Girl Power

Recently we saw a girl from Kerala galloping on a white horse, towards her school to write her exams.

Now, who in his/her right mind would gallop towards an exam hall? I remember being pushed by my parents, while I would be indulging in last minute revision, trying to remember whether the chemical formula of water was H2O or HO2. These three atoms of hydrogen and oxygen were held together by covalent bonds but the answers to some examination questions were very loosely attached to my memory. And once attached after a lot of effort, they refused to easily let go of my mind and spread themselves on the answer sheet due to which they had to be literally coaxed out in order to get converted into respectable marks on that results sheet.

But this story is about that gutsy girl, who not only rushed to give her exams but did it with a swagger, not many teens manage.I think the video was first shared on Twitter and within a short time, it became viral, so much so, that a top industrialist was mighty impressed. In fact, he eulogised her as his hero.

The government slogan says, "Beti bachao, Beti padhao" and found a ready role model who really lived that slogan.

Well, the girl is CA Krishna studying in 10th standard, from Thrissur, who always had a passion for horses from her childhood. And she was fortunate to have an encouraging father, a priest in a temple, who was ready to support her passion.

So a horse was gifted to her when she reached her 7th standard. Within a year she had mastered horse riding like a pro.

But she met many naysayers who discouraged her. Even her friends were part of this chorus.

"Horse riding is not for common girls like you", they said. "Only great women of the past like the Rani of Jhansi can ride horses."

All this strengthened her resolve and now here she was riding a horse to school. A horse named 'Ranakrish'!

Hats off to Girl Power.

Yatindra Tawde