For Reshma Pathan, education is a way to change her circumstances
PUNE: Classes in the morning, sweeping streets at night, and on off days, 25-year-old Reshma Pathan would turn to a quiet crematorium to study. Because the one-year fee for the course is about Rs 50,000,” she said, now I am looking for a part-time job.
It is quiet there,” she said. As she pursues a master’s in public health at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), she is determined to understand the challenges slum communities face and change the circumstances her family has lived in. So for uninterrupted study sessions, Reshma found an unlikely refuge: a crematorium. “It has a large open space and benches. This year, she joined SPPU. Growing up in a slum, she had seen how inadequate living conditions affect people’s health. But her return to education has come at a difficult time. “Three months ago, I had to quit work as a sweeper after PMC stopped allowing night shifts for women workers.
I go on Sunday or after college.