Despite suffering from lumbar spondylitis and cervical spondylosis, village girl Prachi Yashavant Bhutkar surmounted all obstacles to achieve her goals, setting an example for all women fighting adversities
She could well be a flag bearer for the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign. Prachi Yashavant Bhutkar is daughter of a school headmaster from Nimgaon Naka village in Sangamner taluka of Ahmednagar district. She faced many hurdles, but each of them strengthened her more. Besides fighting lumbar spondylitis and cervical spondylosis, she faced many obstacles, but finally made it in her sixth campus placement. She gives the credit to her parents and especially her brother, who supported her. Prachi takes Corporate Citizen on her journey from school days to the placement stage.
An outstanding student in school, she secured 96.36 per cent in her SCC board exams (2010). Girls, especially from villages, are not encouraged on many counts when compared to the boys, but Prachi’s parents, and especially her brother, thought otherwise. Her parents wanted her to be the anchor of the family. Her elder brother had no issues, and on the contrary, helped his sister in all possible ways. Prachi is now a B Tech in Instrumentation and Control from the renowned College of Engineering, Pune and placed with Emerson Automation Solutions (EEEC Pune) with an annual package of Rs. 6 lakhs.
She faced many stumbling blocks. Though rejected by five placement calls, Prachi, a fighter, never gave up and fought back. She finally made it with the sixth. “I could not get placement. My grandparents had to be hospitalised after hearing about it. But my father, brother and uncles encouraged me to hold on, leading to my final success. Today, I can say that one should take the setbacks as challenges, no matter what gender you are and you will attain what you want,” says Prachi. “Many people did say that since I was a girl, I should not dream big, because being born as a girl itself is a setback. That is not true, for me it is the other way round. I have to go ahead to prove that we (women) are equal on all counts with men,” she adds.
Prachi did her initial schooling, like any other village child, from a Zilla Parishad School, up to Standard V. As she was an outstanding student, her father, who was the head master of the same school, sent her to Pravara Kanya Vidya Mandir at Dongargadh in Ahmednagar district, and got himself transferred there too. Prachi made it to the Standard X. “Daily regular studies and frequent revision and self-study were the key to my success, and I am proud to say I stood first in Ahmednagar district rural region. All this, without attending any tuition classes. That was the best moment of my life,” recalls Prachi. With over 96 per cent in her SSC board exams her father got her admitted into the prestigious Residential Junior College, Ahmednagar. “Here, I attended private tuition classes for the first time,” said Prachi. “Besides my father, it was Sir Vijay Kandake, my chemistry professor in the Kandake Chemistry Academy who guided me. Whenever I was in difficulty, it was Sir Kandake who would advise and motivate me,” says Prachi.
Securing 80 per cent in her XII, she got admission at the College of Engineering, Pune (COEP) in the B Tech Instrumentation and Control course. But here it became an acid test for Prachi, starting with health issues. Although lumbar spondylitis and cervical spondylosis normally occurs among people over 50 years of age, Prachi was unfortunate to have it very early in her life. She fought both her illness and academic challenges, but it was pressure all the way. “The worst memory I have of college life is of my class teacher, who had a personal bias against me and frequently told me to give up engineering. She was of the opinion that I wasn't capable of doing engineering. This saw me extending my semesters in engineering. The second and third year of my course were the most difficult years of my life. But I took it all in stride, and I should say that what my teacher said was a blessing in disguise for me, as I took that as a challenge. I should say her non-inspiring words inspired me.”
There were struggles all the way for Prachi. “It was compounded by my health issue. I could not get out of bed. But I struggled and used to keep myself active, positive and fighting with determination every time. My friends-Kajal, Mayuri, Gaurav, Swarada, Vinayak, Ankush, Vidya, Shruti and Akshay Dada- boosted my morale. HoD C Y Patil helped me on many counts. He treated me like his daughter, and motivated me with positive talk.”
“My father is my mentor. He has been a fighter himself, so I see myself as a continuous fighter, the same as my father”
Fighting against all odds, Prachi managed to get 63.2 per cent in her graduation. But that was not enough for companies coming to the campus for placement. At the same time, her father was fighting his own battles against his fellow staff, and even had to go to court to settle issues. So she was battling on both fronts, academically and the home-front where things were not too rosy. “Since I did manage just 60 per cent, companies rejected me.” First it was Honeywell, followed by Vedanta Industries, BPCL, Mahindra Logistics and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL).The waiting prolonged for Prachi who in the meantime had also to fight against her illness. “I had to go home for one month to get my spinal cord issues solved. I visited over ten different specialist doctors, but in vain. With my father’s fight against the authorities, everyone in my family was worried.” Then came some ray of hope as Prachi was selected by IOCL. “My placement officer got a confirmation from the IOCL recruitment team about the selection of my candidature, where they stated that they were impressed by me and I was a final select.” However, her dream died off as IOCL finally rejected her. “Despite having a confirmation on my selection by IOCL twice, I received an email from them saying that I did not satisfy their 65 per cent criteria and hence they could not offer me the job.” Then the Emerson Automation Solutions came to the campus and Prachi finally got the nod for job with Emerson Export Engineering Centre (EEEC). “My father is my mentor. He has been a fighter himself, so I see myself as a continuous fighter, the same as my father. He is the most important person in my life. He is the source of my inspiration, strength and energy.”
By Joe Williams
