Mysuru: “I have lost my Amma, who gave me my future. Despite my best efforts I could not meet her to thank her,” cried 32- year- old Nagarathna, who is an advocate at the civil court in Bengaluru thanks to the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J Jayalalithaa's timely help.
On hearing of her indomitable spirit and her feat of completing her SSLC using the alms she got while begging on the streets of Mysuru, Ms Jayalalithaa, who was then Chief Minister too, sent her secretary, Mr Pogaledi, to bring Nagarathna to Tamil Nadu in 2001 and gave her a gift of Rs 1 lakh to help her with her education.
“While I was on the flight, Amma spent 15 minutes with me. She asked me which language I was comfortable in, whether Kannada or Tamil, and I said I also knew Tamil. She gave me Rs 1 lakh and advised me to put the money in a fixed deposit and study whatever I wanted to with the interest amount. She also promised to help me in future if I needed it. It was with the interest amount that I did my PUC in the People's Park College, and later my LLB from the Mahajana's Law College in Mysuru,” recalled the grateful woman, who went on to work with SICHREM, an NGO, before enrolling as an advocate in the Civil Court in Bengaluru,
Interestingly, she has now deposited the same Rs 1 lakh in the account of her daughter, who is in Class V in a convent. Her journey is a remarkable rags to riches story as she lived on the streets with her family near Prabha Theatre here and begged for a living. But unlike other beggars she had vision and went on to study from Class 1 to 8 in Victoria School, and did her Class 9 and 10 in St Antony's School with the alms she got. “I tried to contact Amma several times after I became an advocate to thank her, but could not,” Nagarathna added dejectedly.
