Tamil Nadu: Cracker of a show as fireworks unit worker’s son gets district third rank

VIRUDHUNAGAR: When a 38-year-old Arivukodi dropped out of school after finishing class 10 years back, owing to her poor family condition, and started working at cracker units, she was stern on preventing her children from facing the same ordeal in future. Giving wings to his mother’s dreams, Arivukodi’s son Yaswanthaman scored 496 marks in his class 10 board exams, when results came out on Friday, securing third rank at the district level.

Yaswanthaman (15), a student of Government Higher Secondary School in Sankaralingapuram, secured a centum in Social Science and 99 marks each in Tamil, English, Maths and Science. Thanking Arivukodi for her unconditional support, Yaswanthaman said, “I have seen my mother struggle due to her job at the cracker unit and I feel bad whenever I listen to news of blasts at cracker units. Hence, I want to become a collector, bring changes to the society and assure a safe workplace for those employed in cracker units.”

Meanwhile Arivukodi, who is completely ready to support her son for any course he chooses for higher studies, is also in full praise for Yaswanthaman, whose determination and focus in studies has paid off well. “I am ready to struggle to any extent to ensure my child’s education. I always believed that education holds a lot of significance in today’s world, and instilled the same thought in my son’s mind too,” she added.

“Our family has been sustaining on a meagre sum of Rs 6,000 and Rs 9,000 earned by me and my husband A Muthumani, who works at a textile shop in Aruppukottai. Owing to his tight work schedule, my husband visits us only once a week,” adds Arivukodi, who also managed to save money for her son’s special tuition since grade nine.