CHENNAI: When Prabavathi V, now 15, was first picked off the streets, she had a tarpaulin sheet for a house. Prabavathi, who was then a rag-picker and her mother, an alcoholic, had lived behind the sheet in Ayyasamy street in Pudupet for many years before she was rescued, at the age of five. Now, living at the Chennai Corporation’s night shelter for the urban homeless in Besant Nagar, run by Montford Trust, Prabavathi has scored 375 in her class X boards.
The Chennai Corporation’s Health Department felicitated students from its night shelters who did exceedingly well in their SSLC exams on Monday. Out of the 22 students who had appeared for Class X exams this year, 21 have cleared it with two students scoring more than 450 marks.
Dharma S had come from Villupuram when he was six years old and had stayed with his mother in Ayanavaram as she slept on platforms at night and worked as a housemaid in the neighbourhood during the day. After being rescued and rehabilitated at the shelter run by Don Bosco Trust in Erukkancheri, he has now gone on to score 459 marks in his Class X board exams.
Though both students have had a tough start, they have their eyes on the finish line.
“It’s not that I’m very smart; just that I worked hard for it. I’m going to take the accounts group to become a chartered accountant,” said Dharma.
Prabavathi, on the other hand, wants to become a civil engineer. “I’ve never had a house all my life and I’m sure there would be many others like me. I can build houses for all of them. Besides, I like maths.”