Latest news with #Santhi
New Indian Express
9 hours ago
- Science
- New Indian Express
Milk of mom's hard work: Girl hits new heights
CHENNAI: In a modest home in Attur, Salem, nestled under a rusted corrugated sheet roof, Santhi's day begins before the daybreak, at 4 am. The 55-year-old walks to the shed, pats her two milch cows gently, and the day has been just the same for the past 33 years. 'My only dream was to see my daughter study and make it big in life.' That dream has now taken her daughter, R Rajapriya, across the world to Brazil and soon to Finland. At 35, Rajapriya is now a post-doctoral researcher in cement chemistry, supported by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) in Brazil. Another leap came when she was recently awarded the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Fellowship 2024 with a perfect evaluation score of 100%. The fellowship, valued at Rs 2.8 crore, will see her researching sustainable construction technologies at the University of Oulu in Finland, with a six-month stint at C2CA Technology in Netherlands. Rajapriya was just a toddler when her father, a farmer, died of jaundice. Left with no income and a child to raise, Santhi started selling milk to local cooperative societies. She recalled, 'We had four cows then, now only two remain.' With meagre earnings from selling, private schooling was out of reach. Hence, Santhi enrolled Rajapriya at Attur Government Girls' Higher Secondary School. Her brilliance soon spoke for her. By Class 8, a private school offered her free admission, impressed by her exam scores. After scoring 1,096 out of 1,200 in Class 12, she chose civil engineering on the advice of a relative's friend during the Anna University counselling session. Rajapriya said, 'Back then, we had no idea about higher studies. Based on his suggestion, I chose engineering at a college in Chennai.' To cover her college and hostel expenses, the family had to take out an educational loan. After completing her BE, she took up teaching briefly before pursuing her ME in Construction Engineering and Management. Upon completing ME, she resumed teaching, this time at a private engineering college in Chennai, where she worked for two years.
The Hindu
22-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Caste Hindus oppose Scheduled Caste people offering prayers in a temple in Namakkal
Tension prevailed at Veesanam village after caste Hindus opposed members of the Scheduled Caste (SC) community offering prayers inside a temple. They were later able to offer prayers amid police protection on Tuesday. The Sri Maha Kaliamman Temple, under the administration of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department, is located in Veesanam. Sri Maha Kaliamman Temple that belongs to Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) department, is at Veesanam in Namakkal District. On Monday, caste Hindus of the village made arrangements to conduct their annual temple festival. Meanwhile, members of the Scheduled Castes (SC) community announced their intention to hold a festival and offer prayers inside the temple as well. This led to a verbal dispute between the two groups. In response, the Namakkal police held peace talks on Monday night, but both sides remained firm in their positions. On Tuesday morning, the caste Hindus removed the Pandakkal (an auspicious bamboo pole) from in front of the temple and declared that they would not go ahead with the festival. This decision resulted in heightened tension within the village. Later that day, Namakkal Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) Santhi held fresh peace talks and reiterated that everyone has the right to worship in the temple. Despite this, caste Hindus stood firm in their opposition. In the evening, amid police protection, SC people offered prayers in the temple, and after they offered prayers, the temple was closed. To avoid untoward incidents, over 50 police personnel were deployed in the village.
