Student’s poem part of class 8textbook

Mangaluru: An English poem by B Divith U Rai, 19, a second year engineering student of Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management, has found a place in the class 8 Kalika Chetharike English learning sheets for students. Rai published ‘Simple Life’ an anthology of English poems when he was in class 10 at the Sri Ramakrishna High School. From this collection, ‘Mother Earth’ poem has been selected and printed on the 10th page of the Kalika Chetharike book. It was his English teacher Prashanth Ananthady who introduced and encouraged him to learn English literature. Ananthady is an English teacher at Kadaba Government High School, said Rai’s mother Prathima.
This is not the first time that Rai’s work has been recognised. When Rai was in class VII at the Harady Government Model Upper Primary School in Puttur taluk of Dakshina Kannada district, he had approached G Parameshwara, then home minister, to save four teachers from his school from being transferred. He had sent a text message to bail out the teachers. The minister then took up the issue with the then education minister Tanveer Sait and revoked the transfers.
Parameshwara, impressed by the boy, had promised to support his education. When Rai was selected for the World Scout Jamboree in Japan, the former minister sponsored Rs 1 lakh for the event.