She had burning desire to become a teacher: principal

The death of Nagashree S C, a native of Sooreghatta village in the district, at IIT campus, Guwahati, has come as a shocker for her teacher and principal at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya at Gajanur, R Premakumar.

Premkumar told DH that he had no clue that she would resort to such an act. "Nagashree was equally good at studies and sports. She had a burning desire to become a teacher. Before flying to Guwahati, she had come to the school with her father (Chandrashekhar Aithal), an areca grower, and had expressed her desire to become a teacher. Then I had told her that she could become a teacher even after doing BTech and MTech. I had convinced her that admission to IIT should not be considered as an impediment to become a teacher."

"On Teacher's Day (Sept 5), she had sent me a message on WhatsApp wishing me. In the post, she had expressed her burning desire to be a teacher. On Sept 11, a day before she took the extreme step, Nagashree had sent me a message saying that she was not well. I immediately sent a message asking her what's the problem. She, however, did not reply to my post. A few minutes later, I called her. But she did not pick the call. The next day, I heard the heart-breaking news that my favourite student ended her life in IIT hostel room in Guwahati," he rued.

He further said that he strongly suspects that some heated arguments must have exchanged between her and parents a day before she ended her life. It is painful that her excellent academic journey ended in this manner."

He said that Nagashree had only relished success in academics since her school days. "So, she knew how to handle success and not failures/rejection. She was truly an inspirational student. She had the ability to excel in any work assigned to her."