The Power Of Perseverance

The Coronavirus turned Geeta’s world upside down. As the second wave broke out in 2021, Geeta’s fear turned into a grotesque reality when the virus invaded her family. 

Geeta, a brilliant and hardworking tenth-grade student, had always aspired to be a be a doctor and serve the people in the best of her capacities. In the past year, Geeta understood the dire need of medical facilities as the pandemic loomed like a threat to her and her family.

Her grit and honesty towards her goal of becoming a doctor pushed her to be participative in health-related initiatives in her village. To achieve the same, Geeta associated herself with the Auxiliary Nurse Midwives in the region and took every precaution to save her family from bearing the consequences of covid.

Geeta’s father was a man of grit and aspirations. He was a diligent soul and strived for the betterment of his family. Despite being born and brought up in a small rural civilization, Geeta’s father had dreams of having a decent education along with a job that would earn some bread and butter for his family.

Passing matriculation and landing in a proper job was one such dream that he couldn’t fulfill for himself as the responsibility of being the breadwinner of the family came early to him.

Nonetheless, he was up-quick in shouldering the responsibilities to provide the best for his family. He took up the profession of a school bus driver, as the job kept him a little closer to his dreams.Tireless efforts, hard work, perseverance and patience helped him to attain success.The errand of driving children to school every day was extremely dear to him.

Through his hard work and perseverance, Geeta’s father had acquired a good job

However, due to pandemic Geeta’s father had to stay away from his job for almost an entire year. But later in March 2021, things had started resuming back to  normalcy.

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Geeta’s father was pumped to take up his job again. His cheerfulness while putting on the driver’s uniform had no bounds, it was almost as if an inquisitive child was getting ready for school every day with  excitement.

Geeta was not happy with her father’s decision, she always supported her father in every situation and was determined to live up to her father’s expectations. But this time, Geeta wanted her father to prioritize his health since the pandemic was not over yet and her father was exposing himself to the dangers by driving children to school for around 5kms, every day.

It took a lot of persistence and perseverance to deal through the darkest times

To keep her father’s will intact while ensuring his safety, Geeta acted as strict as she could, and made him follow  every protocol that was necessary for the well-being of his health . Seeing her father wake up with a smile and persue his daily tasks, warmed Geeta up. She grew stronger in her head to be the best for her father.

The gleaming days came to a standstill when Geeta’s fear became a living shadow as her father contracted the virus. A wave of helplessness crashed in and Geeta frantically visited each and every plausible door for help.

When she reached out to her Social Mobilizer, she helped her in seeking an aid from the Sarpanch. The gulf of adversities widened when Geeta too was tested positive, nonetheless with the help of Sarpanch, she got a tractor with a driver to drive her father to the nearest hospital which was ten kilometers away.

The hands that held Geeta in her darkest moments were lifeless now, yet she did not give up

Days went by and the hospital’s corridors started hollowing, no one was telling her what was happening. Just faint voices all around. Until one day, when the doctor treaded towards Geeta and told her that her father has lost the battle.

Geeta stayed still, not a fraction moving, yet from within, she was shattered. The hands that held hers in the worst of times were lifeless now, the beaming smile, the happiness of driving children to school had faded away. Geeta’s pillar of support had crumbled away. Yet, she understood that there was no time to grieve.

It was a disheartening process, but Geeta stood tall and  persevered

The loss that Geeta and her family bore, was irreplaceable. Yet, Geeta had to toughen her shoulders to bear the responsibility of her mother and little ones in her family.

With time, Geeta and her mother joined the Aanganwadi workers to spread awareness about the virus. Geeta and her mother strived hard so that nobody had to bear the loss due to COVID-19. Geeta also started stitching masks and distributing them among children in her village.

She called her SM didi every day, who reminded her to be strong. Geeta learnt that adversities could make the softest people grow tough. She now lives to study and work hard, for herself and for her father, who till his last breath cared about every student’s education as much as he cared about his own daughter’s.

Picture Credits: Pixabay

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