Rains and potholed roads were no deterrence for a Jharkhand man who drove over 1,200 km on a scooter, with his pregnant wife sitting pillion

Gwalior: Rains and potholed roads were no deterrence for a Jharkhand man who drove over 1,200 km on a scooter, with his pregnant wife sitting pillion, so that she could appear for an exam for aspiring teachers here in Madhya Pradesh.

The tribal couple, Dhananjay Kumar (27) and his wife Soni Hembram (22), travelled on the two-wheeler from Ganta Tola village in Godda district of Jharkhand to reach Gwalior, a centre for DEd (Diploma in Education) exam, required to be cleared by those wanting to take up teaching jobs.

Exams

The wish to see his wife become a school-teacher inspired Kumar to undertake the arduous journey, covering more than 1,200 km across four states, braving rains and bad roads in the midst of Covid-19-enforced lockdown.

As trains, buses and other means of transport were not available, we decided to traverse the journey by road on our two-wheeler, Kumar said.

My wife, who is pregnant, was initially reluctant to take this arduous journey. But after seeing my determination, she agreed for this long journey, he said.

The couple arrived here on August 30 for DEd exam being conducted by the MP Board of Secondary Education. The examination will continue till September 11.

Photo

As a video of the couple and their journey taken by some newspersons went viral on social media, the district administration stepped in to help them.

If I had hired a taxi for coming to Gwalior, it would have cost Rs 30,000 which was a big amount for me. Whatever little jewellery we have, we mortgaged it to raise Rs 10,000.

"So far, we have spent Rs 5,000 on our one-way journey and on a room that we have taken on rent in Deendayal Nagar here, Kumar said.

We started off on August 28 morning and enroute stayed a night each in Muzaffarpur (Bihar) and Lucknow to reach Gwalior on our scooter, said Kumar.

ExamEarlier I thought that it won’t be possible for me to appear in this examination but after seeing my husband determination and courage, I got ready for this long journey.

"We faced a lot of trouble due to rains. I got mild fever enroute, but now everything is okay. I will apply for teaching job in Jharkhand and I am sure I will get selected, Soni said.