Among the many things that the pandemic has affected, education was one of them. Many were forced to study online, and many couldn’t afford it.
Meanwhile, schools open, and this 15-year-old made sure she wouldn’t miss it at any cost.
Meet Sandhya Sahani from Gorakhpur, whose determination to attend school deserves applause as she rows a boat to reach school every day.
Since the flood hits in Gorakhpur and schools reopened, Sandhya was left with limited options to travel.
“I couldn’t take online classes as I didn’t have a smartphone. When schools reopened, floods hit the area, so I decided to reach school by boat,” she told ANI.
Her determination to go to school went viral on social media. Many are praising her resilience.
Gorakhpur | Undeterred by floods, class 11 student Sandhya Sahani rows a boat daily to reach her school in Bahrampur.
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 5, 2021
“I couldn’t take online classes as I didn’t have smartphone. When schools reopened, floods hit the area so I decided to reach school by a boat,” says Sahani pic.twitter.com/yJzLvcM384
Salute to this student dedication. 👏
— Alok Verma 🇮🇳 (@Alokver96) September 5, 2021
15-year-old Sandhya is in class 11th, from Ayodhya Das Girls Inter College on Bank Road in the Bahrampur region in Gorakhpur.
If condition of school is like this… who is going to teach her and where? 🤦♂️
— Neta Ji (@AapGhumaKeLeL0) September 5, 2021
And where are other kids & teachers gonna park their boats? pic.twitter.com/wseJQMGg2k
India in 2021!
— Whitebird (@Whitebi42156227) September 6, 2021
Sandhya is a daughter of a carpenter and comes from humble family background. She rows a boat 800 metres daily in the precarious condition of the Rapti river water to reach school from her house.
She rows the boat till Raj Ghat and takes a tempo from there to reach school.
@myogioffice please help her with a smart phone.#upgovtforallneedy
— Gaurav Singh🇮🇳 (@GauravSin280882) September 5, 2021
ये बच्ची मुश्किल परिस्थिति, ठप प्रशासन व अनिश्चित भविष्य होने पर भी हिम्मत नहीं हारी।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 5, 2021
संध्या का साहस बहुत कुछ सिखाता है। #शिक्षक_दिवस #TeachersDay pic.twitter.com/uuZ5ubcdfH
Hats off to the resilience of this little warrior
— Sourabh Mathur (@sourabhmathur) September 6, 2021
That’s great example for our society
— Rakesh Kumar Swain (@rksmech2004) September 5, 2021
Gajab ka dedication hai 👏👏
— Purnansh Upadhyay (@aarush2244) September 5, 2021
If resilience had a face it’d be of 15YO class 11 student Sandhya Sahani’s who, undeterred by floods rows a boat 800mts daily to reach her school in flooded Gorakhpur.
— Nausheen Khan (@DrNausheenKhan) September 7, 2021
A girl with this determination❤️
May this post inspire us to be better versions of ourselves!@abhijitmajumder pic.twitter.com/vBffuC9c3Q
While people are praising her resilience, and what she is doing is commendable. But, the fact of the matter remains that steps should be taken so that she doesn’t have to row a boat daily just to reach school.
She further added, “I appeal to the CM to get an embankment constructed in my as flood water has entered many houses and families are forced to live on terraces under plastic sheets.”
You can watch the whole video here.
While we may praise her bravery, we must. But, we also hope she attends school with no such hardship.