Support for the 14-yr-old sole breadwinner

Aswapuram (Kothagudem): On her tender shoulders lies the burden of survival of her family. Yet the 14-year-old showed gutsy determination in bearing the brunt of life to scrape a living by fighting against all odds. This has made her earn the ‘Youth Icon’ award besides a financial support that would fulfil her dreams.

Bindu Priya, a Class IX student now, of Mondikunta village under Aswapuram mandal in Kothagudem district, who turned barber to support her family, has been awarded Youth Icon-2016 by Swami Paripoornananda Saraswathi, the pontiff of Sree Peetham, Kakinada, a couple of days ago at the Yuva Sankalp Diwas organised as part of 154th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda in Visakhapatnam.

She is one among the five youth icons selected from two Telugu-speaking states Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. This apart, Shanta Biotech chairman KI Varaprasad Reddy came forward to support her academics by providing Rs 1 lakh a year for a period of 10 years. On behalf of Vikasa Tarangini, Ahobila Swami announced to bear the healthcare expenses of Bindu’s father.

It may be noted here that Bindu’s father Medipelli Rajesh, a barber by profession, suddenly fell sick and was bed-ridden a year ago. With Rajesh’s elder daughter already got married and left for in-laws’ house, and the second one is pursuing her Degree course, the days were hard to go by for the family. At this juncture, Bindu came forward to run her family by taking up her father’s job.

Her pastime learning of their traditional occupation came in as a blessing in disguise to earn a few bucks. Pedaling between her school and hair cutting saloon, she became the sole breadwinner of her family. Speaking to The Hans India, Bindu said: “I owe a lot to the support poured in by the Shanta Biotech chief and Ahobila Swami. I draw a lot of inspiration from my father and Swami Vivekananda. I won’t make this opportunity go waste.”