It was Pallavi’s first day at work. She has just graduated from an Engineering College and Computer Science and has just joined a well-known organization. Sitting in front of her assigned computer, Pallavi could not believe her dream of becoming an engineer has come true!
With not much work to do on the first day, Pallavi’s mind drifted back to her childhood days when at the age of 12 years Pallavi had first dreamt of becoming a computer engineer.
Pallavi belongs to a lower-middle-class family and her family of six members including her grandparents, her parents, and her younger brother Girish lived on the sole income of their father. Their father Mahesh works in a government office and somehow managed to run the household.
The day Pallavi thought of becoming a computer engineer, she ran to tell her mother of her plans. Her mother was sitting with her grandparents with Girish playing on the porch. On hearing Pallavi, her grandmother said “Are you mad? You want your father to spend on your engineering course? You know very well that your father cannot afford this. He has to save money for Girish’s higher education and that is much more important than this.”
Her grandfather added “Don’t you worry about higher education. Just complete your basic schooling and then we will arrange to get you married to a computer engineer and you will live in luxury”
Pallavi was very disappointed in hearing this. At night, when her father came home, her mother told him about Pallavi’s dream. Her father came to her and said “Don’t worry my child, your education is as important as your brothers. You will fulfill your dream.” It is because of her father that today Pallavi has been able to become an engineer. Had he thought like her grandparents, her dreams would not have been fulfilled.
Sitting in her office, she looks at the calendar date – 11th October, the International Day of the Girl Child, Pallavi smiles silently looks at the photo frame with her father photograph, calls him and says, ‘Thanks for MAKING ME’.
Note: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to a person living or otherwise may be purely coincidental
