बूंद बूंद बनाता है सागर
Uma’s story is the perfect example of how one is never short of resources if one wants to contribute to a better world, a better nation, a better India.
Uma is 20 years old. She belongs to Bharatpura, a village near Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh. Having spent her growing years in wheat and corn fields, she is well-acquainted with nuances of farming, can identify the health of crops at a glance and which fertiliser needs to be added to improve.
When I cleared my Class 8th exams, my father, who could n’t study beyond high school, wasn’t very keen on letting me pursue studies. It annoyed me. I fought, cribbed and pleaded. Finally my mother, who is a graduate, was able to convince my father to allow me finish higher secondary.
Dominated by conservative heads who believed girls should be married off at 18 and engaged much earlier, the village was never a favourable place for a young girl who wanted to study more.
People would tell my parents how I will not get a suitable boy to marry if I studied more. I am glad that after a while, my parents stopped getting carried away by people’s opinions.
Uma would walk around 7 kms to and fro every single day to attend her classes. After a while, her mother thought it was best if she is shifted to her uncle’s place in Et. This is where Uma was introduced to the world of computers.
I learnt computers from coaching class near by which also taught me little English. After 6 months, I was appointed as a teacher in the same coaching.
Uma received laptop as a gift from a collaborative project of TCS, Bridge IT and NACDOR. Soon Uma started to teach independently.
Today, she teaches basic computers to over 300 people from 2 villages.
It was difficult earlier because I didn’t have a vehicle. Then I bought a snooty out of my earnings and cash reward I got from government for my performance in board exams. The only problem now iz unavailability of a decent network connection in my village.
A jovial bunch of happiness and curiosity, Uma, also assists everyone in the village with filling forms for colleges, exams, educating them about government schemes, applying for Aadhar card, etc.
It makes us happy to come across people like Uma who are bringing about a positive change in our society, with their little but significant efforts. 🙂
A story by Shruti Chaturvedi. If you are aboard the current Jagriti Yatra train, drop around us to say a hi!
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