Shishu Niketan High School, Guwahati. Manash Das

Shiuli Nandi, a class VI student of Shishu Niketan High School here, lost her mother the day after her birth. Her father passed away two years ago.

She has been brought up by her maternal grandmother and excels in academics, securing 80 per cent in her examinations.

This saw her receive the award for courage at the first edition of IIHM Presents The Telegraph School Awards for Excellence 2018 Powered by Sister Nivedita University at ITA Pragjyoti Centre for Performing Arts here on Saturday.

The awards, administered by The Telegraph Education Foundation, were launched in 1996 in Calcutta.

“My mother, who is 58,shares her room with Shiuli. My mother brought her up like she brought me up and my sister,” said Rakesh Roy, Shiuli’s uncle.

Roy, who works in a greeting cards store at Fancy Bazar here, earns around Rs 15,000 a month.

“Shiuli often wants to change her surname to Roy so that she does not feel an outsider in the family,” said Roy. He has two children, Ritesh and Shweta.

“Shweta is Shiuli’s classmate. I bear the responsibility of all three children. Their future depends on me, especially Shiuli, whom we have never discriminated against and would never like her to feel the absence of her parents.

“The only concern is that my monthly income is not adequate enough to run the family and send the three kids to English-medium schools in Guwahati,” Roy said.

“We are aware of Shiuli’s interests, such as drawing and academics. We must try to take that forward. Where food is concerned, she loves chicken. Her every choice, from reading to eating, matters to us because we are her parents,” he said.

Shiuli is aiming to become a professional singer and also get a job so that she can help her family financially and earn more laurels.

The young student has everything sorted out.