Toil yields triumph for Plus Two boys - Twins study with single set of books & score

Rakhibul Mondal

Subhasish Chaudhuri and Bireswar Banerjee Students across the state have braved odds such as poverty and ailment to shine in their exams this year. Be it financial constraints, access to study material or fighting with an ailment, nothing could deter them from achieving their goal.Metro lists three such students who excelled in their higher secondary exams despite limited resources

Name: Rakhibul Mondal

School: Bethuadahari Jagat Chandra Memorial High School in Nadia's Nakashipara

Percentage in higher secondary: 95

Rakhibul, a resident of Maheshnagar village in Nadia's Nakashiparam, is the son of a farm labourer and helps his father cultivate vegetables.

"We are a poor family and I wanted to return something to my parents for their toil. My parents always wanted to see their child educated and a good human being despite their limited resources. They have wanted nothing in life except to see the success of their children. I am happy today because my success made them smile," Rakhibul said.

Rakhibul's father, Nihajuddin, earns about Rs 6,000 a month as a farm labourer. The family has about 10 cottah land, where Rakhibul and his father cultivate vegetables for the household.

"Poverty is the main obstacle for a family like ours. But my parents never made me feel it," Rakhibul said.

Rakhibul's teachers praised him for his perseverance.

Headmaster Satya Roy Bardhan said: "This is an extraordinary achievement. Scoring 95 per cent in the arts stream is a great achievement. His yearning for learning language helped him to achieve this goal. Most students from rural areas are scared of English, but he is an exception. He has a creative mind which is very essential to study of arts and literature."

Rakhibul said he got up by 5am and helped his father in their field for about an hour. He then studied for about three hours before leaving for school around 9.30am.

"I want to study English honours and appear for the civil service exams," the 17-year-old boy said.

Biswajit (left) and Sudip with their mother Nilima. Telegraph picture

Name: Sudip and Biswajit Singha

School: Baradakanta Vidyapith, Siliguri

Percentage in higher secondary: 84 (Sudip) and 81 (Biswajit)

Pradip Singha, a plumber by occupation and a resident of Shantinagar in Siliguri, is a happy man today.

His twin sons have scored over 80 per cent marks in the higher secondary examinations, overcoming the financial constraints that the family faced over several years. Both were students of science stream.

"I do not have a regular or fixed income. Even then, I insisted that both my sons continue their study and today, they made me feel proud," he said.

The family's financial condition could be gauged from the fact that Sudip and Biswajit studied with one set of books.

"I used to work as a domestic help. But after they passed Madhyamik, I left the job to ensure that their studies are not affected as during my absence, they need to do some household works. Our family income came down but both my husband and me went ahead with the decision," Nilima, the twins' mother said.

While taking admission to Class XI two years ago, the boys did not have money to buy separate set of books. Later, Madan Bhattacharya, a social worker and a Trinamul leader, helped them with books. Two schoolteachers also helped the duo prepare for exams.

The brothers said they would study BSc with specialisation in mathematics. In future, they want to appear in state civil service exams.