{"id":1888,"date":"2022-08-01T17:04:32","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T11:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/?page_id=1888"},"modified":"2022-08-02T11:34:19","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T06:04:19","slug":"rahul-kumar","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/rahul-kumar\/","title":{"rendered":"RAHUL KUMAR"},"content":{"rendered":"

Creating Hope: The Story of a Madgul Girl<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

These \u00a0last \u00a0two \u00a0years \u00a0of \u00a0the \u00a0Covid-19 \u00a0pandemic \u00a0have \u00a0afflicted \u00a0all \u00a0of \u00a0us \u00a0to \u00a0an unfathomable extent! It has altered the\u00a0 way\u00a0 we\u00a0 used\u00a0 to\u00a0 live\u00a0 our\u00a0 life. Moreover, it has changed our experiences of living and thinking about\u00a0 life. We\u00a0 are\u00a0 concerned about the virus, experiencing a sense of foreboding about the future, tired of social isolation and quarantine and\u00a0 trying to\u00a0 connect the\u00a0 world in\u00a0 new\u00a0 ways,\u00a0 engaging with society through digital media and technology on a day to day basis. However, even during this gloomy atmosphere, there were numerous stories of hope, perseverance, resilience and inspiration. In one of the stories, I will talk about a girl named Chitralekha at\u00a0 IIT\u00a0 Gandhinagar, pursuing a\u00a0 Master’s degree in\u00a0 Humanities and Social Science department. Chitralekha hails from a place named Madgul, Rangareddy district in Telangana. The story I am sharing in this photo\u00a0 essay\u00a0 is situated during the covid pandemic which reflects the struggle of\u00a0 her\u00a0 life\u00a0 and\u00a0 how she dealt with the physical, mental and emotional trauma in the last two years.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

She\u00a0 had\u00a0 to\u00a0 cancel admission on\u00a0 her\u00a0 favourite subject, Sociology at\u00a0 the\u00a0 University of Bristol in London. The reason for it is because there was lack of information regarding the funds, and many\u00a0 scholarship sites were\u00a0 (and\u00a0 still are)\u00a0 closed due\u00a0 to the pandemic. Further, I also felt extremely disheartened during one of our chats to hear the story that she was subject to physical abuse from her father for getting admission at such a prestigious university abroad.<\/p>\n

The lack of awareness\u00a0 that her parents have on higher education has \u00a0made \u00a0her come across as a culprit in front of her \u00a0family. Moreover, her parents are anxious and \u00a0scared\u00a0 about the \u00a0fact \u00a0that \u00a0she \u00a0won\u2019t marry the boy they have selected for her. Dowry also comes into play \u00a0for \u00a0such kinds of apprehension.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

She believes that the major disagreements to continue to\u00a0 study is\u00a0 owing to\u00a0 this very apprehension. The girls in her village are not encouraged to pursue higher education in general. Instead, they are forced to partake in agricultural activities and later are mostly allowed to do \u00a0diploma\u00a0 courses\u00a0 to \u00a0be \u00a0prepared\u00a0 for marriages. Although Chitralekha wanted to carry on with her education, it has passively and actively been shown a plethora of times\u00a0 that\u00a0 her\u00a0 parents\u00a0 and society, in general, do not conform to her wish. It has also been reiterated on numerous occasions that the higher the education of\u00a0 a\u00a0 girl\u00a0 is,\u00a0 the\u00a0 higher the dowry becomes! Even after she was done cancelling\u00a0 her\u00a0 admission\u00a0 at\u00a0 the University of Bristol, there were multiple cases of emotional blackmail at home for\u00a0 every little thing. She\u00a0 became a\u00a0 constant target of\u00a0 vitriol and\u00a0 maltreatment for her innocent ambition to continue her study further.<\/p>\n

