A student of Class V, Abhishek Kumar Paswan aspires to be a musician and make his father proud. Recently he was awarded the Raj Saran Varma Scholarship for excellence in English, a stellar milestone for a child who did not know how to speak English when he joined the school in 2015.

Abhishek is an enthusiastic boy, who has been at the forefront of academics as well as extra-curricular activities. Extremely participative, extrovert, Abhishek loves engaging in deep conversations with teachers, mentors as well as his peers, Abhishek gets involved in any work completely immersing himself with complete commitment.

But Abhishek comes from a humble background. His father, Ashok Kumar Paswan is a tea stall vendor and mother Renu Devi is a domestic help. He and his brother, Deepak are the first people to learn English in their family. Each day, Abhishek ensures to read the English newspaper before reaching school.

“Abhishek has shown improvement gradually. He is a very keen and attentive child, just needs to gear up his consistency He is an enthusiastic learner and stays focused on the task at hand,” says his class teachers.” According to the counseling team, he is a very sensitive and humble child who believes in helping and sharing.

Abhishek’s education is being sponsored by the employees of CISCO through Lotus Petal Foundation and CAF India’s Employee Giving Programme.