Ravi – Embracing self-reliance
Deepalaya again gave me and my friends an opportunity to experience entirely new world, new people and new culture so that we can be future leaders in our fields. I got 4.9 GPA in both semesters and was able to make many new friends. After coming back from USA in May 2012 I started working with Deepalaya to serve the alma mater with a thought to give back to the community what I got,†he says.
Ravi was only 6-years old when he lost his father. His mother, though an educated woman, was a homemaker. Ravi is reading book in library in Deepalaya School Kalkaji ExtensionGoing by the family tradition, his father never allowed her to work after marriage. When his father died, it became all-the-more difficult for her to find a job to serve Ravi and his little sister. Finally, she landed up in an export house and started cutting threads and was paid on piece rate basis. However, the compensation was a pittance compared to the kind of money required for educating the kids. Somehow she managed to educate Ravi till 5th in a private school and enrolled his sister in a government school but then the school shifted to a different place. It was difficult to afford the to and fro expenses.
“I remember how we walked long distances to find a school. After 2-3 months we were able to find Deepalaya School Kalkaji Extension. My mother asked me to sit outside and went to the Principal’s room forRavi after the Graduation Ceremony in USA with his mentor knowing whether I can get admission. I could imagine how she might have pleaded before Shikha Ma’am, who was moved by our story and asked me to read a story in English. I still remember the story of that angel who changed my life too,” recalls Ravi.
Destiny brought him to Deepalaya School Kalkaji extension, where he learnt everything, from sports to computers, from books to arts and crafts. “It was one of the best time of my life. I got opportunity to participate in so many events and competitions and won many prizes. I was elected the captain of the Mother Teresa House for 2 years consecutively, President of the Interact club and also head boy of the school. Deepalaya also gave me an opportunity to meet our former President Mr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Sports minister and veteran actor Mr. Sunil Dutt and Urban Development minister Ms. Kumari Shelja. Nothing would have been possible without Deepalaya,” exclaims Ravi.
After schooling, he did a vocational training course and an animation course from Picasso Animation college sponsored partly by Deepalaya MCMLS and Jyoti Sagar Scholarship. He was looking for a job in 2011 when he got an opportunity to visit US and learn video editing and filmmaking through CCIP program.
“Deepalaya again gave me and my friends an opportunity to experience entirely new world, new people and new culture so that we can be future leaders in our fields. I got 4.9 GPA in both semesters and was able to make many new friends. After coming back from USA in May 2012 I started working with Deepalaya to serve the alma mater with a thought to give back to the community what I got,” he says.
Ravi dreams of being an entrepreneur one day and to serve the nation and help people like him.
About the Author
Ravi Pahuja
Noida
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