Parents, son appear together for Class 12 exams in Bengal
Biplab Mondal and his parents Balaram Mondal and Kalyani Mondal made history of sorts on Wednesday when they walked in to appear in the Class 12 examination at Bahirgachhi High School in Nadia district.
“We are competitors in the exam hall. I have to outperform them,” Biplab, 18, said on the eve of the exam. All three candidates have the same subjects. They were students of Hazrapur High School in Dhantala of Nadia district where they attended classes for the past two years. They studied Bengali, English, history, education, Sanskrit and philosophy.
Residents of Uttar Patikabari village, Balaram, 42, and Kalyani, 32, passed their Class 10 board exams from Rabindra Mukto Vidyalaya in 2013 and 2014.
Locals said Balaram wakes up early and goes to till his land. He has about one-and-a-half acre land where he grows vegetables. Sometimes, he works as a labourer on somebody else’s land. After a full day’s work, he returns home to study.
“I rear a few goats. I take them to graze. While the goats graze, I study. There is hardly any time to waste,” said Kalyani.
Kamalesh Majumder, Sanskrit teacher of Hazrapur High School, said: “Biplab’s parents visited our school seeking admission. Headmaster Sujit Kumar Hota was impressed by their eagerness. We informed the higher secondary council about their admission.”
Balaram lost his father when he was a child. To make ends meet, he had to drop out in Class 9. “But I wanted to study. If I pass the exams, I would like to take admission in college,” he said.
Despite their eagerness to study, poor finance was an obstacle for the family. Only Biplab took private tuition and then taught his parents at home.
Over the past few weeks, the trio studied for about 10 hours a day. “My parents are like my friends. I am lucky that I got my parents as my classmate and we are taking the exams in the same year with same subjects and at the same exam centre. How many can say that?” asked Biplab.