I go through the newspapers these days. All I find is new scams, another death related news in West Bengal, Lokpal bill, political statements, Bollywood break-ups. And if not this, news of a new entry in Big Boss.
But in all these times, what made me feel happy was this story...
Meet Ravi, he is in later teenage, and sells peacock feather fan, or "Indian air-conditioner" as he says, outside Hanging Garden, Mumbai. All of his family members are street sellers, doing their independent business. As he says, he and his grandmother has a separate business. His grandmother makes the peacock fans and he sells them.
Okay, so you might think what's so special about this kid? Millions of people in India have the same story, but makes him stand out is the fact that he can sell you stuff in about a dozen languages including Hindi, English, Dutch, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and more. And no, he did not attended a multilingual school. All he did was to learn from the different tourist that used to come to visit the Hanging Gardens. He talked to them, improved himself until he was finally able to sell his stuff in those languages.
What made him come in to limelight? The credit goes to sufiwindsurfing's YouTube channel. He first visited India and saw him. Being impressed, He video shoot him and then decided to upload it on YouTube. The video soon became a viral. Few years later, He visits India again and luckily finds the same guy again. He again video shoots him, takes his interview and uploads on YouTube.
Ravi says people come to him asking is he the same person. He truly has become a celebrity and has many different videos of his on YouTube.
Here, I will show you all the three videos.
This is the first video that was shoot, when he was quite young.
The second video is when Ravi has grown up
And the third video is a interview of his.
What really makes me happy is not the fact that there's a street seller boy in India who can speak a dozen language, but the way he learned those language. That's the finest example of true determination. Usually people in similar situation's get dis-heartened and lose confidence, but what this boy did is truely commendable. This boy has truely inspired me, and I am sure it will inspire others too.
Another incident took place with me last month. I just came out of my coaching institute, and was discussing things with one of my friend, Puneet, when suddenly someone peeped into us and asked a weird question.
Man: Ye english sikhate hai? (Do they teach english?)
Puneet: Aapko english seekhni hai? (Do you want to learn english?)
Man: Haan, Kam aayegi kafi, naukri mein. (Yes, It will be of great help for my job)
Punnet: Toh, aap kaha tak padhe ho? (Till what level have you studied?)
Man: Mein zyada nahi padh paya tha.... Till 9th.. (I couldn't study much, till 9th grade)
Puneet: Kyon, Chod kyon di? (Why did you left? )
Man: Father expire kar gaye the, toh ghar mein main akela tha. (My father died, and I was the alone working men)
Man: Mein abhi kam karta tha... Lifestyle store mein (I used to work in the Lifestyle store recently)
Man: Phir maine chod diya (Then, I left)
Puneet: Kyon, kafi accha tha... (Why? It was quite good.. )
Man: Nahi, paise kam milte the (No, Pay was not good)
Puneet: Kitna milta tha? (How much do you used to get?)
Man: ₹5000
Puneet: Hmm...
Man: Aaj kal mein yeh private business karta houn (These days I do a private business)
Points out to his bag, I could see common item...
Man: Toh english aa jayegi toh sahi ho jayega (It would be great if I could learn English)
Me: Koi badi jagah se mat karna (Don't do it from a big place)
Puneet: Haan, woh aapse paise le lenge, aur padha denge, aapko samajh aye na aye, woh nahi dekhte (They will take money from you, teach you... They won't care if you understand or not)
Man: Hmm... Kitne paise lete hai? (How much do they take?)
Punnet: Hame idea nahi hai.. Par ₹2000-5000 (We are not sure but around ₹2000-5000)
Me: Agar koi alag se padha raha ho, toh waha chale jao (If anyone is teaching you seperatly, then go there)
Man: Kaun hoga? (But who?)
Me: Hote hai bahut log.. Koi jaan pehchan ka ho (There are many.. Someone you might know)
Puneet: Baki yeh institues toh bekar hai (But these institutes are useless)
Me: Ya woh kitab aati hai, woh le lo (Or you can take a book?)
Man: Aap se baat karli toh pata chal gaya... thank you.. (After talking to you, I came to know... Thank you)
He walks a few steps and comes again...
Man: Aur agar computer sikhu toh? (And If I learn computers first?)
Me: Uske liye toh english chahiye. (For that you need english)
Me: Pehle english hogi, fir computer (First english, then computer)
Man: Okay.. Thank you...
What really made me feel good in the above two instances is the fact that they all had wanted to learn and fight from their situation instead of sitting back and regretting on their situation. That is the finest example of will power. I am sure someday that man will surely learn english and be well settles, because he has will power, an ambition to do. What I really hope is such people should be encouraged and should become an inspiration for others.
May god bless all!
