Aarthi Velmurugan, an orphaned tribal girl from Sittilingi in Dharmapuri district, has qualified in the Joint Entrance Examination (Mains) and has applied for JEE (Advanced), fighting all odds.
She also appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) on Sunday. Aarthi has a brother, who has written his class 10 exams, and a sister in class V, to take care of.
Her father, Velmurugan, a lorry driver, died in a road accident in Lucknow when she was in class 8. “My mother had ulcers in the stomach, and she was taking medications. But it did not help, and she died later,” said Aarthi, over a phone call. The three children are being supported by Velmurugan’s older sister.
A student of Government Higher Secondary school in Sittilingi, Aarthi is awaiting her class 12 board results, which will be declared on Monday.
Her score for JEE (Mains) is 54 (54.206 in chemistry; 74.052 in math; and 40.907 in physics), and she has become eligible to appear for the JEE (Advanced).
Aarthi has finished her class 10 in 2020. “I am from the ‘Corona batch’ and all students were declared to have passed,” she said. She added that she has prepared for JEE on her own.
“She will not be able to pursue higher education as she doesn’t have the money,” said R. Murthy, a local activist, who has paid her exam fees.
“Residents of Sittilingi are basically agricultural labourers, but are now showing keen interest in education. Many parents are keen to send their children to college and take loans to educate them,” Mr. Murthy said. “It would help if someone could sponsor Aarthi,” he added.
As for NEET, Aarthi said a good samaritan had provided the NCERT books and had arranged for a person to teach her the nuances to crack the test.
