Step 1: Restated context:
Annan's guidance reframed the discrimination Bama witnessed as something to be overcome through personal merit rather than accepted passively.
Step 2: Restated answer:
He urged her to see education as the one route by which caste-based humiliation could be defeated, since a person's knowledge and achievements command respect regardless of birth; inspired by this, Bama poured herself into her studies and rose to the top of her class, validating her brother's belief.