“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give,” said Winston S. Churchill once.
As easy as it may seem to say something like this, one faces the real test of time in situations where you have two options – to give with all your heart or to walk away. And this Mumbai resident chose the former. 15 years ago, when he came across a girl who really wanted to study and whose parents couldn’t afford to pay for her education, he decided to pay for it instead.Till today, he has paid for the overall education of over 200 such children. This is his story.
"15 years ago, my wife came home with a little girl who was going to get removed from school because her parent's couldn't afford to pay for her education. I decided to pay for it straight away because she was so keen to study and make something of herself. As time passed by, we would ask street children if they were going to school and the one's who said they weren't because of poverty, we would enrol with our own money. Till date, I've paid for the education of over 200 such children...including their college and advanced studies fees.
Back in 2001 when I began to pay for their education, I was a well to do man with a comfortable salary to afford everything, but it all changed when I met with an accident. I have a hole in my left foot, I'm almost completely blind in my right eye and was on bedrest for 4 years which depleted most of my finances but my wife and I made sure that we first accounted for these children before worrying about our expenses. We still look after 40 children -- if one of them finishes their education we look for more children to sponsor. Times are such that if I want to eat biryani, I will have to think twice because money is tight... but our happiness level is infinite. So many of our children have gone onto work at big multi nationals and often offer me money to retire, but I only tell them one thing -- 'pay it forward to someone else who needs the money and you would have repaid me for a 100 lifetimes.'
That's the beauty of what my wife and I started together 15 years ago -- many of those who we sponsored now take care of children like them, whose parents cannot afford to pay for their education...and that's all we ever wanted."
Source,Credit & Read More at: http://www.thebetterindia.com/50244/educating-underprivileged-children-mumbai/