Nevaan’s Journey, and Mine

There are moments in a mother’s life that carve themselves into memory with unspoken intensity. Leaving a child at a boarding school is one of them. It is a very well planned, non dramatic moment, quiet and organised, and very deceptively so. Yet within that silence sit a thousand emotions that only a mother can bear.

The trembling breath of the child fearing the unknown and the mother pretending to be brave, preparing for the final look which is exchanged before turning away. A journey of courage and hope that they take together while being apart. The child mumbling “ I’ve to go now” and the mother whispering “he has to grow now”.

Two years ago, I lived that moment. As I stood at the gates of Sarala Birla Academy with Nevaan’s tiny hand holding mine, I felt my world shifting. The doctor in me tried to analyse, reason, reassure, the mother in me felt fragile, vulnerable, and overwhelmingly protective and questioning if it’s all worth and my heart said “have faith”.

I wondered if anyone could understand his shyness, his fears, the way his silence also spoke. I wondered if the world inside those gates would hold him with softness on the days he needed it most. And above all, I wondered if he would feel alone. That day, when I walked back without him, each step felt heavier than the last. But life, in its quiet wisdom, knew what it was doing. 

Two years later, I see a different boy—and, in many ways, a different mother. Nevaan, who once hid behind me now stands with a new steadiness. His voice is clearer, his thoughts more expressive, his steps more assured. He talks about art with a spark in his eyes, his artworks cover my diaries, he narrates tales of cricket matches with pride, and speaks of his friends with genuine warmth.

Today he packs his bags for school with an eagerness to belong. He has missed his teachers and wardens like he misses home. For a mother, this is the most healing kind of reassurance: that her child has found comfort, care, and connection in a place she once feared might feel distant.

What touches me deeply is how beautifully his self-esteem has blossomed, not suddenly or dramatically, but gently— like sunlight filtering through leaves. He has learned to take small responsibilities, to trust his decisions, to navigate friendships, to embrace challenges. His academics, have grown step by step— not in leaps, but in meaningful, steady progress. He was very primitive at academics at start and the teachers made sure he progresses but more so, that he doesn’t lose faith in himself and in my eyes he’s a flag bearer of improvement.

And in watching him grow, I realised something powerful: Sarala Birla Academy did not take him away from me; it helped him return to himself. This journey, though named on him, changed me altogether. It taught me the art of letting go— not as abandonment but as love in its highest form. It taught me that children often rise in ways we cannot imagine when we give them the space to unfold. And it taught me that courage is not the absence of fear, it is walking forward despite it. 

Sarala Birla Academy gave my son more than an education. It gave him confidence, resilience, affection, and a sense of belonging. Nevaan suffers with an issue that doesn’t allow him to eat everything but the school took such good care of that! The pastoral care is better than what even I can provide at times: Teachers have told me such minute things about NEVAAN which only I knew. At times they have handled his downs even better than I could. His self esteem has surfaced with great poise, picking on life skills. 

Thank you Sarala Birla Academy, for giving Nevaan—and me—a renewed zest for life. THE CHILD IN HIM AND THE MOTHER IN ME BLOOM ALIKE. These achievements though not mentioned in any mark sheet are of invaluable and of utmost importance…gratitude is but a small word….

Nevaan Karn is a child who came to Sarala Birla Academy at Grade 5 and is now in Grade 6.  

The above is a spontaneous response from his mother, Dr Smita Mallick Karn, a Gynaecologist obstetrician at Muzaffarpur, Bihar. Navan father, Dr Deepak Karn, is a Neurosurgeon at Muzaffarpur, Bihar 

Also read: Sarala Birla Academy: IFSPD EUROPE GLOSCO Summit 2025