Pune sanitation worker earns microbiology degree studying in cemetery quiet

However difficult the circumstances, determination and hard work can bring success, as Reshma Jahangir Pathan, 25, of Pune has shown. While working as a contract sanitation worker with the Pune Municipal Corporation, she earned a degree in microbiology. As the noise in her neighbourhood made it hard to study, she sat and read in the quiet of a crematorium.

Reshma lives in the Sainath slum in Kothrud. Her father drives an autorickshaw and the family's finances are weak. Paying for private coaching or renting a separate place to study was beyond her means. The constant noise in the neighbourhood was affecting her studies.

She then turned to the quiet of the crematorium near her home. For most people it is a place linked with death, but it proved important in Reshma's journey as a student. Sitting there silently, she was able to study with full concentration. She did not give in to her circumstances, kept studying and reached her goal of a microbiology degree. Her story shows that where there is a will to study, a way opens up even in hard conditions.

For the past six years, Reshma worked as a contract sanitation worker in the sweeping department of the Pune Municipal Corporation. She did night-shift duty at Swami Samarth Kothi in Jaybhavani Nagar. Attending college by day and working at night was her daily routine. She ran around a great deal to finish her studies while helping her family.

Reshma said she was removed from the job about three months ago. According to her, the reason given was that women cannot be given night work. Regular attendance at college was also necessary for higher education, so balancing a job and studies was becoming difficult for her. In this situation she put her studies first.

After getting her degree, Reshma has now begun further study in public health. She is studying at Savitribai Phule Pune University. In future she wants to work for the health of the underprivileged, the needy and the overlooked sections of society.

She has seen and endured at close quarters the problems of slum cleanliness, water supply and health. She therefore wants to work on these questions not from bookish knowledge alone but on the strength of her own experience.

In Reshma's view, preventive measures are very important in public health. Treating illness after it occurs is necessary, but it is just as necessary that the illness does not occur at all. She wants to work for society in this direction.

Crossing the obstacles of shortage of money, lack of a place to study and the responsibility of a job, Reshma completed her education up to graduation. She is now trying to stand on her own feet through higher education. Her journey is not just a story of academic success but an example for young people who pursue their dreams even in difficult circumstances.