Sevalaya Success Story 4

Rare are people who come from impoverished families, yet always manage to find hope, gather strength, and overcome their difficult circumstances. In Sevalaya, we find many such children who have grown successfully and inspired others to do the same. One such person is R. Devi, a daughter of migrant construction labourers.

Joining the police force has been her dream ever since childhood. Devi came to Sevalaya School in Std. III; she was a quiet, determined and a hard-working girl with a flair for mathematics. She passed class X with 80%, scoring 100 in Mathematics. Devi went on to choose bio maths and passed Std XII securing 77%. Through Sevalaya she gained a scholarship in Murugappa polytechnic college and completed her diploma in Computer Science. This helped her get a job in a leading BPO. Furthermore, having a great passion for sports, Ms Devi has won several prizes. She never gave up on her dream of becoming a police officer, in fact this ambition became stronger every day. She filled the required forms from the Central Reserve Police Force and vigorously practiced for the physical fitness tests. She took the tests in 2011, however was unable to attain a merit seat. But she never gave up. Persistently, she tried again and finally got through in 2013. Once a shy girl, who struggled with communication, Devi can now speak three languages, Tamil, English and Hindi.

Sevalaya Success Story 3

Ashok Shankar was born in a poor agriculture coolie family in a village near Sevalaya. His parents didn’t have the means to send him to school and educate him. Without the timely intervention of Sevalaya, Ashok would have ended up as a child labourer. However, he took Std X and Std XII Board exams at Sevalaya School and scored very high marks. He achieved second position in the school in 12th grade, scoring 1098 out of 1200. His Maths teacher, who despite being sick, came to school and took classes so that his students didn’t suffer, inspired Ashook to be a dedicated student and aim high – thus he scored 199 out of 200 in Maths. This impressive score enabled him to get a place in Anna University on the merit list to study electronics and communication engineering.

Ashok was deeply moved by Swami Vivekananda’s teachings and started reading more about him in Sevalaya’s library. He understood the power of meditation and he says that helped him in developing a good memory.

He did well in Anna University, completing the course with good scores. He got his first job in Lionbridge technologies and started making small contributions to Sevalaya, while taking an active part in Alumni association. After a year, he got an offer from Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS). When he got his first salary, he donated the entire amount to Sevalaya. Part of his generous donation will support the education of children who are facing the same position he did. An inspiring example of what goes around comes around.

Sevalaya success story 2

G Kavitha, a Std XII student, was declared district champion with three gold medals – in 200 Metre sprint, Long jump and Triple jump. Previously she had been interested in sports, but she never realized her potential until the Sevalaya sports department and Physical Instructor spotted her talents. Subsequently, Sevalaya staff motivated Kavitha by encouraging her to follow a strict exercise regime, showing her videos of famous Indian and International sports stars and their achievements. Kavitha’s commitment to her training resulted in a succession of medals in 2016 – she won a medal for every event in which she competed. She was later declared the champion in her age category at the Sports Development Authority of Tamilnadu (SDAT) tournament in Thiruvallur. Now, Kavitha has set her eyes on a sub 24 second 200 metre race.
Apart from the training regimen of a minimum of two hours per day, Sevalaya provides her with nutritious food, and sports gear with spikes and jerseys. Coming from an underprivileged background has not limited Kavitha’s success, thanks to the complete backing of her parents and support from the training staff at Sevalaya.

Sevalaya Success Stories

Dr Narmatha Inbaraj is the first graduate from Sevalaya to become a doctor. She left Sevalaya in 2012 and gained her medical degree from Davao Medical School Foundation, Philippines in 2017. She wrote the FMG exam conducted by the Medical Council of India and waited to complete a year’s practical training before embarking on her dream career of being a doctor. This is a huge achievement considering her underprivileged background – her mother worked as a vegetable vendor, but always believed that her daughter would succeed as a doctor.

Narmatha, though bright, could not secure a medical seat after completing XII and instead went to the Philippines to study medicine. Stepping out from a village background to a different place where she could communicate only in English was a big challenge. “The exposure I got at Sevalaya and the participation in various extra-curricular activities helped me. Whenever I felt down, the words of Vivekananda instilled in my mind, through the years in school, helped me to regain confidence and overcome all obstacles”, she observed.

Before starting her practical training, she volunteered to teach biology to students of the Higher Secondary classes at Sevalaya and share her experiences. She also served at Sevalaya's Medical centre. Now she is doing 1 year internship in a reputed private hospital. 

World Elder’s Day Celebrations.

To start off the month of October it was World Elder’s Day, and on campus there was a big function to celebrate this. However, some of Sevalaya’s old age residents travelled to Chetpet for the International Day of the Old Person celebrations, organised by Helpage India. 25 organisations took part and there were several competitions organised for the elders to participate in. 

Ms Sashikala, Ms Krishnaveni, Ms Susheela and Ms Anusuya from Sevalaya, were all smiles as they showed off the prizes they had won. Group dances, couples’ dances and fancy-dress activities had been organised for them, and when these details were shared, many came forward to participate. The girls in the hostel helped them practice and the elders happily forgot their aches and pains as the excitement of the young girls swept them up in the dancing.  Mr Joseph John and Mrs Victoria took part in the couples dance, and Mr Venkatesan and Mr Ramanathan in the fancy-dress competition.

All who participated were in their sixties and seventies and make up and dresses had been thoroughly planned out and decided. On the morning of the celebrations, all woke up early to get ready with the help and excitement of the children. One of the hostel girls has been training in the community college as a beautician, so helped them get ready. Every participant was enthusiastic, and, in the end, they group dance walked away with third place. Loud cheers filled the room when Sevalaya’s name was called, making them very proud to be representing it. On their return, the participants were warmly welcomed home and happily shared their experiences, much to the joy of everyone.