G Jennifer's whole life has been plagued with different issues from the very beginning - from the day that she was born. Today, she celebrated the fact that she managed to score 852 in her Plus Two board exams but she doesn't want to forget the hardships that she has been through.
"My mother told me that she and my father had trouble having children for many years. It was only six years after their marriage that I was born and within the next few days, I was diagnosed with Malaria and was on the verge of death, I spent my first few days in an incubator," Jennifer recalled her mother telling her.
Four years later, Jennifer lost her father to suicide, "My father was facing financial problems and was having issues with the family as well. So he committed suicide. My mother was uneducated and suddenly found herself helpless. But she had been working all her life, from the age of nine. So when this happened she went back to working in a company that made appalams." Jennifer's mother barely makes 3000-4000 rupees per month but she ensured that her daughter received a good education.
"Then when I came to the sixth standard I developed a health issue again. I was not able to go to the toilet for over a month. The doctors said it could get serious, so I was in hospital for months trying to recover. My mother's constant prayers got me well. Then again in the seventh standard I caught a virus. My whole life I have had to battle one illness or the other but my mother has always prayed hard for my recovery and it always worked," she said.
Unfortunately, just around when Jennifer started to get well, her mother began to fall ill, "She began to have severe stomach aches and the doctor said that it was because of her work. All those years of working with appalams had severely impacted her health. The doctors said she needed to be operated. It was a very hard time for us," she explained. Since her mother was the only working person in the family, Jennifer and her younger brother had no way of feeding themselves.
"Even though my mum has been in and out of the hospital, she kept telling me that I should just concentrate on studying and not keep thinking about her. Her prayers have helped me pass this exam," she said. Now that her mother cannot continue in the same job, the family is facing financial difficulties but her mother is already looking for another job, Jennifer said.
Jennifer says she will start applying for B.Com courses soon and is hoping to land a job in a bank, "If I don't get immediately after college, I'll work other jobs till I finally am able to get a bank job. I just want to be able to earn enough to shoulder my family's responsibility and make them happy."
