Since past 40 years, Rani devi had relentlessly worked to make her ends meet. Sweeper in a missionary school in Patna, she hardly took leave as she loved her job. Besides doing her work with outright perfection, she never failed to attend evening classes in the school premises for she knew that Education was the only way to give wings to her dreams.
Despite working overtime on most of her days, she earned a meagre income and that had taken a toll on her health. Wrinkles had set in at an early age but nothing deterred her determination to learn and empower her life. With unremitting efforts and will power, she successfully completed her primary schooling and now could speak in broken english as well.
24th September,2017 was just like any other day except for the fact that it was Rani Devi’s 60th birthday and also the day, when she was getting retired from her long strenuous service. Dressed in a starched white sari and sitting on the podium of the school hall, she exuded calm yet resolute demeanor.
A small function was arranged by the school authority to bid her adieu; the ambience lacked excitement and fervour until the arrival of 2 cars. Impeccably dressed in the Khaki uniform and hair tied back, Ananya stepped out of the car catching everyone’s attention. She was followed by another beautiful lady, Aditi, who got out of the 2nd car with the Red Plus sign. Both of them hugged each other and hand in hand, they moved towards Rani Devi and touched her feet. Tears filled her eyes and Rani Devi felt a lump forming in her throat when she tried introducing her 2 daughters to the entire congregation.
Hard work had paid off finally. Rani Devi’s unabated efforts had bore fruits; one of her daughters was an IPS Officer and the other one was a renowned Neurosurgeon in Delhi. Despite her hectic schedule, she attended evening classes to make sure that she could teach her daughters and give them the gift of education in order to make them independent. She worshipped her job for the fact that it had only made her dream turn into reality!
Note: This story is partially based on a true life story of a lady called Sumitra devi.
Link: Read about Sumitra Devi
