What is your name? What is your age? What is your village?
My name is Sonu Rathore. I am 15, from Sardar Samand.
When did you come to the hostel?
I’ve been here two years.
Describe your family. Describe the family members, who they are, their ages, etc. Tell how it is to live with your family. What were the hardships and challenges that you faced, living at home?
My mother is 35, father is 40. He is a farmer. I have two brothers, two sisters.
The difficulty was that we have no electricity in our home, which made it hard to study at night or any time it was dark. Generally, we are always lacking money.
What did you do before you came to the hostel? Work? Study?
I studied.
What challenges do you encounter here at the hostel?
None.
Do you like the hostel, the school? In what ways do you like or dislike them?
The living standard is good. I study well here and I’m happy with what I’m learning.
What makes you happy?
I’m happy here because I love to study and I can study here.
If you had three wishes, what would you wish for?
I want to have a good job.
I do not want to depend on my father for money.
What would you like to do in the future?
I want to join the army and become an officer. A woman officer makes 15,000 rupees.
What is your favorite thing?
I like to study and also to play games. I love handball.
What would you have if you could have anything in the world?
I want to clear the RAS exam. After that, I will ask my father to allow me to continue my education. I don’t know what will happen at that point.
Tell me about your mother.
She’s nice. She has a fifth grade education.
What makes you cry?
I cry when I fail at such things as tests. I also hate to lose at games, at handball.