Basudev CK, 20, and his sweetheart Basanti Bista, 19, want to pursue further studies but their poor financial condition has proved an obstacle too big to overcome for them. [break]
“We have no one to help finance our study and we are very poor to do it on our own,” rues CK. CK, a born blind, secured second division in the exams while Bista, with a very low vision, passed in first division.
CK, who had joined Baijanath at 13 following the government´s special education program, had met Bista while learning Braille in Jogbuda. The lad from Amargadhi-1 and the Alital lass got on like a house on fire while staying together at the hostel in Jogbuda and had an inter-caste marriage while in the ninth grade despite strong resistance from the school management.
“The management misbehaved with us due to our inter-caste marriage and we had to ultimately quit the school due to adverse environment,” Bista says. “We continued from class nine at Baijanath and passed SLC. But we cannot pursue further education now,” Bista adds.
CK was living on the hard work of his old mother but even she disowned him disappointed with the love marriage. She already had trouble trying to raise her son, and when he returned with another mouth to feed from the school where he was sent to study, she had had enough.
The couple, who always have to walk together to support each other, has been living on donations from various organizations and disability allowances since then.
The visitors who have been thronging their hut to congratulate them for passing the SLC return sad after hearing about their difficulty in pursuing further studies, according to Bista. “We want to study further. But we don´t have Braille syllabus here, nor can we go elsewhere,” CK rues.
He lost his father at an early age and now has lost even the support of his mother since the marriage, but is confident that his sweetheart´s inspiration will drive him on.
“The state has neglected differently-abled citizens like us. So, I want to advocate for them in future,” he says. That will come later but for now, his only concern is to get financial help to pursue further studies.
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