RAMANATHAPURAM: They have spent a fortune to help realise their children's dream by sending them abroad to study. Though these parents are unsure about what is in store for their kids in the future, they want their beloved sons and daughters to be back home safely from the war-torn Ukraine.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, G Naveenkumar (21), brother of G Vinitha, one of the 14 students from the district studying in Ukraine, said his sister is stranded in an embassy shelter in Dnipropetrovs and that she had messaged him after a long gap.
"After our father died 13 years ago, my mother, Ponkudi, had to toil in fields to raise us. In order to fulfil my sister's dream of becoming a doctor, she had to sell her jewellery and land. This apart, she borrowed Rs 40 lakh to send Vinitha abroad. Now my sister is just months away from completing her medical course at Luhansk State Medical University in Rubizhine. Though my mother's hardwork is set to go futile, I want my sister to return home safely," he said.
V Anitharani, mother of V Sharumathi, a final-year student at Kharkiv International Medical University in Kharkiv, said her daughter is in Slovakia at present. "My husband is working in Qatar to meet her educational expenses. She only has five months left to complete her education. Now, I don’t know how she will get her degree," she said.
Meanwhile, for M Parameswari, the mother of V Surya, studying Aerospace Engineering at National Aerospace University, Kharkiv Aviation Institute, the television news and newspapers are all disturbing now. Whenever her mobile phone rings, she thinks it's her son who is calling. "Surya is in Poland now and is staying in an embassy shelter. She said Surya aims to become an aerosopace engineer, and they have spent Rs 5 lakh for his course till now," she said.
Sarifa, sister of N Mohamed Adheem, who is studying medicine at Black Sea National University, Desatnykiv Street in Ukraine, said she is a little bit relieved now as her brother is at an embassy shelter in Romania.
"My father managed to pay for his fees of around Rs 40 lakh by selling jewellery. He spent his entire savings for my brother's education. Mohamed has one year left to complete the course. My father is jobless now. However, my brother's safe return is of prime importance now. Everything else will be decided after his arrival," she added.