In a one-of-a-kind feat, Naina Jaiswal became the first international table tennis player and youngest research scholar to successfully complete her Bachelor of Law (LLB) course together with her mother Bhagya Laxmi Jaiswal.
Although initially, Naina did not show much interest in pursuing the course, her mother decided to join her in the feat which motivated her further. “My mother showed support and it proved to be a good experience,” Naina told EdexLive. The mother-daughter duo passed the final year law examination with first division marks from BR Ambedkar Law College, Bagh Lingampally, Hyderabad. Bhagya Laxmi said that they only decided to appear for the exam for the course just one or two days prior to the exam date.
While elaborating on why she chose to pursue the same goal as her daughter, Bhagya Laxmi who has already done her MSc in Microbiology and is a postgraduate, said that children usually like to copy what their parents do. “If we use the phone then even they like to use it. If we watch serials then even they'd like to watch it. So my husband and I reasoned that if we do good then our children will do even better,” she added.
They never forced their daughter to pursue the course. Instead, they tried to create a lively atmosphere at home from the beginning. “The preparation process was also a lot of fun and we enjoyed the whole time, it wasn’t like it was serious,” she said.
Naina also shed light on the fact she received her education through homeschooling. Hence, she became very close to her parents. “My mother is my best friend and our relationship has been like this since childhood. There is nothing like fights or anything. We have always been very close so this process was also a lot of fun,” she said.
In fact, it wasn’t just her mother who decided to pursue the same course as her, her father too studied journalism so that Naina could pursue her graduation in the same. Additionally, her father, who is also an advocate, helped both of them with their preparations for the exam.
Bhagya Laxmi also said that the mother-daughter duo helped each other out during their preparations. “We would keep having discussions because we don’t believe in the mugging up process and we wanted to avoid that completely,” she said. She added that she and her husband have also been motivating other parents to be friendly with their children at home.
On her future plans, Naina said that she would like to concentrate on her games currently and would like to pursue a career in Civil Services eventually.
