Gujarat: Man chooses daughter’s studies over fertilizer

VADODARA: Every year with approaching monsoon, farmer from Haripura Vasediya village in Chhota Udepur district, Shivji Rathwa, goes shopping in Naswadi town to buy fertilizer with money he saved throughout the year.
This year too, Rathwa went ‘monsoon’ shopping to Naswadi town, but returned home with an old television and a dish and set-top box for satellite TV instead. Not that the Rathwas were keen on entertainment. But because the father wanted to sow in his daughter’s good education this time. Rathwa had been noticing his daughter Hetal, a Class XII student, help her mother daily with household work than do her online lessons.
But living in a village, where mobile connectivity was terribly poor forcing people either to run up on terraces or even a nearby hillock to talk over phone, learning through online classes was a distant dream.
Rathwa then learned that home learning classes are also broadcast on the state-run Doordarshan Girnar channel and so he got an old broken television and DTH set from his relative. “This is a crucial year for her so even if little, she will now be able to learn something,” Rathwa told TOI.
He spent over Rs 3,100 to purchase the DTH set and also repair the defunct TV.
In the afternoons now, Hetal studiously sits in front of the television and attends to the hour-long class, after which she returns to help her mother. But the TV is not switched off. Reason? Other girl students from the village come to Rathwa’s house for their studies.
When asked how will he manage without fertilizer, the proud father replied quickly: “I will manage somehow. The sowing season has just begun so I will borrow from my friends in the village.”
“There are around two dozen students in the village who will take board exams this year. Earlier in our village rarely anyone studied beyond Class X, but now parents have become aware and encourage their kids for studies,” said Dhirendra Rathwa, a resident of the same village.
The village has a school but only till Class V. Most of the students have to go to the model residential schools at Tanakhla, Puniyavant, Linda among others.
“Not every parent can buy a TV. Installing a tower for mobile network would be expensive, but if the government can install a large TV and DTH set in a community hall of the village all students can benefit and they would not have to drop out of their studies,” Rathwa added wistfully.