Sunday Story: Ajji, the One Woman School

Ajji had been waking up at 3 in the morning everyday, without missing even a single day, for four years now. She would get up, take a quick shower, pick up the bag that she always kept on her special chair by her bedside table, and head out of the house by 4 am toward the small store room a little distance away from the house. She would stay there till 8 am, when she would return to the house to get the morning chores done and then head back there again by 11 am when everybody else had gone their ways for the day and return with the dusk.

Ajji had been religiously following this routine all these years ever since her grandchildren moved in to live with her and her husband, after the tragic death of their parents in an unfortunate accident. They were quite young at the time and had just started school only a couple of months before. As a result, they needed somebody to help them with their studies. Since they did not have anybody else, Ajji took it upon herself to ensure that their education did not face any kind of setbacks.

But it was not an easy journey, free of obstacles—Ajji had never gone to school in her life. She had a hard time reading and writing. But being the stubborn and headstrong woman she was, she took it as a challenge. She started utilising the time she had to herself and taught herself to read and write. And in a span of four years, she went from not being able to read even the names of shops in the market to being able to read entire books.

Ajji left no stone unturned in ensuring that her grandchildren receive proper education. And for that she too learned along with them; probably even more than them to be able to make sure they were learning what they were supposed to without any difficulty. She would get up before everybody else, spend the entire morning reading and understanding, then get back to get done with her morning routine and go back to reading for the rest of the day till everybody else returned home in the evening.

What many did not know was that Ajji was also finally living her dream. Since childhood, she had always wanted to study. But, belonging to a conservative family with orthodox values, she never got the opportunity to go to school. Instead, she was married off at an early age to a man who was almost twice her age. Her husband, fortunately, had been extremely supportive of all her dreams.However, she only got to pursue her dream until four years ago; that too came at a heavy price—the loss of her daughter and son-in-law.

However, Ajji never let that hamper the lives of her grandchildren or their education. She loved them as much as she loved her daughter and son-in-law—perhaps even more. She buried all her pains and sorrows and stayed strong for them; she had to because she was all they had now. Ajji’s efforts seemed to be paying off—everybody could see that in the performance results of her grandchildren. And she could not have been any prouder.

It was the day when the results of the final exams were to be declared. To everybody’s delight, both her grandchildren stood first in their respective grades throughout the state, the best gift she could have ever received for all the years of toil and sacrifice.

Liked this story? Here is another one to put a smile on your face—The Right Step Forward