“Thanks to the coaching I receive at the Maharani Learning Lab (MLL) I was able to improve my academic results,” she added.Thenmoley now 18, joined the Maharani programme in 2015 when she was 13 years old. Apart from the academic coaching at the MLL, she also learned baking and the Indian classical dance form of Bharatanatyam. “I never baked in my life but now I can bake cakes, breads and cookies. As the eldest child of my family, I love to try out what I learned at the MLL at home for my siblings who enjoy the cakes and cookies I bake,” she said. “I was also taught how to design flower bouquets. I did one for my mother for Mother’s Day and she loved it!” she added.
Thenmoley’s three sisters also participate in the MLL and the camps.
“I am very close to my sisters and I wanted them to improve themselves and learn what I had learned,” she added.For someone who was naturally shy and quiet, Thenmoley was at first fearful of the Maharani camps. “I was always fearful that someone might ask me a question and I would have to speak up, so I always tried to stay invisible, hoping no one will notice me. I lacked confidence and did not have the guts to try or explore new things,” she said.
“But, after being a part of the Maharani programme and all the camps, even my teachers have commented how I have changed and stand up in class to ask or answer questions” she said.“The camps gave me the opportunity to meet new people, make friends, work in a team and learn to become independent, skills which will be useful as I step into the real world.” said Thenmoley whose father is a lorry driver. She said all girls from rural areas must be encouraged to join the Maharani programme as it gives them the opportunity to learn new things and enhance their skills. She hopes to be an engineer one day and help her family.
