On Tuesday, as 25-year-old G Anandhi stood on a dias beside Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit, with 18 medals for academic excellence and a degree from the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Science University, she became an inspiration for many.
The daughter of a lorry driver from the foothills of Kollimalai in Namakkal district, the young woman grew up with bare minimum resources at her disposal. Anandhi is the first person in her family to graduate from university, her mother has studied till the 8th standard while her father studied upto the eleventh standard.
"My father earned about Rs 5,000 a month and despite that my parents ensured that I went to a private school to get the best education," she tells TNM. Bright and eager to learn from a young age, Anandhi topped her school in both the 10th and 12th standard exams. "There was no question of affording tuition classes and my parents couldn't help me at home. So I would focus really hard in school to absorb whatever the teacher says. After my 10th standard I got a full scholarship for the next two years allowing me to continue studies," she adds.
At the age of 10, Anandhi decided she wanted to become a veterinarian and help animals.
"We used to have chickens and goats in our house and I have seen them fall ill suddenly and die. We didn't have access to any veterinarians in our remote village and this made me want to help the downtrodden and poor keep their livestock healthy and alive for longer," she says.
But all her hopes were nearly lost when she got married in 2012 at the age of 18 and had a daughter in 2013. Her relatives told her that it would be impossible for her to study further now that she was married and had a child. Her husband Ramesh, who is an assistant engineer however, kept the promise he made to her.
"Even before we got married, I told him that I want to study. Despite what everyone said he stood by me while I applied for colleges," she says.
In 2014, Anandhi joined the government Orathanadu Veterinary college in Thanjavur, while her husband continued to work in Namakkal.
"My parents moved to Thanjavur too and helped take care of the child while I juggled classes, exams and motherhood," she says. "While my in-laws were supportive, others would give me a hard time because I couldn't go back for many family events or even to meet relatives. But my husband was undaunted. Once when I had exams, he had been admitted in the hospital and he ensured that no one told me this, so that I could concentrate on my studies. If it weren't for him and my parents, none of these achievements would have been possible for a girl like me from a poor household," she adds.
As she received her medals from the Governor, she says her parents, husband and in-laws who were present amongst the audience, burst into tears.
"They are glad that all the sacrifices and effort has translated into so many returns," she says. "As a woman, when you go against what society expects from you, there is an additional pressure of having to constantly prove that you are right, to succeed and to show that you are worth the effort. And this is a show of strength to everyone who said that a wife and mother cannot study," she says.
And was that her biggest victory in this process?
"No, it wasn't," she says. "My biggest victory was when my 5-year-old daughter saw my medals and said she too wants to study hard and become like me. That I can inspire my daughter to become an independent and educated woman, is my biggest victory."