For Shashikala Daballi, topping the PUC exam (arts) is more rewarding than for most as it has come at the end of a long hard road, literally. The girl, who scored 95 per cent in the exam, walked 4 kms from her village of Guruvinahalli in Kundagol taluk, to the Ujjayani Siddalinga Jagadguru Pre-university College in the neighbouring village of Kubyal and the same distance back home every evening in the absence of a bus service.
Her achievement is all the more remarkable as she and her four sisters and three brothers come from a poor family, living off five acres of rain-fed land. Crossing the Benne Halla stream between Guruvinahalli and Kubyal villages was the biggest hurdle before a bridge was built over it last year. Her father, Shivanand Daballi, crossed the stream with her on his shoulder every monsoon in waist-deep water and she has lost her school bag and books in a flooded stream on several occasions.
“My daughter has struggled hard to bag the first place in the arts stream She also helped with sowing and harvesting of cotton on our farmland on the weekends and school holidays. She dreams of a better life for all of us through her education,” said Mr Shivanand. As for Shashikala, her dream is to become an IAS officer and work for the poor and downtrodden of the state.