GADAG: Nothing was so dear for this woman that she would let her children go without access to schooling in these Covid times when teaching has gone online. Without batting an eyelid, Kasturi Chalawadi from Radder Naganur village near Naragund in Gadag district pledged her mangalasutra, her last possession, to buy a television set so that her two children can catch up on lessons being telecast on the DD Chandana channel.
Kasturi’s son and daughter are studying in the seventh and eighth standards, respectively. With schools remaining shut due to the lockdown norms, lessons for all classes are being taught on the state-run television channel. But the family did not have a TV and the children could not catch up on the classes. Kasturi and her husband had already borrowed money for her older daughter’s marriage last year. With no other means of securing a loan, Kasturi decided to pledge her Mangalya and buy a TV, and her husband readily agreed to it. Both went to Gadag on Thursday, pledged her mangalasutra for Rs 20,000 and bought a TV for Rs 14,000.
Kasturi said that the teachers used to call her children every day to follow the classes on TV. “But they were upset as we did not have a TV at home. Even after the relaxation of the lockdown, we are not getting work every day and we had used up all our savings during the interim. Hence, there was no other way for me than to pledge my mangalasutra,” she said. “I want my children to become officers and they should not lead a life like us. Now they are happy that they can catch up on lessons,” she added.