13-05-2025
Hyderabad student overcomes family tragedy, clears class 10 CBSE exam
Hyderabad:
Rishika Jakkula
, a class 10 student, had to juggle academics with handling her younger siblings after her father was hospitalised with
liver failure
— just before her pre-board examinations. The 15-year-old said it was one of the toughest phases of her life, as her father spent nearly four months in the hospital before succumbing to liver failure in December.
"A day before my Maths pre-board-1 exam, my dad was rushed to the hospital. Until then, he had been healthy. But our lives changed that day when he was diagnosed with a liver problem, which later progressed to liver failure," Rishika told TOI. Rishika recalled that she could never forget those days as she had to take responsibility of her younger siblings — who are in class 8 and class 5. "I had to take care of all their needs — cook meals, pack their lunch, get them ready, and send them to school before I left for mine," she said she used to have panic attacks even during exams because of her father's condition. "We were going through a lot, including financial problems. It affected my concentration and performance in academics. Still, I am happy that I managed to clear my class 10 exams," she said, adding that she aspires to become a software engineer so that her family no longer has to struggle mother, Vanitha, said she never had to step out for work until now and is worried about how the family will survive. "So far, we have been surviving on savings and help extended by relatives. Now, I will have to find work so that my children and I can survive," she added.
