MAYILADUTHURAI: Making ends meet by cutting and cleaning fish, Ramani will have much to rejoice when her daughter Vijayalakshmi writes the national exit test (NExT) next month and clears it to practise medicine in India.
She had completed MBBS from Stavropol state medical university in Stavropol, Russia, last year. But for Ramani’s grit and determination in the face of adversities, her daughter’s dream would have died a natural death.
“Today I became a doctor because of my mother’s sacrifice. She sold our house, pledged her ornaments and borrowed lakhs of rupees from moneylenders for my studies,” says the 25-year-old.
A labourer at the municipal fish market in Mayiladuthurai town, Ramani, 48, lost her husband Rajendran early in life.
Her daughter was then one and a half years old while son R Ravichandran was studying in class I. Ramani picked up the pieces by going to the fish market along with her mother-in-law. There they cleaned and cut fish, earning just enough to survive. Cleaning a kilogram of fish would fetch them between Rs 30 and Rs 50.
Fortunately, they had their own house. However, her mother-in-law met with an accident and was out of work, leaving Ramani with the task of running the show. That was not all. Ravichandran had a hormonal disorder since birth, which kept him away from studies.
Ramani has been running from pillar to post to treat him. Meanwhile, Vijayalakshmi joined BE Mechanical at Annamalai University after plus 2, as she was unable to join medicine due to low cut-off mark.
Vijayalakshmi told TOI that it was a policeman, a regular at the fish market, who helped her approach an agency which recruited students for Russian universities.