After not being able to pursue sociology at the University of Bristol, she got into the Society and Culture program at the IIT Gandhinagar. She thought\u00a0 that the course would \u00a0help \u00a0her prepare for the civil service examination(s).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Her\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0parents were not happy after listening to the fee structure as \u00a0they \u00a0are going through a major financial crisis. Since the parents have to follow the \u00a0quintessential societal norms, Chitralekha faces these\u00a0 agonizing\u00a0 issues\u00a0 on a regular basis and has to\u00a0 voice out her \u00a0opinion of \u00a0why \u00a0she wants to continue studying.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Although \u00a0she \u00a0understands \u00a0her \u00a0family\u2019s \u00a0situation, \u00a0she \u00a0can \u00a0not \u00a0compromise \u00a0her dreams for them. She somehow\u00a0 convinced\u00a0 her \u00a0parents\u00a0 to \u00a0pay \u00a0the \u00a0fees \u00a0by informing them about the stipend she would be getting during her study. Since the covid -19 pandemic is going on, the college has asked her\u00a0 to\u00a0 pay\u00a0 the\u00a0 tuition fee, which reduces the burden of being dependent. It\u00a0 was\u00a0 a\u00a0 burden\u00a0 because\u00a0 her mother\u2019s\u00a0 health\u00a0 was\u00a0 not\u00a0 good,\u00a0 and\u00a0 she\u00a0 had\u00a0 to\u00a0 go\u00a0 through\u00a0 an\u00a0 operation.\u00a0 For\u00a0 a family like her who is dependent on agriculture and does small business, it\u00a0 has become challenging to manage household\u00a0 and \u00a0hospital\u00a0 expenses\u00a0 and \u00a0the academic cost of three girl children.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0 all\u00a0 these\u00a0 circumstances, Chitralekha understood the\u00a0 financial condition which was not well at home and as\u00a0 a\u00a0 result,\u00a0 she\u00a0 had\u00a0 to\u00a0 do\u00a0 a\u00a0 part-time\u00a0 job\u00a0 as\u00a0 a translator under her undergraduate professor. There was\u00a0 also\u00a0 a\u00a0 strict restriction from her father that she was not supposed\u00a0 to\u00a0 continue\u00a0 her\u00a0 education\u00a0 and\u00a0 was rather instructed to get married and lead\u00a0 a\u00a0 family life\u00a0 after her\u00a0 Master’s. To\u00a0 make the situation calm, she accepted the\u00a0 restriction for\u00a0 the\u00a0 time\u00a0 being. However, she later revolted against her parents’ decision. Chitralekha informed her parents that she was ready to leave the home if her parents were not allowing her to continue her education. It was also the\u00a0 point\u00a0 that\u00a0 the\u00a0 family got\u00a0 to\u00a0 know\u00a0 that\u00a0 her\u00a0 mother had chronic health issues. It was advised by the\u00a0 doctor\u00a0 to\u00a0 have\u00a0 the\u00a0 uterus operation. Due to the low haemoglobin levels, she took more\u00a0 time\u00a0 to\u00a0 recover. Further, in the midst of this distress, she\u00a0 had\u00a0 to\u00a0 go\u00a0 through a\u00a0 lot\u00a0 of\u00a0 emotional abuse by the relatives for not getting married and being a burden to the family. Although the relatives used to love her for her behaviour and academic excellence in school, they later turned against her for her\u00a0 unwavering\u00a0 determination\u00a0 to continue the education. Even\u00a0 so,\u00a0 every\u00a0 now\u00a0 and\u00a0 then,\u00a0 heated\u00a0 arguments\u00a0 would pop up at home over this very issue. However,\u00a0 Chitralekha\u00a0 is\u00a0 steadfast\u00a0 in\u00a0 her resolve. She knows that if she doesn\u2019t raise her voice now she has to pay for it for her entire life.<\/p>\n

One day,\u00a0 while she\u00a0 was\u00a0 nursing her\u00a0 mother and\u00a0 doing\u00a0 all\u00a0 the\u00a0 household chores, she realised how difficult it would have been for her mother to balance both the household chore work and agriculture work. Having said that, none of the family members helped in any of this. Her mother didn’t let\u00a0 her\u00a0 work\u00a0 on\u00a0 a\u00a0 regular basis with the fear that she might get\u00a0 tired and\u00a0 won’t\u00a0 be\u00a0 able\u00a0 to\u00a0 study. It\u00a0 was\u00a0 the\u00a0 first time she had to do everything by herself, including cooking food for a family of six members. Along with this, she worked as a\u00a0 volunteer\u00a0 in\u00a0 the\u00a0 SWAN\u00a0 (Stranded Workers \u00a0Action \u00a0Network), \u00a0an \u00a0organisation \u00a0that \u00a0tried \u00a0to \u00a0help \u00a0migrant \u00a0workers \u00a0with transportation and ration through phone calls during the Pandemic.\u00a0 All\u00a0 this happened during the first semester which impacted her academic activities at IIT Gandhinagar. It\u2019s surprising that when\u00a0 she\u00a0 was\u00a0 narrating\u00a0 the\u00a0 story,\u00a0 she\u00a0 was smiling throughout. She is the first girl child to come out of her village and\u00a0 have higher education. The other students in the village look up to her as a source of inspiration.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I personally found her life\u00a0 interesting because a\u00a0 few\u00a0 other\u00a0 girls from\u00a0 her\u00a0 village have started coming out of their shell to continue education by seeing her never- ending determination in the face of Himalayan adversities. She often goes to a government school and teaches certain subjects like\u00a0 English\u00a0 and\u00a0 Sociology and talks about\u00a0 the\u00a0 importance of\u00a0 education, especially for\u00a0 girls. She\u00a0 is\u00a0 thus\u00a0 paving the way for greater social security for girl children in her\u00a0 village\u00a0 and\u00a0 is\u00a0 often credited for preventing a few\u00a0 child marriages on\u00a0 her\u00a0 own\u00a0 volition. Now\u00a0 she\u00a0 says that she wants to be a civil servant and\u00a0 be\u00a0 the\u00a0 reason\u00a0 of\u00a0 smile\u00a0 for\u00a0 more\u00a0 girl children by continuing her struggle against child marriages and child labour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Creating Hope: The Story of a Madgul Girl These \u00a0last \u00a0two \u00a0years \u00a0of \u00a0the \u00a0Covid-19 \u00a0pandemic \u00a0have \u00a0afflicted \u00a0all \u00a0of \u00a0us \u00a0to \u00a0an unfathomable extent! It has altered the\u00a0 way\u00a0 we\u00a0 used\u00a0 to\u00a0 live\u00a0 our\u00a0 life. Moreover, it has changed our experiences of living and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1888","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1888"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1888"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2020,"href":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1888\/revisions\/2020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sites.iitgn.ac.in\/digitalstudies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}