Gorakhpur: 15-year-old Sandhya Sahini lives a grim reality compared to the timeless nursery rhyme ‘Row, row, row your boat’, rowing a country boat through a raging river during the monsoons to reach school each day.
In UP’s Gorakhpur district, a viral video of a carpenter’s daughter in school uniform and riding the currents of the Rapti became an emblem of the girl’s courage and determination to continue her education against all odds and give her parents and three younger brothers a better life.
Sandhya is a student of the XI class at the Ayodhya Das Girls’ Inter College. Every morning, she takes the boat near her home in Bahrampur, through the swollen Rapti, past half-submerged houses, in order to reach Raj Ghat, where she takes the tempo to school. ‘My school was shut for a long time due to the pandemic and now we are facing a challenge from the Rapti. I don’t want to miss classes any further as I don’t have the privilege of private tuition. I am totally dependent on my school for my studies,’ the teenager said. Despite her tenacity, Sandhya believes that she – and those living in the area – will never be able to withstand the miseries of monsoon flooding year after year.
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‘I appeal to the CM to get an embankment constructed in my area as floodwaters have entered many houses and families are forced to live on terraces under plastic sheets,’ she said.
Sandhya, who draws inspiration from Sarojini Naidu, Indira Gandhi, Kalpana Chawla and PT Usha, says it pains her to see so many students drop out of school due to the problems they face. ‘Many girls in my area are not going to school anymore because of the floods, but I can’t afford to be fearful. I aspire to work for the railways, and I am working hard every day to attain my goal.’ As soon as she gets a job to support her family, Sandhya wants to fly somewhere with them on a vacation.
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