<div>Thounaojam Loyangamba Meitei was washing stone chips at a construction site when he found out that he had come fourth in Manipur's class XII commerce stream examinations.<div><br /></div><div>The part-time daily wage earner, who aspired to become a civil servant, was forced to take up work at an early age to help his family battle poverty.</div><div><br /></div><div>At first, couldn't quite believe his ears when his friend called him with the news."All that I wanted in the XIIth exams was to do better than my matriculation, when I scored 70.2 per cent," Meitei told PTI over the phone.</div><div><br /></div><div>Though he fell short of his target by a whisker -- scoring 69.2 per cent marks -- finding himself among the toppers was something he never expected.</div><div><br /></div><div>Meitei scored 346 marks out of a total of 500 in the examinations conducted by the Council of Higher Secondary Education Manipur, the results for which were announced yesterday.</div><div><br /></div><div>He was the sole student from a government institution -- Churachand Higher Secondary School -- to break the traditional grip of the Don Bosco school over the top five spots.</div><div><br /></div><div>"It does feel good," he responded calmly when asked about his achievement.However, he is not celebrating yet.</div><div><br /></div><div>Meitei wants to do his graduation in Commerce from Manipur's premier DM College but wonders how far can he go as he "has to face reality".</div><div><br /></div><div>His father is a farm labourer and mother a housewife from Keibi Makha Leikai, nearly 20 kilometres away from state capital, Imphal.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unlike teenagers of his age, Meitei is regularly working at construction sites. He picked up the shovel when he was studying in a high school, to supplement the family income.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Our family condition was such that when I was in the IXth standard, I began going for daily work whenever I had free time from school," he said.</div><div><br /></div><div>He has also been teaching students from Class II to VIII.</div><div><br /></div><div>"It starts at 5 in the morning and continues till about 7.30 am, after which either I go for work or my school," he said.</div><div><br /></div><div>While he teaches all subjects for lower class students, he focuses only on mathematics for those in the VIIIth class, a subject which is his favourite after Manipuri.</div><div><br /></div><div>The income from what he calls "side work", helped him to pay for his private tuition fees for Accounts and Mathematics -- the only subjects in which he felt the need for help.</div><div><br /></div><div>In Manipur, parents consider private tuitions as a necessity for their children, considering the frequent shutdowns of schools for weeks due to unrest.</div><div><br /></div><div>The third among four siblings, Meitei's childhood dream was becoming a civil servant, but poverty is getting in his way.</div><div><br /></div><div>"While I was growing up, I wanted to appear for the UPSC exam but now I am aware what sort of effort is needed for that and what my situation is," Meitei said.That thought, however, is not foremost in his mind at the moment, nor a get together with friends to celebrate his achievement.</div><div><br /></div><div>"I have to be at the work site today on time," Meitei said.</div></div>
<div>Thounaojam Loyangamba Meitei was washing stone chips at a construction site when he found out that he had come fourth in Manipur's class XII commerce stream examinations.<div><br /></div><div>The part-time daily wage earner, who aspired to become a civil servant, was forced to take up work at an early age to help his family battle poverty.</div><div><br /></div><div>At first, couldn't quite believe his ears when his friend called him with the news."All that I wanted in the XIIth exams was to do better than my matriculation, when I scored 70.2 per cent," Meitei told PTI over the phone.</div><div><br /></div><div>Though he fell short of his target by a whisker -- scoring 69.2 per cent marks -- finding himself among the toppers was something he never expected.</div><div><br /></div><div>Meitei scored 346 marks out of a total of 500 in the examinations conducted by the Council of Higher Secondary Education Manipur, the results for which were announced yesterday.</div><div><br /></div><div>He was the sole student from a government institution -- Churachand Higher Secondary School -- to break the traditional grip of the Don Bosco school over the top five spots.</div><div><br /></div><div>"It does feel good," he responded calmly when asked about his achievement.However, he is not celebrating yet.</div><div><br /></div><div>Meitei wants to do his graduation in Commerce from Manipur's premier DM College but wonders how far can he go as he "has to face reality".</div><div><br /></div><div>His father is a farm labourer and mother a housewife from Keibi Makha Leikai, nearly 20 kilometres away from state capital, Imphal.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unlike teenagers of his age, Meitei is regularly working at construction sites. He picked up the shovel when he was studying in a high school, to supplement the family income.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Our family condition was such that when I was in the IXth standard, I began going for daily work whenever I had free time from school," he said.</div><div><br /></div><div>He has also been teaching students from Class II to VIII.</div><div><br /></div><div>"It starts at 5 in the morning and continues till about 7.30 am, after which either I go for work or my school," he said.</div><div><br /></div><div>While he teaches all subjects for lower class students, he focuses only on mathematics for those in the VIIIth class, a subject which is his favourite after Manipuri.</div><div><br /></div><div>The income from what he calls "side work", helped him to pay for his private tuition fees for Accounts and Mathematics -- the only subjects in which he felt the need for help.</div><div><br /></div><div>In Manipur, parents consider private tuitions as a necessity for their children, considering the frequent shutdowns of schools for weeks due to unrest.</div><div><br /></div><div>The third among four siblings, Meitei's childhood dream was becoming a civil servant, but poverty is getting in his way.</div><div><br /></div><div>"While I was growing up, I wanted to appear for the UPSC exam but now I am aware what sort of effort is needed for that and what my situation is," Meitei said.That thought, however, is not foremost in his mind at the moment, nor a get together with friends to celebrate his achievement.</div><div><br /></div><div>"I have to be at the work site today on time," Meitei said.</div></div>