You don’t need a magic wand to become successful in life. All that you require is the willingness to succeed, the will to do things, the ability to move on and the perseverance to try even when there are failures. Even though life puts you in tough situations, you should bounce back and that’s what Charumathi did exactly.
In the year 2015, dangerous flash floods washed away Charumathi’s house located on the banks of the Adyar River in Saidapet and after which, she moved with her family to a house provided by the government in Perumbakkam.
The house is 310 square feet and Charumathi shares the living room space with her four sisters, one of whom has a baby. Sitting in a small room in the house occupied by 7 people, Charumathi cracked the NEET and secured a seat in Pudukkotai government medical college.
“I took a year after Class-XII to prepare for NEET,” she recalls. “I went for private coaching for five months, at an institute in Adyar. But I spent most of my time travelling between Adyar and Perumbakkam. So I discontinued and prepared from home for the next five months.”
Charumathi scored 370 marks in the test.
A student of the government school in Kelambakkam, Charumathi’s dad Janakiraman is a roadside fruit juice seller. He earns around Rs 800 in a day. But Charumathi’s eagerness to study hard made her family forget all their financial constraints. Her 5-month-long private coaching cost them over 1 lakh rupees.
Charumathi’s elder sister identified as Shankari got the loan sanctioned from moneylenders to fund dream. She took a hand loan of Rs 88,000 from three persons in the neighbourhood. An additional Rs 20,000 came in the form of sponsorship from a National Government Organisation.
“She is a very quiet girl. I used to feel guilty because we were her biggest distraction. There are seven of us in this house, there was no way we could give her a separate room to study,” Shankari says, adding that how Charumathi defied all the odds to achieve success.
Charumathi planned things accordingly and the best time for her to study was when the rest of her family was asleep. “She would wake up at odd hours and study. Anytime I wake up in the middle of the night, I would find her studying.”
Charumathi says she was far away from movies, sports, and even friends all her life to achieve her goal. “I kept away from anything that would distract me from my goal.”
“I knew what I wanted to become since I was a child. I became a little unsure when NEET was introduced. But I was determined to give my best.”
After her success, the Slum Clearance Board decided to recognise her feat and presented her with a cash award.