Draupadi Murmu, candidate of NDA for the post of the President of India, began her career as a teacher in Sri Aurobindo Integral Education School at Rairangpur, District Mayurbhanj, Odisha. She not only taught there, but taught herself to be tenacious, all through her life. Despite losing her husband and two sons as a personal tragedy, she persevered to remain cool, in order to look after her daughter Itishree. When she got a direct phone call from none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi a few days back, all her life of struggle came back to her in a rush

of memories.

Life had never been easy those days when she struggled to keep her foothold in a world of stark realities. It is said that hardships in life makes us stronger to face the challenges. Who knows it better than her how depressing her life was when she lost her two sons, husband, brother and mother within a short span of a few years! But it did not lower her determination to continue to live for her only daughter and the poor people, she looked after.

Beginning her life as an honorary teacher set the ball rolling for her. With humility came wisdom and she crossed many hurdles to climb the ladder of success. Her humble nature can be conspicuous if we observe how she swept the premises of Lord Shiva’s temple, to offer her thanks to the Lord for her chance to be a candidate for the Presidential Election. The media now compares her to most beloved Ex-President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. Both were teachers in their own right. DraupadiMurmu began her career as a teacher and Dr APJ ended his life as a teacher.

Her possible journey to be the first citizen of the country (if elected as the President) was never an easy one. In her chequered career, at first as a beloved teacher at school, then as a clerk and finally as a political leader, had braved

through many storms. It is true that life teaches many lessons and we learn everything through hard ways. It will be our expectation to see how a teacher turns to be a President.