Pardada Pardadi Feature Story: Pinki on big waves, discipline, and the rooms of our house

There is a special kind of light given off by some people. I saw it right away in Pinki. She has soft and intelligent eyes. The kind that let you know that she is probably smarter than you, but she would never make you feel that way. In fact, she will make you feel opposite.

Pinki has an incredible sense for understanding people and is a quick learner to boot. I’ve gotten to spend time with her and her peers in English lab, and she was kind enough to sit with me for a few minutes so I could ask her some questions, and pull out some stories and highlights from her life.

*** INTERVIEW START ***

Jake: Would you tell me a little about yourself?

Pinki: I come from a family of nine. I am the youngest with six older sisters and one older brother. My family supports me in my goal of education. Even though we come from a village that sometimes discriminates against women, my parents and family do not. My father is a farmer and my mother is a housewife. When I was little my family could not support my older siblings going for private education, and so they never got the opportunity. Most of my older sisters are married and now two, including me, are studying. One is studying a bachelor of the arts and the other studying nursing. My brother did complete school up to the 12th year and he really supports me in going for higher study because he feels now that he missed his chance to. I am so thankful for all them and for the support and love of my family.

J: What do you think about your time at Pardada Pardadi?

P: I joined PPES from in 2012. At that time I was in the sixth class and completed science stream. In ninth I focused on math and other courses such as English, Hindi, biology, physics and chemistry; my favorite subjects are biology and English. The years at Pardada Pardadi have gone by so fast. My closest friends are at this school. I’m excited because we have all finished. Right now I’m taking courses on communication skills, English, practicing for TOEFL (English language exam).

J: When you’re not studying, what do you like to do?

P: I like sports like running and basketball a lot. I’ve always been pretty athletic and won a few awards in my village for running. Of course I love talking with my friends and others. As a person I’m interested in movies, music, learning about new things, traveling and journeying to new places.

J: Sounds like you have so many interests. What do you want to do after Pardada Pardadi?

P: My goal right now is to first study nursing and then go to medical school to become a doctor. My ultimate goal is get a MBBS and become a surgeon. I see myself starting this in a city and then, after becoming financially independent, use this acquired skill set to move into social work and give back to society. I want to enable others in the communities I came from and provide the same chances and opportunities I’ve been given.

J: That sounds like a very thoughtful pursuit and unselfish.

P: In my village there are no dependable doctors, and many people suffer from disease and sickness. I want to help these people. Along these lines I am also keen to do service in the Indian Army, because I believe in their mission to help protect the Indian people.

J: Does anyone inspire you?

P: I am inspired by my brother, this school, the didis (or sisters) who graduated before me, and the school’s founder Sam and its teachers that show me we can do everything we want to do. Before I came to this school I didn’t think about goals or aims, but this school helped her to secure her career goals. Now she’s even able to advise younger girls.

J: What values do you are important for yourself and others?

P: I am disciplined person and won my school’s discipline award. I believe that discipline is key we want to achieve our goals. I practice this in sports also and especially like basketball and running. In my village I was the champion runner (meaning I came in 1st place in 3 different races) and got 2nd in our school marathon.

Other than discipline I believe strongly in sympathy for one another. We need to make others feel comfortable around us and with themselves. I see the whole Earth like my house; different countries are just like other rooms of the house and, just like we live in our homes with understanding, we should should live in the world with peace and sympathy.

J: Can you tell me some funny stories about yourself?

P: I was once on a trip to the south of India (School Exchange Program). We traveled by train. The train was clean and we had our own personal seats. They were sections of four and it was quite funny to ride in the train together with my friends and listen to music and see a lot of the states of India-including seeing many different people from all over India and the world. Finally, we reached our end destination of Chennai. We would spend five days in this beautiful Bollywood city thanks to a conference provided by Pardada Pardadi. We also had some free time during this trip and took the chance during some of that time to visit the beach. Marina Beach was long and big and hot. We could hear the waves all the way from the back of the beach where we had to walk a long long way to the water. The waves were really heavy that day. Still, we wanted to go swimming in the ocean. It was so much fun to jump and swim between the waves. I remember at one point, when one big wave came, one of the other girls was caught in a very strong wave and she couldn’t control herself. Her head came down and smacked one of our teachers in the face. At the time it was funny and scary and our teacher made a big shocked face.

We depend on donations to educate and empower girls like Pinki at Pardada Pardadi. Please donate here if you’d like to help empower girls and change the world!