Kerala resident and daughter of migrant worker bags first rank in Kerala varsity exam

By India Parent Magazine

Payal Kumari is the daughter of Pramod Kumar and Bindu Devi
who migrated from Bihar and settled in Kerala 17 years ago.
Picture Courtesy Payal Family

Speaking fluent Hindi and Malayalam over the phone with India Parent Magazine, Payal Kumari said that her education was a hard and long journey. If not for her parents’ determination she couldn’t have achieved what she did.

Her father Pramod Kumar moved to Kerala with his wife and three children when Payal was only four. He himself was a school drop out but was determined to educate his children. He had heard good things about Kerala and moved there in the hopes of providing better education to his children. He worked hard, did menial jobs with full support from his wife Bindu. It was not easy. Both of them worked toward one single goal: Educating their children and giving them a better life! Their years of labor and hard work paid off. Payal Kumari tops BA Archeology and History in Mahatma Gandhi University for the exams held in March with 85 percent marks. She joined Marthoma College for women in Perumbavoor for her graduation.

“ I love archeology and ancient world,” Payal said. “My parents want me to try for civil services, but I am more into archeology,” she laughs.

Payal scored 85 percent marks in her Tenth standard exams and 95 percent marks in Twelfth standard, which is a very tough task to achieve for an arts student, and that too from a Government school!

Her older brother Akash works in a private firm while younger sister Pallavi is a second year graduate student.

“Many times I thought of quitting. It was tough for me to see my parents working so hard for me. My siblings to suffered. But both my teachers at college Bipin Sir and Vinod Sir encouraged me and supported me.”

Her father too is extremely proud of her. He says he does miss Bihar and his family sometimes but feels his migration to Kerala was worth it.

“All my children are educated and all my hard work paid off,” he says proudly.