An Inspiring Story of Our Student Pallavi Gunjal

Heartening news comes to us about the achievements of Pallavi Siddhappa Gunjal from Supervisor Rupali Behere from the Community Learning Center at Door Step School.

16-year-old Pallavi started coming to our DSS 2 years ago. She is from a Kannada-speaking family. Her mother is a homemaker and her father a casual labourer. Her parents recognise the importance of education. Her father studied till Class 8 but her mother was not able to continue her studies after Class 3. However, it is her mother who inspires her to achieve her goals. Pallavi’s voice grows soft when she says her mother shows such great joy and enthusiasm every time she achieves something that it spurs her on to do better. Her brother and sister were not very interested in their studies, she says, so she felt she should support her mother by studying and achieving something. Her older brother started working after dropping out of school in Class 9 and an older sister, now married, who didn’t want to study further beyond her first year of college.

“When she first came” says Supervisor Rupali, “she was so reserved, it was difficult to get a word out of her. But slowly, she warmed up to the group activities that were presented by our teachers and started taking part in all the activities. As she gained confidence from the guidance, encouragement and praise our teachers gave her, she came into her own and started showing many talents, and started taking part in activities and competitions in her school too.”

In December 2022, she stood first in the Pune Talent Search Exam 2022, conducted on the occasion of National Mathematics Day. This won her recognition, praise and prizes from her school, which further motivated her to work harder.

In 2023, she stood first in Class 10 in Hutatma Rajgurunagar School, with 63% marks. “I made lot of progress because of the DSS classes”, says Pallavi. “As I experienced success thanks to the guidance I received here, it is my responsibility to help others here in their studies as much as I can”.

Getting to this point has not been easy for Pallavi. She has her share of household chores like cleaning and cooking - sometimes before school, sometimes after. Collecting water for the household is usually her mother’s responsibility, but Pallavi helps whenever she can. It is a very time-consuming daily activity, as the supply at the common taps shared by everyone in the tenements is only between 3 and 6 pm. Everyone rushes to stand in line. Study time is late evening, then.

Now, as she waits to start her new academic year in Class 11, Pallavi comes in to help other DSS students in the 7th , 8th , 9th and 10th classes in Maths. She explains that this helps her keep in touch with her own studies too. Her supervisor mentions that Pallavi is good at time management; and that sounds like one of her secrets of success!

Asked about her future plans and other interests, she says she wants to do Chartered Accountancy and study even beyond that. She is also very interested in mehendi and hairstyling. Pallavi says confidently that instead of settling for just one career, she would be a chartered accountant as well as a beautician!

Contributed by: Rupali Behere, Coordinator, Community Learning Center Program

Translated by Ms Gita Nair, Volunteer, DSS