A waiter educated 170 children free of cost. Here is his dream come true.
What would you do if your pockets are empty at the age of 23, and your father is a rickshaw-puller? What would your goals look like, probably to get a house, meal or comfort you self with the necessary.
But Mithun from Amritsar planned to realize his dream- giving free education to underprivileged children.
Nine years ago, no money in his pocket, he took the first step to realizing his goal. He would collect second hand books for primary classes and teach kids on a vacant land near his village Nangli.
This young lad fed the going-to-be-youth of the nation. He started running a school eventually – “M-Real” that is - , “Methodologies for Rural Education and Learning”.
His school is run in a two-storey structure that he himself raised. He has also got donations from Dr Ernest Albert, a Dalai Lama disciple to run his school, amongst others.
He started working as a waiter at marriage parties and at food and tea vends. Now, he runs a kiosk at the Amritsar railway station. Today he teaches 170 students each day in two shifts.
Children are taught basics of English language, besides other subjects. Three of his students, who joined him in the middle classes, are now in high school, he reveals happily.
“The focus is to impart them English language skills so that they do not feel handicapped after primary education. I am in touch with two or three English-medium schools to absorb my students after Class V for a nominal fee, which I will pay,” he says.
The state government and the district administration, recognising Mithun’s services, awarded him a certificate. But the government has yet to lend him a helping hand.
“Education was a luxury. Children with schoolbags fascinated me and I insisted that I be sent to a school too. But I did not want to overburden my parents, who had two more children to raise. So, till the age of nine, I did menial jobs in the evening and paid my school fee. Today, I am in the final year of graduation. My college authorities have exempted me from paying any fee,” he says.
-PTC News
