The narrow lanes of Sampara were abuzz. The sun scorched relentlessly, leaving the streets simmering. Yet, there is a soothing calm inside the modest single-room house of Dulla Chinnari, who shares the first rank with three other girls by scoring 596 out of 600 marks in the recently declared SSC Public Examination results.
“The feeling is overwhelming,” she says, twirling the ends of her long, neatly braided plaits as a neighbour drifts out after congratulating her. “But I knew that I would make a mark as I studied for nearly 14 hours every day,” she states with the confidence shaped by months of quiet determination. “I also practised lucida writing to pick up speed,” reveals the student of Zilla Parishad High School, Sampara, in Pedapudi mandal of Kakinada district, hinting at the care she took in perfecting even the smallest details.
