ANS: Tulsi Kumari, Class V student at Jamshedpur’s Bagunhatou Govt School, struggled to continue her online class amidst coronavirus pandemic and lockdown. She was unable to attend her online class as she lacks a smartphone.
Fighting poverty and pandemic, Tulsi decided to sell mangoes to accumulate money to buy a smartphone to attend the online classes. And she socked when a Mumbai based businessman bought a dozen mangoes for Rs 10,000 each from her.
Ameya Hete, Managing Director of Valuable Edutainment Pvt Ltd, bought one dozen mangoes for Rs 1.20 lakh from Tulsi to help her buy a smartphone and continue with online classes.
Hete transferred Rs 1,20,000 to Srimal Kumar’s (Tulsi’s father) account; he has also given Tulsi a mobile phone worth Rs 13,000 and Internet recharge throughout the year, thus ensuring that there would be no interruption in the education of the girl child.
On Sunday, during the lockdown, Tulsi was selling mangoes near Kinnan Stadium at Jamshedpur. When a scribe enquired about selling mangoes on deserted roads during the lockdown, Tulsi narrated her story.
“I wanted to earn Rs 5000 so that I could buy a smartphone to attend my online classes. So I am selling mangoes on the street,” Tulsi told to the scribe.
She further added, “My family is reeling under acute financial crunch; my father lost his job due to lockdown.”
I wanted to study but could not have an Android phone, which is essential for online classes started by the government school.
Initially, my mother Padmini opposed my idea of selling mangoes on the road. But later, I convinced her that I could accumulate money required for the smartphone, she told.
Tulsi’s desire was strong, and she started selling the mangoes on the road, and now she is helping her family financially from her business, said her mother proudly.
“We are proud of you, Tulsi, for setting an example and not submitting to your reality. ‘Where there is a will there is always a way’,” Hete tweeted.
“The story of your perseverance and struggle (on news portal and social media) was brought to my notice by Varsha Jahagirdar. Many students like you have been struggling to cope with online learning due to the lack of necessary infrastructure.”
“I am impressed that you did not give in and struggled to tide over it. You have proved that ‘where there is a will, there is a way’. You have shown the ‘will’, we are helping you in finding the ‘way’,” letter from Ameya Hate reads.
Valuable Edutainment Private Limited has been working in the field of online education all over India and has been trying to bridge the gap of connectivity. It has been working towards bringing uniform qualitative learning to public schools for over a decade with the help of its satellite technology. This has helped many ‘Tulsis’ to defeat their problem in e-learning and achieve their goals in life.
Hate further said that the company hopes that many more students take inspiration from her. “We wish that you achieve all your educational goals in years to come,” he has said.