On both trips, that 8 year-old Nilam Hargude accompanied her mother to her workplace, she came back crying. Seeing her mother carry loads of vegetables and roam the streets of Mumbai was a dreadful experience for Nilam. She vowed never to join her mother in the trade.

At 3, when she lost her father, Nilam’s mother made ends meet by
selling vegetables. “Being the only bread winner, she carried so much more
weight than she could manage. She had to make enough business for the day.
She would carry around 40 kilos on her head and another 40  in her
arms,” Nilam, all of 22 today, told PaGaLGuY.

And this scenario which remain etched in little Nilam’s mind, is the reason why we are writing this article today. Nilam vowed then that
she would become an engineer and work in a ‘proper office’ which would get
her family out of the daily bhoj and misery.

On August 10, 2015,  Nilam leaves for the United States to pursue MS
in Electronics and Electrical engineering at California State University, Long
Beach.  Nilam is an engineer having
graduated from Ramrao Adik Institute of Technolog , Nerul, in  Mumbai. She was placed in a renowned IT company on graduation  but did
not take it up because it was not her specialization. “I know that taking a job
even for a while would have been good but it was in IT and my specialisation in
Electronics. Besides, I would have to pay a penalty had I left the job
midway,” Nilam said.

Instead the mother-daughter duo worked towards her admission to colleges abroad. Meena, her mother said, “She was always a good student and a lovable daughter too. I told her to follow her dreams. I will make arrangements for the money.”

Nilam with her mother Meena (left) 

Meena toiled hard everyday day  to make money for her daughter’s
dreams. “It was lakhs and lakhs but my mother used to be out of the home at
4.00 am and come back only late in the day. She worked very hard and collected
quite a bit of the amount.”

Nilam needs over Rs 20 lakhs and only Rs 7 lakhs is done for now,
which will suffice the first year’s studies. “The banks are not too forthcoming
with the money because we don’t have collateral or any property to show, so
let’s see,” said Nilam.

The youngster has made arrangements to work on campus and her seniors
from her engineering college who are already in the US, are going to be helping
her with it. “But I will have to spend on staying there and also food and
travel, so expenses will be incurred anyway,”  the 22 year old said as a matter-of-fact.

However, she is not deterred. It’s been tough for her to become an
engineer having studied in the Marathi medium section of Shree ND Bhuta High School
of Andheri, and also trying to overcome so many other ‘cultural’ issues. “I
didn’t know English too well for one. To overcome this problem, for an entire year, I only spoke in
English to everybody, read English newspapers, magazines and books and saw
English movies and plays, it all helped.”

Nilam agrees that there are few options for engineers in India and
most of them choose IT. “But I always wanted to study abroad and specialise in Electronics. Hence I will finish my Masters, conduct research
in my field of study and do my PhD. I will take my mother and brother to
the US. An engineer can do so much,” she signs off, eagerly waiting her first trip to the Mumbai airport and her first every flight. She promises there will be many more.