This story is from January 15, 2021

A humble start led them to dream big, score high

A humble start led them to dream big, score high
Lucknow: At a time when girls in her village were not allowed to venture out, she crossed all barriers, pursued her dreams and is now being awarded a gold medal in BTech civil engineering.
Vaishali Narula, daughter of a farmer, who is the first girl to be an engineer from her village Malsagirdharpur, Uttarakhand, will be awarded the medal along with others at the annual convocation of APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU) on Saturday.

“Belonging from a village where the mindset towards girls is that they should not step out to study, I feel honoured to be the first girl to study engineering and receive this gold medal,” the girl said. As she excelled in studies with 9.8 CGPA in 10th and 91.8% in 12th, her father encouraged her for further studies. She cleared the entrance exam and joined KIET Group of Institutions, Ghaziabad.
“I think that girls should pursue their career to show the world that they are worthy enough of achieving their dreams,” said her father Surendra Kumar.
Like Vaishali, there are several AKTU toppers battled odds to achieve success. Arun Kumar Maurya, son of an electrical mechanic in Bareilly, will be an electrical engineer, a proud moment for the family. He will also be awarded a silver medal for excelling in academics.
“I have seen my father work at long, odd hours at a meagre pay to educate me,” said Arun, who has done BTech electrical and electronics from Ajay Kumar Garg Engineering College, Ghaziabad, and is now preparing for Indian Engineering Services.
Arun’s father Jagannath battled financial crisis and saved money to educate his son. “I want to see my son holding the degree of an electrical engineer, which I could not become,” he said.
Vikas Gupta, silver medalist in BTech mechanical engineering from Vision Institute of Technology, Kanpur, comes from a poor family in Fatehpur, “My father travels 60-70 kms every day to pick 'khoya' from the wholesale market and sell it to the local shops,” he said. During lockdown, markets were closed for three-four months and earning a single penny became tough for the family. However, Vikas has now got a job in Gurgaon.
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