Ankush Tiwari, 25 years old, a Senior Software Engineer in an MNC, a Writer, a Poet, an Author, and a founder of a literary community known as “Chand Ka Tukda.” Various literary platforms and colleges, including IIMs, TEDx, and Wittyfeed and delivered his TEDx speech in TEDx LLIM, Mumbai, have featured him as a literature enthusiast. Here we share how courage is a savior of dreams, and being imperfect encouraged him to fight furiously at every step of life. Let us know more about Ankush Tiwari, Hindi Poet, Author performer, and TEDx speaker.
Introduction
His life journey gives hope to people to move forward and never give up. He belonged to a lower-middle-class. He always either ignored or made something up whenever asked about his parents’ occupation, neither in his school life nor his work life. Nobody knows about his struggles or the fact of what the financial setback does to you. Another courageous act of vulnerability is to disclose the most guarded secret here on this online platform, www.storyofsouls.com. Today, his persona gives him enough pride to open up about his humble beginnings and let the emotions flow.
Family Background
His father is a security guard, and his mother has run a small tailoring business from home for the last 30 years in Delhi. They had moved from a small village of UP to Delhi. Due to a lack of education, finding an excellent job with a handsome salary was challenging. So, his father started doing a job with Rs. 13 /day with the uncertainty that he might not get paid the next day. They lived in a 150 square feet room for many years. Due to lack of money, His mother also started working in a local private school as a nanny to take care of the school kids.
Childhood situations
At the age of 6, Doctors diagnosed him with pneumonia and jaundice simultaneously. As per their financial condition, his parents took him to a government hospital where doctors refused to admit him as the situation was critical. And advised his parents to go to PRIVATE Hospital without delay. They reached a private hospital; they had to deposit Rs 2500 for treatment and medicines.
At that time total earning of my family was 500 rupees/month with five dependent members on that money, me, two of my elder sisters, and my parents. The conditions were harsh, which brought the more brutal face of his mother, which rescued his life.
She borrowed the money from a lady running a tailoring factory near his house. In return for Rs 4500, she agreed to sign the contract for one year with the lady. The lady knew her as a nanny in the school, where her son also studied. Though Ankush’s mother only studied till 3rd std, as her parents passed away, she got married at the young age of 14. But She made sure that Ankush returned from the door of death, and she did all the best that she could to save her son from that critical condition. It was none other than his mother, who became the savior, her courage to fight against the odds, and her attitude of never giving up. A mother can never let her son suffer, and her presence of mind did the much needed at that moment.
It took around four years to clear all the debt and start saving for future goals. Sometimes the family had to satisfy with one meal, and sometimes there was no meal for the next day. Survival was difficult in the face of poverty. Each family member endured the critical four years.
He turned to became Befriend “Raddiwala.”
Since childhood, Ankush has been an avid reader. He was fond of reading Hindi stories to the extent that he carried at least one storybook along with him even while traveling somewhere. For buying more books, money was needed, which was not an option to ask. The solution was to befriend “Raddiwala,” i.e., a scrap collector. He struck a deal with Ankush to give him a book every week with a charge of Rs 3 per week with the exchange of books. It was the library created to pursue the hobby.
Ankush Tiwari did schooling from a government school till the 5th standard with free school uniforms and books. With 6th standard, he shifted to a higher secondary school, 5kms away from his home. He walked 10 km daily to reach school and come back. Now, the books were not free, so the rescuer was the created library called raddiwala. He provided the books at the 1/10th price. If books were damaged, then he took books from teachers or friends to continue his studies. Resources were limited but will be not. Ankush started giving tuitions from 10th std to manage daily expenses.
Take Away lessons
Winning must not be the final destination, but holding the courage to continue fighting is, and sufferings help us to shine like the sun. So you have two choices, either consider the current situation as the final destination and relax or make new destinations and keep fighting with the odds. Remember one thing If we are born deprived, it’s alright, absolutely Ok, there is nothing to worry about, but if we die deprived, then there is no meaning in our lives.
Circumstances have tried to pull me back, saying, you can’t, you won’t, and you are not capable enough. From time to time, he had faced sudden extreme nudges from disappointments, but all that while, I had become a deaf frog towards all the problems and considered that these nuisances were trying to encourage me.
Along with all the emotional baggage(s), Ankush Tiwari decided to move on.
Now, it was time to pursue engineering; high fees were always the issue.
With every problem, another solution has to be ready, and this time, it was a scholarship. But still, he needed more money to pursue engineering and applied for the loan.
Felt too shy to share his family details
All the hardship and financial distress made him inferior, and the feeling never left. Ankush was too afraid to disclose the occupations of parents. People would bully him, and he was not ready to become a laughing stock. The fear was enough to push into an isolation hole. He avoided general gatherings, movie outings, and parties so that nobody asked him about his family details, and he hated to lie. All the meetings needed a contribution was also a burden on him where scholarship is not enough how the party contributions were never justified. He spent his time studying in the library, interacting with professors, and visualizing a bright enriched future.
And here comes the sunshine his way
The isolation gave wings to the imagination leading to writing regularly secretly. Nobody knew in college or any friend circle that he wrote. At the end of engineering, he bagged six job offers and made his parents smile proudly. As the job came, it infused more confidence. Ankush started to write openly about his poems, and positive feedback from all encouraged him to write more and more. He started receiving appreciation from the various Social Media platforms, views began increasing, and recognition made him a familiar face. With all this publicity, a publisher contacted him to discuss further.
Ankush Tiwari contacted the publisher and shared the details of the book. The book was published in June 2018.
He is invited to perform as a guest Poet in TEDx VileParle too. He performs on various topics/subjects and social issues.
- Exploitation
- Corruption
- Mental health awareness
- Women empowerment
- Good touch and bad touch (An awareness campaign through poetry to let children know what is a good touch and what is a bad touch to protect themselves)
- Awareness about menstruation
- Beauty
- Nature
To make his message enjoyable, he writes in various genres, e.g., Slam poetry, Spoken Word Poetry, Ghazal, Shayari, Muktak, Dohe, etc.
The Poetry
जब अँधेरा लगे तो खुद को जला लो,
Life Lessons
Ankush defied the odds and achieved so much at such a young age, although neither his parents nor financial condition was favorable. He never gave up, pursued a hobby, and fought till his last breath to lead a better life.
In conclusion, Every obstacle tests hunger for your goal and proves to be an opportunity for winning. The struggle we face for every barrier makes us more robust, and lessons learned from the battle are unmatchable. Life has taught him the value of keep trying, and the consequences of “sheer dedication” can always turn dreams into reality. Listen to Ankush’s TEDx Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy4-bukpzWw.
Today Ankush has performed/Hosted almost 100 shows and judged many poetry competitions in colleges in various cities of India to date. He is a Poet/Writer, an Actor, an Activist, a public speaker, and an author of two books named “Khyalon ka Maikhana” and “Hadon ke paar bhi ek duniya hai.” The books are anthologies consisting of 60+ Hindi poetries and 100+ “Sher-o-Shayari.”
His Poem says all about the significance of growing after going through despair.
**बुरे वक़्त का वक़्त**
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