'Exams first, marriage later' motto wins Maha student praise

A Class XII student of Aurangabad in Maharashtra presented a commendable example of commitment to education by answering her Economics exam even as her groom waited at a wedding hall.

Twenty-year-old Renuka Pawar, a resident of Harsul village near here, was to wed Shankar on Saturday at a mass marriage ceremony, the same day as her Class XII exams.

Pawar said she had insisted that the wedding would have to be scheduled in such a way that it did not clash with her exams.

Hailing from a poor family which fell on still harder times after the death of her father, Pawar said education was important to her and she had worked hard to ensure it did not suffer a break.

As soon as she entered the wedding hall at around 2:15pm Saturday, the people gathered there for three marriages welcomed her with a round of applause after being told the reason for her absence since morning and hurried entry.

A little while later, she and Shankar tied the knot along with two other couples at the mass marriage ceremony.