Manju is an interesting person in this story. She is a college student, teacher to the children in Annawadi, and cook and housekeep for her family of five. This is primarily because her mother is off chasing other ambitions, so she is left to care for the family. Her role as the primary teacher in Annawadi's "bridge" school is one that is thankless, as her mother is officially the teacher. She toils on with these duties with few hours of sleep each night, but rarely complains or fusses. She seems to do this out of necessity for her family, but also due to a sense of duty as a female in the Indian society. This concept is somewhat foreign to me, that she would simply accept the role her mother essentially vacates, while still chasing after own education to further herself. She doesn't seem to approve of her mother's corrupt ways, yet still accepts the results.
Manju reminds me of my mother in some ways. My mom is a retired kindergarten teacher, and it seems that they share many of the same qualities in their teaching. Manju had a "secret pupil" in Meena, and my mother has also helped a few children outside the scope of school due to poverty stricken parents. But while it seems that Manju struggles with reading and comprehension, it appears much of this is just a culture and language difference between India and America. My mother was the one who taught me to read at age 4, so she was always very keen on education and literacy, similar to Manju.
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