The above thought catalyzes my mind as I witness a superlative evolution of a mindset amongst a batch of rural girls that I am currently training, under a Free Teachers Training program, working with a Himachal Pradesh based NGO; The Kalgidhar Trust, Baru Sahib.
A simpleton from Sangrur, Punjab, Manpreet Kaur, got herself enrolled for the foundation course in 2011. Bold & confident, she settled down in the one-off club as she joined. Having lost her father at a tender age, Manpreet made books her best friend. Whilst her mother made efforts as the sole breadwinner for the family, she could clearly notice the blaze that was fiercely springing within Manpreet; as they say a mother’s eyes can read our hearts, so she made every effort & put forth every support to get her enrolled at the Akal Institute of Women Empowerment to ensure her skills and dreams get nurtured.
An ardent lover of non-fiction books, Manpreet carries a bold attitude that sparkles and shows through her eyes. Besides her groove at academics, we observed an astounding power of memory in her. She has an exquisite capability to remember things & apply logic, permutations and combinations to finish her work in any possible way. Not only does she learn her lessons well, but also helps professes others, conceptually & logically explaining others in a swift manner.
“We are not here merely to make a living for ourselves, but to enable the deprived to live more gracefully, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement and to enrich the world”, explains Manpreet, as we interview her. Her assistance and an ever-helpful attitude towards other girls, especially her friend Sangeet, is amazing. She supports her in her studies & helps her enhance her reading & writing skills. For herself, she polishes her skills by reading books, almost every day.
With the third year down the training course, Manpreet’s elevated outlook & aspirations have only expanded, which made it evident to us that like her exclusive mindset, she is certainly set to standout herself from others, perhaps several others, not only at the institute, but beyond.
Not much to our surprise, we discovered that Manpreet harbors immense interest to be an Astronaut, she is already doing a rigorous search to zero out on all the available academic paths she needs to be on for the same.
The teacher training course which prepares her for a career at Akal Academy, in fact, seems to have been only a stepping stone for her aspirations or rather a fundamental that seems to have unlocked her brain that is bound to go limitless.
It feels happy & satiated to have come across her, to have served her, supported her & having set ablaze her motivation to get going to reach for the sky. She may or may not become a an Astronaut, but surely we learnt that achievement is not always success, it is an honest endeavor, an effort to do the best possible under any and all circumstances & Manpreet’s perseverance towards life is surely leaving an example, an impression, an inspiration, for all of us & others she is destined to travel with, in her journey to the stars.
~ Gurleen Vedi, B.A (HONS)-English
~ Mata Sundri College For Women, New Delhi
~ 8th Aug 2013
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