‘The passion and struggle of my parents in raising us motivated me’

Visual impairment, abject poverty and lack of guidance does not seem to have affected the academic brilliance of M. Vanmathi.

A first-generation student in her family, Vanmathi has made her illiterate mother, a flower vendor in Mumbai, proud by scoring 1,031 out of 1,200 in the Plus Two exams.

Besides emerging the topper at Government Girls Higher Secondary School for Blind, Puthur, Tiruchi, she is also one of the toppers among visually impaired students, who wrote Plus Two examination in the State.

When the headmistress of her school, M. Tamilselvi, called her over the phone, Vanmathi, who stays in a hostel in Chennai, was getting ready for summer classes in computer, keyboard and spoken Hindi.

Initially, she was disappointed as her marks were below expectations. But her spirits revived when Ms. Tamilselvi told her that it was a good score among visually impaired students. Vanmathi then sent a message to her mother Kasiyammal (49) and father Manthiramurthy (59), a sweeper, who live in Mumbai.

Vanmathi is the youngest of six daughters of parents, who went to Mumbai in search of livelihood about 20 years ago from Senthamangalam in Villupuram district. Like her, two of her sisters too were born with visual impairment. Her parents could not provide education to them due to poverty and the lack of schools for visually impaired students close by. But the interest shown by Vanmathi made her parents to enroll her in Government Girls Higher Secondary School for Blind in Tiruchi.

“The passion and struggle of my parents in raising us motivated me to concentrate on education. I should rise up to the occasion and wish to become a professor in English and take care of my parents, sisters and to serve visually impaired persons,” says Vanmathi, who stays at her sister Velankanni's house in Senthamangalam.

Kasiyammal said she had no words to describe her happiness. Her daughter’s performance should motivate other parents to provide formal education to their visually impaired children.