Sunday Story: The Right Step Forward

When Kaveri’s eyes opened, it was still dark in her room. She checked her phone—it was still five minutes till her alarm went off. She got up from her bed and walked up to the only window in the room and pulled the curtains—the sun still seemed to be taking its sweet time to come to work and light up the sky outside.

While from the outside Kaveri seemed calm and composed, from the inside, she was anything but calm. She could feel her blood coursing through her veins at a considerable fraction of the speed of light. And it was for a reason. Today was an extremely special day for her—it was the inauguration day of the first all-girls school in her village, which she had set up, all on her own.

Since childhood, Kaveri had been a bright child. Her father saw in her the potential of doing something monumental and consequently was keen on sending her to a school. But her mother and the rest of their relatives thought otherwise. Who, in their right senses, would want to go through the pain of educating a girl child only to send her away to a new house where she will be so busy taking care of the family and house? Not only would it be a waste of education, but also, perhaps greater, of the money, which could otherwise be used as dowry.

Despite the backlash he received and the setbacks he faced, Kaveri’s father still chose to educate her daughter. He went to the lengths to taking her to the city with him and getting her an admission in a school there, away from her mother for so many years, just so she could study without any interventions. And his decision paid off! Kaveri grew up to be one of the brightest pupils her school had produced. She even received a full scholarship to one of the top colleges in the country to pursue higher studies.

Kaveri returned to her village for the first time after 20 years, a grown-up, educated woman who was well settled in the city, all thanks to her father and his perseverance. While her family had eventually accepted her father’s decision, they were yet to be okay with educating girls in general; so was the rest of the village. And it saddened her a lot. Having first-hand experienced the fruits of education and endless doors of opportunities opened, she could not see other girls missing out on the chance to improve their lives.

One morning, when she was discussing the same with her father over breakfast, Kaveri suddenly had an epiphany—she realised that what her village lacked was a dedicated school for girls where they were welcomed and encouraged to study, unlike other schools that gave preference and encouragement only to boys.

When Kaveri shared this idea with her family at the dinner table, the reactions she received seemed quite similar—her father championed her throughout, while the rest of the family members, despite having seen how education uplifted Kaveri, were first shocked and then hesitant. But her father’s support was enough for her to take up that project, just like it was when she first went to school.

The road of her quest, unsurprisingly, was filled with roadblocks and all sorts of other societal, familial, and personal obstacles one could think of. But she did not let anything deter her from her path. After a year and a half of persistent efforts and colliding with obstacles head-on, the day had finally come when she, and another group of volunteers from the village who decided to support her endeavour, were going to welcome the first batch of students to the school.

The heady mix of excitement, fear, uncertainty, and hope had not let her sleep the night before and woke her up before her alarm. As went about her house, getting ready, she could not help but feel a singular feeling of pride, despite all the other countless emotions she was feeling at the moment, for having taken the first step forward in realising her dream of uplifting the lives of fellow girls of her village. She left for the school with her head held high, all set to take the next steps in the direction of her lifelong dream.

Liked this story? Here is another to lift you up—Better Late Than Never