This is the story of Aruna, a very bright young woman I know. Aruna’s mother – and her mother before her – has been working at my husband’s parents’ place in Kakinada for many years. Aruna’s mother Sai did not want the same life for her daughter; so Aruna went to school while her mother did house work.
After she completed school, my inlaws have been paying for Aruna’s education. Aruna got a BSc degree in Computer Science. And then went on to complete her MCA (Masters in Computer Applications) degree.
Many scholarships along the way. Industrial training in Hyderabad. And a distinction in MCA. My favourite memories of Aruna are of her zipping around town in the bike that my mother-in-law gifted her when she completed her degree.
Aruna has been in Hyderabad for the past few months, applying for jobs and attending interviews. But despite her academic record, she has not been able to find a job. I suspect one of the main reasons is her lack of English skills. At our (my husband and I) insistence, she did enrol in an English speaking course a few years ago. But she was too shy to ever speak to anyone in English outside or in college. And at home – who will she speak to in English? Technically she knows English but that is clearly not enough.
Aruna has dreams of finding a good job for herself and supporting her mother from now on. And her mother back in Kakinada is dreaming of the day her daughter goes to an “office”.
I hope their dreams come true very soon. I hope this young qualified – and very brave – girl does not get disillusioned by the world out there. I hope when the time comes for Aruna to get married, she will be able to find an educated young man who does not see her as a maid’s daughter but as an educated confident young woman. I hope for Sai and Aruna, this is the end of their struggles, and not just the beginning of another kind of struggle. Good luck, Aruna.
Hi Charu
I hope Aruna finds a nice job soon. Job search is necessarily a time consuming process because it must be a good match between employer and employee. I’m sure she will find something eventually. In the meantime, practicing English couldn’t hurt.
Good for your in-laws. It takes a lot of selflessness and compassion to do what they did. I guess it is up to Aruna to make some use of her education and not just marry and become a housewife. Not that I’m against women becoming housewives.
For what it’s worth, send her CV along to me – my company – HCL is hiring. If she has an MCA, then she must surely be qualified! But the only problem is she will have to relocate to the NCR. I don’t know how big a step that is for her.
Charu
This is really sad in India i.e the perceived superiority that the English speaking populace has over the others. Look anywhere, be it English journalists holding the regional journalists in contempt, well maybe not contempt but treating them as lesser mortals, the exposure for regional novelists when compared to English novelists, the treatment of vernies at college, the awe that articulate English speaking professionals are held in, is all prevelant. Unfortunately the ones who have not been schooled in convent or English medium schools feel at odds themselves when they set foot in the big wide world. That indeed is sad, and as Michael suggested, practising English wouldnt hurt, but she doesnt need to.
Sourin
Michael, agreed job hunts can be painful and time consuming. In this case, I am just concerned about her “language handicap” standing in the way of her finding a good job… Aruna is also staying alone in Hyderabad – and she feels very conscious about her English – I cannot even think of anyone she can practise it with – as in, friends or relatives…
gawker, yes, my inlaws have been supporting her (not just with money – that is just one of the things) for many years now – in fact she has been staying at their place since the time she started going to college – since her home atmosphere was not entirely conducive to studies… she even has a computer here at my inlaws place…
TTG, thanks, that is very nice of you. But for Aruna, moving to Hyderabad is a big step in itself – she has lived all her life in a small town Kakinada – NCR would be unimaginable for her… I think the farthest she is considering is Bangalore… will check anyways. thanks again…
Sourin, it *is* tough for her – I guess if she had gone to college somewhere out of kakinada, she would have had an opportunity to practise her English but this was not possible… but she needs to overcome this quickly and not let it pull her back… but how…??
Hi Charu,
It’s a very encouraging post and how I wish there were more houses like yours in this country.
I hope Aruna finds a job soon,and tell her we are very proud of her achievements.:-)
Charu
We have an office in Chennai. Send her resume 2 me and I will fwd it to our office there for considertion.
Sourin
Charu — I too hope Aruna doesn’t get disillusioned by the rejections. Thanks for this post. I’m sure in its own way it’ll contribute to more people thinking like your in-laws. I can’t possibly express the sense of admiration that I feel for them. My admiration goes to TTG and Sourin too. It’ll be really great if Aruna finds a job in one of their companies. Please do a follow-up post.
Perfecting a language may be a tough task but I think managing English in India is not a big deal. I think I must have been more or less in Aruna’s age group when I started speaking English. First few years I was very uncomfortable, and this had more to do with my accent. I still make a lot of mistakes, but now almost a decade later, I feel I’m comfortable in managing the language.
Charu,
1. The British council has a branch in Hyderabad. It might be worthwhile going there (though i often found the BC staff in Bombay quite snooty) and finding out about English classes. They also have some Learn English Online. Unfortunately their workshop Learn English has only started in Delhi. In any case, joining a library like BC is great for improving one’s language skills.
2. If your in-laws have access to any convent schools in Kakinada, they might ask them to appraoch the Hyderabad branch to find out about teaching English. Convent schools often have these things.
Hope this helps
Neela
I just hope Aruna finds the job she wants….I really, really do.
This post some how reminds me of my very first post, here about the daughter of our family’s own maid’s daughter.
Minal, I will surely tell Aruna how proud we are all of her 🙂
Sourin, thanks, will email you asap with her CV…
Anand, yes I do wish more people supported someone else’s education this way (beginning with myself) – in Aruna’s case, my inlaws have ensured that she has got whatever she required… they will be most happy for her once she finds a job and settles down…
As for her English, honestly I have never heard her speak in english – my husband says techniclaly she knows English but I think she is just too conscious to speak in public… need to push her a little more…
Neela, thanks for your sugestions – the BC idea seems good – will also check out about the convents (I personally do not want Aruna to go back to Kakinada if she can help it) –
Sunil, I hope so too… and as I said earlier and Anand says here, I dont want her to ever feel disillusioned with how little her education can give her – hope it never comes to that… yes, Sushmita sounds like Aruna… I have always seen her neat and cheerful… and optimistic…
Will definitely do a follow up post on this…
I will wait for your update. Could have myself said send her resume, we could forward it to a few friends but I am not sure if she will like to move as far as Delhi?
Mridula, Delhi is too far for her to even consider right now… I am sending her CV to a few people we know in IT companies and also to TTG and Sourin – let’s hope something works out for her…
is it essential that she find a job in an it company? if not, please forward her cv to me. i will try find out if any of my clients has an appropriate position in their it etc., depts.,
she needn’t worry about the language.
may i add that my clients are based in hyderabad . or has she already found a job?
kuffir, she has not yet found a job. have sent you her cv – thanks 🙂
hi aruna don’t worry your dream will true very soon.i am in delhi working in a mid company….me too MCA.need any help can mail