Most people give up on old dreams once life gets busy with jobs, families and daily struggles. But a 45-year-old woman from Jammu has shown that it is never too late to go back and finish what was left incomplete. Renu Hans, a Kashmiri Pandit woman who cannot hear or speak, has cleared her Class 10 examination with a good percentage, more than two decades after she first attempted it and how her son played a pivotal role throughout her journey is inspiring.Meet Renu Hans: the 45-year-old Kashmiri Pandit woman who cleared class 10 examinations over 20 years laterWhile most people settle into usual routines after starting a family, Renu Hans decided to complete something she had carried in her heart for 22 years. The Kashmiri Pandit woman, who is unable to hear or speak, recently passed her class 10 board examination with a 82 per cent, according to PTI.Renu lives with her family in a government flat in Lower Roop Nagar on the outskirts of Jammu, where they settled after migrating from Chawalgam village in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district after the migration of Kashmiri Pandits in the early 1990s. The family’s modest home has just a bedroom, a lobby, a kitchen and a bathroom, but within these small walls, a big dream was quietly kept alive.
Renu’s son helped her fulfill her dream
The person behind Renu’s success is her only son, Naman Koul, a class 12 Science student who took charge of teaching his mother even while preparing for his own board exams. “I felt that my mother should not be confined to the house. If she studies, she can move forward in life. She always dreamt of studying and getting a good job. She had been carrying this dream for a very long time, and completing class 10 was the first step towards fulfilling that dream,” Koul told PTI.Renu had first attempted the class 10 exam before her marriage but did not clear it then, and years passed before she got another chance. This time, she appeared for the bi-annual exam conducted by the J&K Board of School Education in April this year, with results declared on September 10.Koul told PTI that his mother felt nervous on exam day. “She was a little scared and anxious because there were students much younger than her, as well as older candidates, including elderly people. But with time, she settled down and became comfortable,” he said.
Getting her registered for the exams was the difficult part
Even registering Renu for the exam was not simple, as Koul initially had no idea about the process for enrolling an adult learner, and was told the earlier scheme allowing this had been discontinued. It was only after following up on new developments that the family managed to get her registered.Renu can neither hear nor speak, so the family has always communicated through gestures, something Koul learned growing up with the help of his maternal grandparents and aunt. “Slowly, I began to understand what they were trying to say through gestures. My maternal aunt and grandparents also supported me, and I continued moving forward with them,” he said, referring to his parents, both of whom are deaf and mute. His father, Bablu Koul, works as a tailor from home.Balancing his own studies, Koul tutored his mother in the evenings and cleared her doubts at night. Renu, who also enjoys painting, now hopes to move ahead in life after this milestone. She credited her husband for standing firmly behind her decision to study. “My father gave her his full support. There was no anger or objection from his side. He told her that even if she wanted to work, he would stand by her. She should not be afraid and should always remain confident,” Koul said, quoting his father to PTI.
