. Slowly the family of three became a family of five.
From childhood she dreamt of becoming a cardio surgeon. Who knew things would take an unexpected turn.
The best and the worst thing about time is that it keeps changing. From having three full meals a day to struggling to have even two meals a day for each one of them. Time changed. They started having Khuder Bhaat (a Bengali dish) which is often referred to as the Farmer’s Pulao, so as to cut down the expenses.
She had to give up on her dream of becoming a cardio surgeon, because of the financial conditions. She had started her 11th standard with science but had to leave mid-way and shift to commerce. But she made sure that she fulfilled the dreams of her sisters. They had wanted to study science and become renowned doctors. She made sure that all her sisters reached a point where no single person could taunt them about their sad childhood days.
She struggled daily, waking up at 4am and studying and helping her mother take the cattle to the field to graze. No one wanted to be friends with her and looked down upon her. Later she went to school and after returning she used to ride her bicycle to places to teach students to support her and her family. By the time she returned home it was already dark, and she was tired. But there was no time to rest even for a single minute. Returning home, she used to freshen up and sit studying. Even though her sisters and parents felt sorry for her, they did not have an option other than accepting the reality.
This was her daily routine.
As they belonged from a poor family, they did not have many friends and were mostly alone but, that did not stop them from reaching their goal.
Rayesha, though could not become a cardio surgeon, because of the weight of the responsibilities at a young age, did not stop there. She prepared for the competitive exams for the government jobs as she had a family to feed and help her sisters continue their journey.
She was happy seeing her sisters work extremely hard to reach their goal. Even though she could not continue her dream, she did not give up. She did everything in her power to build a better life for herself and her family.She decided to appear for the SSC-CGL examination, and her goal was to clear it at a single chance. It was one of the toughest challenges for her as she was from a Bengal Board and her English was not strong enough. Even though she challenged herself against all the odds and started preparing forgetting everything.
On the day of the examination, she was nervous but confident on her efforts and gave it her all. It would take almost a year for the declaration of the results. The entire time she did not stop preparing herself for another try. She was confident but did not want to waste any time if just in case she could not score a good result.
The result was announced, and she became the first women for that unrecognized area to bag a central government job. She had shut the mouths of every single person is the area who had looked down on her and her family.
She kept her first salary on the hands of her father who could hardly hold them because of the blisters from the manual labour. Tears of joy rolled down their face and Rayesha made sure that her father would never have to go out for any manual labour.
She was the Lakshmi of the household in true senses, changing their fate from the worst to the best.
Soon enough she got a task to visit the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for her work. It was the first time she was travel to a different place other than her hometown and that too in a flight. She excitedly hurried home to tell her parents about the opportunity. They were very excited that her hard work has finally paid off. Little did they know that a huge surprise was knocking at the door.
The day she was leaving, her parents found an extra luggage and asked her about it. Finally, it was time for her to surprise them with two more tickets for her parents. Never had they ever imagined travelling via flight.
They were excited and overwhelmed by what had happened. Her father said,
“ami konodin bhabini je ami plane e travel korbo. Amr boro meye amar shob sopno puro kore dilo aaj.”
That’s it. She had finally fulfilled the silent promise made to herself.
K CHAKRABORTY
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