She was sitting in a corner juggling her mind with some math problem.
Her grandad was observing her for quite a long time when he called her up.
What are you busy concentrating on, my child?" said grandad.
"Daadu, i am completing my summer homework. i want to come first in class.
You know daadu i want to study hard and when i grow up i want to go to space",said the little girl.
Grandad smiled and was amazed on her aspirations. He patted on her head with a smile and looked on as
she completed her homework.
Years passed by and she grew up. The dreams now had changed whilst on the path of life.
The dreams that now had a different meaning to her and about which she was so passionate that she could
face anything and everything. She now knew exactly what she wanted.
She wanted to be an example. She wanted to shine on like a crazy diamond. She wanted to be
that girl in the family seeing whom people would say " Even we should educate our girls and make
them independent." Do you think that this path was easy? Do you think that nowadays any girl can
achieve it? The answer to this is NO.
Only she knows what all troubles and struggle she had to go through. As she grew up she realized
that she should definitely opt for maths. People said " Ah, Are you sure you want to choose math? its not a girl thing? why don't you choose bio instead? Being a doctor is a good job for a girl." She would smile and just say " I love maths and thats it. Being a girl has got nothing to do with it. I am better at it than most of the guys of my class." Amidst all this she had her parents support all the time and that made her going even more.
She passed all her exams with amazing scores and got admission in one of the best college in India for
engineering. That day was one of the best days of her life till then but she knew that the path to
her dream has just started and she should not loose the focus now. She worked hard and always was the best performer in all the fields. Her father were very proud of her and would say to anyone they met " My daughter is an engineer. The first girl to do so in the family and also the first person after me . " This just motivated her to achieve some more.
The college years went by in a jiff and she had a campus placement in one of the best IT companies.
She was beyond happy but was also scared of the further hurdles. She knew she could handle them all
if she kept positive and the will strong. She was the first girl of the family to ever get a job.
The girls of her family were married off at an early age and she feared the same would happen to her
and she wont be able to fulfill her dream. She talked about it to her parents one day with her fingers crossed.
She said " Dad, i really want to do this job. Its very very important to me."
Dad said " You can go for further studies? Is it necessary to do the job? why do you want it so badly?"
"Dad i want to make a change. I want everyone in our family and the others to send their daughters
to study and be independent. I can do this only if i have achieved it for real and that can happen if
you let me do this job. I promise you i won't ever let you down".
She had butterflies in her stomach when she said it and was constantly praying that he would say yes.
It was at that moment that her parents smiled and said " We are proud of you Himani. You could have
told this to us earlier. You don't ever worry about what people say. Its people's job to underestimate
a person. We trust you completely. Go embrace your dreams and don't look back. Be an aspiration."
She screamed and hugged them "Thank you!! Thank youuuu!! I love you guys so much ".
Indeed after that day there was no looking back. She still remembers one call she got from one of her aunt
"Himani, we are really proud of you. You are an inspiration. I will definitely send my daughter for the higher studies and let her achieve what she wants and make us proud like you did." It was that day that she finally felt she had achieved what she wanted because that aunt was the same person who was very very against her doing the job and being independent.
She looked up towards the sky smiled and said " Thank you grandad, I know you are looking up on me."
P.S. - Finally a blogpost after long. Came across a contest "Women of substance" on blog adda and wanted to write for it. So hope you all like it . Keep smiling reader because your smile is really important :)