Financial difficulties not a hurdle

It was nearing 11 am on Thursday, the day of the SSC results, and Vasai resident Sayyed Javed Haider was itching to know his daughter, Almas’ marks.

It was nearing 11 am on Thursday, the day of the SSC results, and Vasai resident Sayyed Javed Haider was itching to know his daughter, Almas’ marks.

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But the tailor, who has never used a computer, did not know how to log on to the Internet to check the online SSC results.

When a regular customer stopped by the Khar workshop where he works, Haider requested her to look up Almas’ result online.

With a score of 81 per cent in her best five subjects, Almas is now the first in the family to clear SSC.

Almas, the oldest of three children, gives her father credit for her success.

“He never let financial difficulties get in the way of my studies. I worked hard and made sure that all the money he spent on my tuitions did not go to waste,” she said.

She now aspires to go to Vartak College in Vasai to study science. But before that, her family is planning a get-together to celebrate the first distinction in the family.

“This is the happiest day of my life,” said Haider. “I couldn’t study beyond Class 8 because my family moved to Mumbai from Lucknow to find work. But now, I’m going to make my daughter an engineer,” he beamed.