Riddhi is thirteen years old. Her day begins with work, and it ends with work as well.
When she opens her eyes in the morning, it is not a study notebook that lies before her, but a list of responsibilities. Household chores, taking care of the animals, and looking after her younger siblings are all part of her daily life.
In the community where she lives, adolescent girls are not allowed to go for education. Education is not considered necessary for girls. Instead, saying “now responsibilities have increased,” they are confined within the boundaries of the home. Girls’ lives are bound by work, duties, and responsibilities from a very young age. Home, cows, and calves become their everyday world. Learning remains a dream, but reality is quite different.
Every day, Riddhi takes the calves out to graze. Whether it is sunshine or rain, the work never stops. Time does not belong to her. Her day is guided not by her wishes, but by the demands of work. Yet, from this continuous flow of responsibilities, she manages to carve out a little time. This is not time she has asked for from anyone; it is time she has claimed for herself.
For Riddhi, learning is not about a fixed time, a fixed place, or fixed hours. Whenever she gets a chance, wherever she gets it, she learns. When she sees me while grazing the calves, a different glow appears on her face. She gathers the calves in one place, takes out her notebook and book nearby, and learns as much as she can in fifteen to twenty minutes. In between, she keeps an eye on the calves and then turns back to her notebook. Her gaze shifts between the book and her responsibilities, but her effort to balance both continues constantly.
She knows this well if she does not learn today, tomorrow will again be filled with work. Time will not stop, but if she stops learning, her dream will fall behind. No one has forced Riddhi to sit and study. No one has told her, “You must learn.” Still, her desire to learn is deeply rooted within her. It comes from within the urge to do something for herself and to change herself.
Today, Riddhi can read and recognize CVC words with all the vowels A, E, I, O, U. Words like cat, bat, pen, sit, top, and run were not learned by sitting in a classroom, but during those fifteen to twenty minutes snatched between work. These words may look small, but for her, they are a big step toward confidence. With every word, her confidence grows a little, and her dream comes a little closer.
This story is not only Riddhi’s. Even today, many Riddhis are searching for small windows of learning under the burden of work. Given an opportunity and a little support, learning is possible in any situation Riddhi shows this every day, quietly yet firmly.