Sreeja VS is busier than most post-graduate students. Her day starts early, at 6.45 am when she sets out from her house in Cheranellore on her way to work, as domestic help, en route to Aquinas College where she is a first year M.Com student. Yes, she has heard of the Manju Warrier-starrer Udaharanam Sujatha, though she saw it only recently. When the film released, she was already on her way to graduating in commerce.
While Udaharanam...tells the story of a domestic help returning to school to goad her daughter into studying harder, Sreeja says for her it was nothing that dramatic. In fact her daughter, Athira, has always been a good student. She is her mother’s ‘senior’ academically. She is a final year M.Sc (Physics) student at St. Teresa’s College. Do their schedules clash? “Seldom, our college schedules, exam-wise are different,” says Athira.
Their two-storey house is the result of the efforts of Sreeja and her husband Thampi Raghavan, an autorickshaw driver. Athira is their only child. “His support has got me this far. In fact, he drops me off at the bus stop every morning and picks me up in the evening when I get late,” says the 43 year-old.
Although Sreeja had studied up to pre-degree (equivalent of Plus 2), she hadn’t cleared her final exams. The situation at home, before marriage, made getting a job and earning, rather than re-appearing for the exams, imperative. “That is when I met my husband and we got married,” she says. “I am glad I took that decision, had I not then my life would have been different.” Clearly she likes to do things differently.
Athira came along, Sreeja got busy with raising her; she also started working as a domestic help. Almost 20 years after her marriage, when her daughter headed for college, there were stirrings of an urge to study more.
Determined effort
“God has planned something for me... every opportunity I got to study further has been serendipitous.” A few years ago, travelling by bus, on her way back from work, she chanced upon a poster announcing Plus 1 & 2 classes (open school) in Mamangalam, “I just got off the bus and enrolled myself. Similarly under-graduation too—I saw Vidyaniketan College (Kacheripady) announcing the first batch of morning classes. And this seat, at Aquinas too—it was the last seat left. There is a reason why I have been able to study so far!”
Just listening to her daily schedule is exhausting, but not for her. She has to get to college by 9.15 am, which she manages to after working at a couple of houses, if she cannot complete the work, she heads back after college. By the time she reaches home, it is late.
“My mother helps, but it is all thanks to my husband and daughter—they have been very adjusting.” In between all this she learnt sewing as well, “better than gossiping or getting hooked to television serials.”
What about the finances? “We don’t spend too much.”
Her employers have been supportive, “In fact, my earliest employer, where I’ve worked for the last 19 years, Shanta Unnikrishnan said I could work alternate days and finish up on Saturdays, similarly Rema Raghu and Bindu.” Initially she used to work in more than 10 houses, but not any more. “One of my employers asked in jest, ‘why are you studying so much?’ I said, ‘you can boast that you have a maid who is a post-graduate!’ and we laughed.”
There have been challenges, especially post-graduation. This is the one time she has been tempted to quit—“Unlike graduation, there is so much work with seminars, assignments and projects. I told the head of department Ms. Devina that I couldn’t cope, but she told me not to quit and instead try.”
Sreeja exudes confidence and positivity in equal measure, and underlines the importance of dignity of labour, “My daughter told me to be forthright, my classmates know as also my teachers. What is there to hide?”
All the effort, the running back and forth has been worth it. “Education, today, is a necessity. People respect an educated person, such a person can stand up and be counted. And who knows what opportunities I may land?” signs off Sreeja smiling.