CHENNAI: On April 30, CE published a story about Subhashini, a spirited auto driver who zips through the lanes of the city to support herself and her children, after her husband abandoned them.
The young mother was forced to pull her son out of school owing to inadequate funds. “This year, only my daughter will be attending school,” she had said. “I had to pull my son out of school because I didn’t have enough money to spend on both their education. As a mother, it really hurts me to pick between my children because I want to treat them equally, but circumstances are such that I had no option. My daughter is going to class 12 so there was no option of discontinuing her education.”
Shortly after the story was published, CE received calls from many Good Samaritans in the city who wished to help her get her son back in school. After some back and forth, one generous reader, who did not wish to be named, contributed an amount of Rs 30,000 to fund her son Madhesh at a school in the city while another reader, Ramaa Iyer, contributed Rs 5,000 towards helping with expenses like textbooks, uniforms and so on.
“I cannot believe it!” said an ecstatic Subhashini. “When I received the call that the money had been deposited into my account, I had to pinch myself. I remember I was on the road dropping someone off when I received the call. I went completely blank and cannot explain how grateful I am to those who have helped.”
On Friday, she paid the fee and completed the admission formalities. Her son is all set to begin school again.