By Krithika Hariharan
Forty-one-year-old, V.Hari Krishnan, is elated to announce that he has passed his 12th this year with flying colours. Showing his mark sheet he informs, “I calculated the aggregates of all my family members’ 12th results and I am surprised to notice that I have surpassed them all!” Indeed the difference is stark! The nearest was his son, who passed a few years back, and scored 78%, while Hari has scored an impressive 82.83%.
Hari is the owner of Hari Furnishings at AIBEA Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur. He was a student of Arignar Anna Government Higher Secondary School, Besant Nagar, but had to discontinue his studies, while in 8th, due to financial difficulties at home. The demise of his father had aggravated the situation. However, his passion for studies was not doused. Juggling work and household responsibilities, he enrolled for a tutorial class to attempt 10th std and successfully passed it in 1997. Fate did not favour him to continue further and his attempts to write his 12th std were thawed.
However, the fire within him to study further just needed a spark, which was ignited when his son was enrolling for college and the application form required details father’s education qualification. “I felt very uncomfortable mentioning ‘10th’. Then and there I vowed to complete my 12th,” says Hari.
Reaching home, he searched for his certificates and found that all except his 10th mark sheet was safely kept. While running pillar to post to obtain the duplicates, he realised that now, he also needed to pass his 11th, before attempting the 12th. Double whammy, but not a deterrent for the determined Hari. This time, the family assured their support and he completed his 11th and 12th successfully, with self-study. “Except for languages, I studied only during the holidays between the exams. However, those days were solely devoted to the subject. I went through many YouTube tutorials and guides, and made systematic notes based on the question paper pattern,” he explains.
His marks floored his family, and he explains, “I don’t understand the fuss nowadays. Everyone, including my family, warned of the difficulties in scoring good marks in today’s time. I took it as a challenge, studied sincerely and my marks reflected! Why can’t children of this era also sincerely try?” Dissatisfied with his marks in Tamil, Hari is contemplating re-evaluation of the paper. He also points out that his work experience didn’t help him much in the subjects, but it was truly a learning experience.
Irrespective of age, writing an exam is always a nerve-racking experience. “Oh definitely! However, that’s true only for the first paper. My first paper was Tamil and I started it with a Thirukkural, which set the tone for the rest of it. After that, I focused only on my subjects,” Hari recounts. Did any of the students mistake him to be an invigilator? Hari laughs and remarks, “Maybe! I don’t know and I didn’t bother. I was concerned about my performance only. I ensured to reach the exam venue at the earliest to ensure that I was not distracted. True that I was probably the eldest in the room or probably the exam venue, I didn’t let it play on my mind.”
In this era where there are debates in social media about education being relavant, does completing 12th, make difference? “Of course, it does. Till now when I introduced myself to people, I was only 10th pass. Now, I am 12th pass and in a few years, I will be a graduate and further a postgraduate. When I talk to people, my qualification makes an impact on how seriously they take me,” Hari asserts. His success also ignited the spark in his family, wherein his wife enrolled for her master’s degree. “In a few years, I look forward to being called as a graduate and subsequently a post-graduate family!” he exclaims.
Hari looks forward to do an MBA as well. He can be reached at 84381 84989.
