Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown induced by it has distressed many in their personal lives. However, many of them have fought back to face the challenges in life. Jamshedpur’s 12-year old Tulsi Kumari, whose fight reaped fruits after Valuable Edutainment Pvt Ltd bought a dozen of her mangoes for Rs 1,20,000 and fulfilled her dream of buying an android phone to resume her online classes.
Twelve-year old Tulsi, a Class 5 student from Bagunhatu Government school in Jamshedpur, was selling mangoes on a Sunday during lockdown near Kinnan Stadium. When a reporter enquired about her vending Mangoes on deserted roads during the lockdown, Tulsi narrated her story. She said she wanted to earn Rs 5,000 so that she could buy a phone and resume her online studies halted for the want of an android gadget. The story went viral with a lot of people expressing sympathy for her.
Valuable Edutainment Private Limited’s managing director Ameya Hete, however, did not stop expressing just sympathies, but bought 12 mangoes for Rs 1,20,000 at Rs 10,000 per mongo. The amount of Rs 1,20,000 was transferred to her father’s bank account.
“The story of your perseverance and struggle was brought forward by the Media portal and was brought to my notice by Varsha Jahagirdar. There are many students like you who have been struggling to cope with the new era of online learning owing to the lack of necessary infrastructure. I am really impressed with the fact that you did not give in, and struggled to tide over it. You have proved that ‘where there is a will, there is a way’. You have shown the ‘will’, we are helping you in finding the ‘way’,” letter from Ameya Hate reads.
Tulsi said, “Yes, I sold mangoes and wanted to save money to buy a phone so that I could resume my studies online. Now I have bought a phone and will attend classes.” The 5th standard had stopped attending a Government school as pandemic-induced lockdown forced the school to teach online.
She added her family was facing a financial crisis after her father lost her job because of the lockdown. Tulsi wanted to study but could not as they had no android phone required for online classes started by her Government school. When she floated the idea of selling mangoes, her mother Padmini opposed her.
However, Tulsi’s desire was strong and she started selling the mangoes on the Highway with the hope that she could gather the money required for the phone. Her mother proudly said that she even helped her family financially from her business.
