There was an SMS passed from cellphone to cellphone on Obbama's victory, mainly among African-Americans:
"Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Obama could run. Obama ran so your children can fly.' Rosa is Rosa Parks, who initiated the Montgomery bus strike by refusing to sit in the back of the bus; she sat in front and was arrested. This led to a long bus strike in which African Americans walked and boyycotted buses; during that strike Martin Luther King rose to leadership. Gail On Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 10:59 PM, Siddhartha Kumar < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOI/navigator.asp?Daily=TOIH&login=default&AW=1225819809359 > > RESERVED FOR SUCCESS > > Sudipta Sengupta | TNN > > Like many other youngsters even Srinu Dhaisettti wants to go to a > premier institute for an MTech degree, work for a top notch > multinational company and live a fulfilling life. And from where he > stands today his dream still seems a little distant but not impossible > like it was until two years ago. > Born into a family that merely managed two square meals a day, > lived in a crammed shelter and had never travelled beyond East > Godavari district, Srinu was made to believe that big dreams were not > meant for him. > So despite a 73 per cent in his Class X board examination and then > a 72 per cent in his Diploma from Andhra Polytechnic College, the > pressure to provide financial support to the family took him to > Chennai for a job with a meagre salary. > "My father is a weaver in Kattamuru (my home town) and earns as > little as Rs. 5,000. My mother is a housewife and I also have a > younger brother who is still in school. My sister had to drop out > after Class VIII and is now married. With such a situation at home, I > had to start earning soon so that I could fund my brother's > education," says the 22-year-old who feels that an impressive academic > record is not always enough to climb the ladder. > "While in Chennai, my colleagues first inspired me to study further > so that I could take up a better job and earn even more. But the > thought of not being able to supplement the family earnings for a > while, stopped me from going for it. However, after a year I decided I > would do my engineering and wrote the Engineering Common Entrance Test > in 2007," he says. > Today Srinu is part of the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru > Technological University, Hyderabad and is looking forward to a career > in civil engineering. But the journey has not been easy. "When I told > my parents about my decision, they were very angry. I was sending home > a few thousand rupees every month from Chennai and they knew if I gave > the job up to study that extra earning would stop. And that meant more > struggle for my parents to make ends meet," says the son who is sure > to provide every comfort to his parents once he gets a better job. > And not only his parents who later gave in to his demand, Srinu > also thanks the quota system for being able to make it to JNTU which > has helped him realise his dreams and work even harder to achieve > them. "Though I had ranked eighth in ECET I would not have managed a > seat in the university because it had only three seats. So the Other > Backward Classes (OBC) quota helped me get into the university and I > am rather thankful to the government for providing us which such a > privilege," says Srinu, who continues to supplement his family's > income by teaching diploma students after college hours. > Principal of JNTU, N.V. Ramana Rao, is proud of this one student. > "Had it not been for the quota facility, we would have lost talents > like Srinu. Though he got a seat through the OBC quota he is now the > second topper of his second year batch and I am sure he will do the > college proud by becoming a successful man some day," he says. > Meanwhile, Srinu has his eyes firmly fixed on his goal. "My next > target is an M-Tech from IITKharagpur. If I can achieve that I will > feel that I have won the battle," he says. > >
