Disability no deterrent to achievement

Hearing-impaired Bhakialakshmi and Arthi of Little Flower Higher Secondary School take top two slots

S. Bhakialakshmi, a hearing-impaired student, gives the entire credit of her Class XII performance to her mother. She couldn’t stop hugging her mother or taking pictures with her as she topped the Little Flower Convent Higher Secondary School for Deaf by scoring 918 marks out of 1000. She also scored the highest in four subjects; business maths, accounts, commerce and Tamil.

“She has struggled a lot and deserves every bit of success,” said her mother Bhuvaneshwari. She recalled the troubled times when her daughter was forced to drop out of school for two years when her husband left them and never returned.

She raised Ms. Bhakialakshmi and her elder sister, who is now pursuing her second year in college, alone by taking up a job as a domestic worker in four houses. “The school authorities conducted home visits and they re-admitted her. She was so good in her studies that she was given double promotion. She topped in Class 10 also,” she said. Ms. Bhakialakshmi wants to pursue a degree in commerce and become a banker. “She is determined to carve her own niche and support the family,” said her proud mother.

The second topper of the school was K. Arthi, who scored 855. Her father R. Kumar reminisced the time when the two of them would compete with each other. “They both have either come first or second, nobody else got that spot,” he said. Ms. Arthi too wants to become a banker and her family is supporting her completely.

Since the two studied in the Tamil medium, they will be spending another year learning basic English, computer and vocational courses.

- The Hindu online edition.