Beating odds, night school students do well in SSC exams. (Representational)
Written by Ayan Ganguly
On the one hand, while celebrations could be seen across Pune as most city schools recorded a 100 per cent pass percentage or a high number of students enter the 90-plus club, at Bajirao Road’s Saraswati Vidya Mandir, the cause for celebrations was different.
Not one to measure success by marks alone, the night school, whose students work by day and burn the midnight oil to realise their dreams, were celebrating the success of their candidates who passed the SSC examinations, braving all odds.
The highest scorer of the night school is Swanand Pramod Joshi, who scored 74.8 per cent. A part-time pujari, Joshi studies Vedabhyasa during the day. “My family has been in the business for generations, so I, too, work as a priest,” he says. Joshi, whose favourite subject is maths in which he scored 91 marks, wants to opt for commerce in Class XI.
Chinmay Chandrashekhar Mokashi, second-ranker at the school who scored 53.4 per cent, suffers from cerebral palsy. He has to undergo three hours of physiotherapy every morning, studied for four hours every day and had a perfect 100 per cent attendance in school.
According to school authorities, Mokashi needs help as he is unable to even hold a pen properly. Asked about his ambitions, Mokashi said he wants to study humanities, for now. “Eventually, I don’t know if I will join an NGO or do something else. All I know is I want to help others,” he says.