One fine morning, out of the blue, I took a pen and started writing. Well, my mind had already planned for a task which I could not stop. It wished to write about Anuraag, who has his own story of success at the age of 23.
Anuraag’s childhood is different from other children. Though his parents are alive, he is forced to lead his life like an orphan. His parents are the refugee from Bangladesh. They beg and live under the Raja Bazaar flyover. Anuraag, when he was of 10, his father forced him to beg in front of the famous Hanuman temple at Rajbanshi Nagar. Though he hated begging but was scared of the beatings which he would get by his father on his denial.
Well, begging turned into a boon. As recalled by Anuraag, it was a Tuesday. Generally, people especially pray to Lord Hanuman on this day. Moreover, it was raining. Anuraag was in his shorts, barefooted sitting just outside the temple gate with hands spread for the alms. He saw a white ambassador car which stopped. Out of this car, three people stepped out. There was a boy, who was just five or six-year-old said Anuraag, who was wearing a beautiful suit. A man was in white kurta-pajama and a lady draped one of the expensive sarees.
Anuraag was awestruck to see them walking to him after praying to the lord. The man gave Anuraag 10 rupee note and said that it was his son’s birthday and to buy sweets and have a great time.
Tears rolled into Anuraag’s eyes. He recalled his family members. He never knew his own birth date. He never celebrated one in his life. A child of just 10-year-old was so frustrated with his life that he decided to run away from his parent’s bondage and lead a free life.
Anuraag said that when it was time to go back to his parents, he decided firmly to trench all the relationships and start leading a new life. He had ten rupees in his pocket along with some coins. He pleaded and requested the autowala to take him to Danapur station for free.
It was around 9:00 pm when he had reached Danapur station. He recalled the first night which he had spent, all alone on platform no.1 without his family members. In the morning, when he woke up, there was no shouting and smacking. He brushed his teeth with neem stick and bought a cup of tea and two pieces of bun.
Anuraag decided to plan his future. He wanted to do anything other than begging. His eyes moved here and there in search of some opportunity. He went to the auto stand where the autowalas were shouting and were trying to call the customers for the ride. Anuraag started shouting and said an old autorickshaw driver to pay him a rupee for each customer whom he would be calling and pleading
them to sit in the auto for the ride. The old man agreed and the whole day, Anuraag went on calling, requesting the riders to come and sit in the old man's auto.
Platform no.1 turned into his temporary house. He felt excited as he earned pretty handsome money. He could hardly count as he had never been to school. He gave the money to the autowala and inquired about the total earning of the day. It was 84 rupees. The money belongs to him. Nobody will come and snatch off his money. He spent some of his food and rest of the money, he started pooling.
His first teacher was the old autowala, who taught him to count numbers. The anxiety to know about the earning earned by Anuraag every day forced the boy to learn things quickly.
Anuraag also learnt to ride the auto. He started cleaning and offered service to other drivers too.
One afternoon, he saw his father and mother at the station. Cold sweat drenched his clothes. He was scared and did not come out of the tea stall where he hid for three hours. He thought, if his father saw him, he would surely take him back to the temple and would force him to beg.
Anuraag was also keen to learn to read and write and started taking tuitions from one of the schoolmasters who lived in Khagaul.
Seeing the learning ability and interest, the School Master inquired about his parents and about his past. Anuraag lied to the schoolmaster and said that he is an orphan.
His answer touched the heart of the schoolmaster. Anuraag never expected that this one statement would change his life.
The School Master asked Anuraag if given an opportunity to work, would he like to work in the school. He will have to clean the classrooms and water the plants in the garden. Other than this, he can learn and study in the school along with other children.
Anuraag’s hardship and interest to learn and excel in life, kept his momentum on and he had successfully completed his graduation. Currently, he is working as a School Teacher in the same school which gave him education along with shelter.
When I met Anuraag the day-before, he told me about his past and why is he so passionate towards teaching. Well, I could only sum-up in a single line that, “Passion paves the way to Success”.
