A story that’s worth sharing, Sumit Shukla’s real-life story

PART ONE- LIFE AT KANPUR

I must have been eight or nine at that time, a year younger than my brother when I first witnessed my parents crying in the corner of a small room of 1 BHK apartment. They were holding some notes in their unsteady hand, battling to figure out where to spend that hard-earned money. They were struggling to decide whether to spend that money on our education, or food and groceries. I have heard people say how time flew quickly for them, and they never realized when they matured. As far as my brother and I are concerned, we knew exactly when we grew up. It was the time when we saw tears in those otherwise hopeful eyes. So, when I saw my parents crying, I was shocked and shattered because as an eight-year-old kid I never felt there could be something that could break their strength.

My father was born and grew up on the outskirts of Kanpur, he was just a two-year-old kid when my grandfather died. When his two older brothers (who are 10-12 years older than him) got married and moved away, he was the only child my grandmother was now left with. He spent his life farming, tilling the land, and somehow lived through those struggling times with the bare minimum they could earn from his childhood years. So, he never had a normal, happy childhood. In the year 1980, papa with his mother moved to Kanpur city. They lived in a rented house, a house that lacked the basic necessities such as a proper toilet, floor, and other facilities. There was no electricity supply, so he studied under a street light (he literally lived through the experience which people state metaphorically). He used to work during the day as my dadi was not in a condition to work anymore and studied at night. One thing that always troubled him was his inability to attain decent education, his brothers too declined to give him five rupees (which was the fee of an English medium school during those days). He took up a private job at Kanpur and financed his studies with his earnings. Later, his elder brother provided him with a job in MTS (multi-tasking staff) department at the post office where he worked. Papa acquired a single-room apartment in an area that was called “ Labour Colony”, through a lottery        system that was organized by the government for the people belonging to economically weaker sections during those days. It was not only small but it was situated in a despicable location.

My uncle knew my maternal grandfather, and that is how he got to know about my father and the wedding took place. Unfortunately, it was all done in haste, because he (my maternal grandfather) was hell-bent to marry her off to anyone then. The saddest part was, that he knew our mother was a studious child, who excelled in the final year of her schooling, was a Governor Award winner, and wanted to pursue Ph.D., she also got a job in LIC, yet he stopped her from moving further and becoming financially independent. Mummy was just 23 when she gave birth to her 1^st child and a year later, I was born. She was constantly pestered by her in-laws.

We were so underprivileged that we always had a dearth of necessities. The sort of endless difficulties, uncertainties, and harassment that both my parents were subjected to is indescribable even today. He was earning as much as 200 rupees during his initial years as a staff member; so, papa was hesitant to take a stand against the wishes of his brothers as he was deeply dependent on them in many ways. The job of a postman has been an uphill task for papa. In those days there were no phones and internet, so he was required to search the addresses all by himself. The addresses were written in English and English was all greek to him. So, Papa struggled to keep up with his job’s expectations every day. Hence, getting both his children enrolled in a proper English medium school has been his vision ever since he can remember.

Papa once got a chance to turn one of his dreams into reality. Thinking he would manage to pay the fees, he readily enrolled his eldest son in a proper English medium school. He discovered that the fee of the school was way higher than this income and other needs demanded his attention. With a heavy heart, he pulled bhaiya out of the school. There was a Christian school at a place papa used to

distribute letters. Papa went to meet the Father and Principal of the school to enquire about the fees. When the principal found out about our economic condition, he asked papa to get both of us admitted and he offered concessions till the time we left. So, I studied at an ordinary convent school from prep till class six.

While papa and mummy were confronting financial difficulties and constant family issues, Bhaiya too was battling with an affliction and its mental and social outcomes. He had developed a brain fever when he was born. For the doctors it was a lost cause, they said it will either be my mother or my elder sibling who will lose their life. Papa wanted my mother to stay alive. He was in a coma for at least twenty days. By god’s grace, my brother was showing a sign of recovery and they were ultimately able to salvage him too. However, he lost his ability to comprehend things at a normal pace. He was a slow learner. Whereas I was someone who persistently passed all my exams with flying colors, and excelled in all my studies, he failed a lot of times. Papa used to talk to the principal and requested them to promote him.

However, the school principal refused to promote him once he was in class 9 and we both came together. Then I took upon myself the responsibility to teach my brother. He scored almost 75 percent in the ninth standard. Thus, there was a massive improvement in his

performance. I was again a topper, but I was happier about the kind of aid I was able to deliver to the one who once scored zeros in multiple subjects at times. I began to realize my potential at that point. I thought if I could teach my brother, I can help anyone learn the concepts of math and physics.

The constant tension to economize our needs compelled me to work from a very young age. In 2006, out of necessity, I started tutoring 2 kids of my neighbor when their mother came to me asking if I could tutor her children, in return I got fifty rupees a month for teaching both. I taught them what I learned and the outcome turned out to be great for them as well as for me. Eventually, I gained a little popularity as a teacher in my locality and I began teaching more students. Still, we failed to meet our basic needs. At the age of 15, I started to work as a waiter at events and parties with my brother during the wedding seasons. We got the minimum wage of two hundred rupees in exchange for our service back then. There is a railway line in the vicinity of our house. My brother decided that we should do some manual jobs like- lifting coals, to meet the needs. From here we were able to secure 400 rupees to buy petrol for our motorcycle that we rode to school as it was quite far from the house. This is how we managed to get through our lives in our initial years.

After witnessing an improvement in my brother’s performance in 9th grade, a friend of mine requested me to help with certain subjects. My classmates knew how we two brothers are poles apart as far as mental aptitude is concerned. Indeed, bhaiya worked hard but the common inference that could be drawn during that time was this- If I could help someone like him to perform well, I could help others (who were comparatively sharper than bhaiya) too. In 2011 while I was in eleventh grade, I started tutoring my friends. I knew some students wanted to understand science clearly but they are unable to grasp the concepts. Eventually, I found myself helping 20-30 students during those days with complex concepts. I was running out of space. Hence, my brother and I established a proper coaching center where I also coached tenth standards. It can be said that my early life as a professional teacher started in Kanpur itself when I was a teenager.

This is Sumit Shukla’s real-life story shared in his own beautiful words with storyofsouls.com

Sumit’s story link to part two:

https://www.storyofsouls.com/a-story-thats-worth-sharing-sumit-shuklas-real-life-story-2/

Sumit’s story link to part three:

https://www.storyofsouls.com/a-story-thats-worth-sharing-sumit-shuklas-real-life-story-3/

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