Not afraid of exams, nor of cancer

Rediff.com ^ | June 24, 2005 19:20 IST | Rediff.com

[CarrotAndStick]

A 15-year old girl, who fought cancer to appear for her SSC (Secondary School Certifficate) examination in Mumbai has scored 77 per cent marks, but isn't around to celebrate.

Vaibhavi, who wrote 'I am going to conquer the disease and not let the disease conquer me' in all her notebooks, lost the battle to cancer in May.

But before she breathed her last, Vaibhavi did what she had promised herself and her parents -- she wrote all her papers without any special assistance. The board offered a writer's help and also extra time to finish her papers. She said no to both.

A teary Vasant Joil, 47, Vaibhavi's father, celebrated his daughter's success on Friday. "My daughter has won. She is a topper in the real sense of the term," he told reporters.

"She had been through a reconstruction surgery earlier where her diseased bone in the hand was replaced by a bone from the foot. All appeared well till the disease resurfaced when she was preparing for her exams," said Joil.

Vaibhavi prepared for her exams shuttling between chemotherapy sessions, hospitalisation, bouts of nausea, pain and uncertainty about the future.

"My girl has left behind a message for thousands -- nothing can defeat you, not even death, if you choose to face it the way you want," Joil said.

While Vaibhavi did not live to see what she achieved, another bone cancer patient, Nikhil Chandrakant Mane, was luckier.

Nikhil, who underwent a knee replacement surgery after he was diagnosed with bone cancer, has put the disease behind him.

Topping in the handicapped category with 91.73 per cent, Nikhil said: "I did not let the disease affect me. I just chose to see it in a different way."

Asked how his friends react to the disease, he said: "Oh nothing extra special, we interact as normal friends would."

Nikhil spent the last year in hospital and has gone through nine cycles of chemotherapy.

"I am not exactly a book worm, but reading happens to be my passion. Yes, I do loves sports...football is my favourite," he said.

Does he approve of the merit list? "I have reservations about it. Though I am happy at being a topper, I am not a supporter of such a system," he said.

[rwfromkansas]

77 percent is hardly anything to write home about, but in her case, that is tops in my book.

[Maneesh]

The educational system in India is thankfully not liberal yet. Marks are very hard to come by and 77 percent is very very good. The high school educational system in the USA passes everyone and you have to really want to fail. In India the competition is brutal and a high school graduate in India from a good school is better academically educated than most sophomore college students in America. I finished high school and college in India and grad school in the USA and it was literally a breeze to get my degree here.

I am in no way bashing the USA, just putting the 77 percent in perspective. The college system in the USA is the best in the world and gives you the most well rounded education. However the public school system is a total disaster and the liberals have completely co-opted it for social engineering. Ever wonder why so many Indians do well in America; it is because they went to high school in India and were grounded in competition and reality while high school students were being fed liberal gobblydegook and standard are lowered so as not to hurt kid's feelings. I am staunchly pro-American and believe that this is the greatest nation on earth and it pains my heart to see the liberals destroying kid's by indoctrination in schools.

[Sabatier]

Thanks for clarifying that point.
To achieve grades that good when you are feeling ill is quite an accomplishment. Her family is right to be proud of her.

PS You are correct about our schools. When I was a kid the public schools did a good job of teaching math and science.
Now the schools look and run like prisons and the main order of business is to keep the kids from hurting each other - or the teachers.