MANI.....

On Friday 11th december, I was returning home walking on the 100 ft road. As I was walking on the road, I saw a young boy walking besides me. I strolled for a while, and then it just happened that I greeted him. I introduced him about myself. He was enthusiastic and reciprocated with equal zeal. His name was Mani. A young lad, in his teens, perhaps was 19 years old.

When I asked what he was doing, he said, he has completed his PUC and now searching for a job. This didn’t come as a surprise to me as I have met many teens here in Bangalore who stopped their education in want of a job. In most cases, it has been family problems. Most of them have left their studies for want of money to support their family. With Mani, the case was not very different. He had lost his father when he was in PUC. With nobody at home to take care of his sister and mother he had no option, but to search for a job.

He told, his father had left Rs70K when he died. That was one support, which many are not so lucky to be bestowed with in such situations. He further added, he had bought an auto rickshaw with that money. With one rickshaw in hand, he could fetch a loan of 2 lakh rupees. With that loan he bought two more of them. There was a beaming smile of his face when he said he is now an owner of 3 autos …”Indeed A proud owner he was”. He later added, he rents them for Rs 150/- per rickshaw per day. Out of the Rs 450/- he earns daily from renting the autos, 2/3rd he gives to his mom and remaining 1/3rd is used to redeem the loan.

As I was listening to him with awe, I was wondering, how gutsy this guy is…At the age of 19, he has taken complete responsibility for his family…He could take the risk of going for a loan and now an owner of quarter dozen rickshaws.

He further continued, he had learnt good English during his PUC days and now in search of a job which could fetch him Rs 5K or 6K a month. He had his sister’s marriage in a year’s time and he wanted to generate a sum of Mrs. 2 lakhs for her marriage. He had got an offer in a BPO in Banaswadi and he would be joining the same in a week’s time. I had met him on the road when he was going to the same company to get is offer letter.

By this time, I had to take a left turn and he had to go straight…I wished him Good Luck and Wished God to get him success in his entire endeavor…

As I was reaching my home, I was wondering. How a teen lad like Mani had the sense of responsibility towards his family…There was a firing desire in him to do something and be somebody in his life…He felt responsible for his sister and was ready to put his extra effort towards ensuring her good future…In his capacity he was doing whatever he found possible. Future for him still seemed uncertain, yet he had a will and courage to face it and make the most out of it…I could sense he wanted to become a big man in his life…

Hats off to Him…I saluted him and wished him good luck once again….