Anything for the family...

[Shahrukh Atpade]

I visited one family for SALT in Vashi Village, Kolhapur. Mother, father and their daughter were present in the family at that time.

We met them for the first time and introduced them to us and our work. After that I started taking SALT activity. In the family no one is more educated. Mother is only a 6th standard passed and Father is a 12th standard pass. The elder daughter goes to college while the younger son goes to school. When asked to recall a good work experience in his life, he thought for a while and began to tell.

When the mother of that family was asked what she was proud of, she said that there was so much poverty in her father's house that time her father could not teach both her and her brother, so she stopped her school and told her father to teach her brother, so her brother today studied hard and now he is engineer. She is very proud of this that she stopped her own education and taught her brother. Her husband and daughter did not know what the woman had done in her life. When she shared this story, the woman's daughter and husband felt great and felt proud.

After my mother's experience, my father shared some of his experiences. He said that I studied in 12th standard but during that time money was very important to study. As my family did not have that much money, I could not pursue further education despite being smart. As soon as I 12th passed I got a job in the Gram Panchayat in the sanitation department. There is a lot of work to be done in this department. Once there was work to clean a 5 km long pipe. But no one is ready to do this work. Then I decided to clean that pipe. If I had not done that work, many families would have to live in unsanitary conditions. If you take such a risk, your superiors will be impressed and will increase your salary. I did that risky job thinking that the seniors would trust me and it would make my family feel proud. It took me 3 hours to clean that pipe. I was having trouble breathing while inside but I came out after finishing the job. After coming out of the pipe I was feeling very uncomfortable. But I was not afraid because because of me many people would be able to live in a clean atmosphere.

When daughter and wife listen to this story They feel very sad that this person does this work without caring for his life and he thinks only for his family, his daughter and wife are also proud of the work he has done as a human being.

AER

1. Our experiences. Our interest came to help. And in that root they learned something and gave them a new way to live.

2. We want to have a discussion like this.