Aakesh

 I would like to share a rather unusual experience from my travels today across the city. The boy in the picture, his name is Aakesh. I met him on the train today. He got on at jogeshwari

station (Mumbai) . I stood near the gate as suddenly a man 

started screaming at the top of his lungs. When i turned to see what was going on, i saw that he was scolding aksesh because he was standing at the door of the train which caused a problem for 

for the commuters to get in and out .I interfered in the midst of all the yelling because i could see how terrified aakesh was. I offered him water and

asked the man to stop shouting as it was not such a big deal. At this point, everything was fine..

 I, then asked Aakesh  why he was so scared he told me that he wanted to get off at

dadar sation but he couldn't as the train was really crowded.. Finally when he got an opportunity to get off at a particular station, the train was past andheri...

 So he again boarded a train to dadar.... I got on at andheri and that is the story of how i fit into this whole picture and got to have a conversation with him... It went somehing like this..

Me-How old are you?

Aakesh- I am 18 years old

Me-what do you do ?

Aak-I work as a cleaner

Me-where do you live ?

Aak- near chembur station

Me-where are you from?

Aak-rajasthan(bhilwada)

Me- what's your education?

Aak- I am illiterate

The Train reached dadar and both of us had to get down but I somehow humbly requested him to spare 10 minutes for

me as I wanted to get to know more about his life..

we first had lime juice then he started narrating me his story..This is what he told me....

"My father works as a farmer. We rent land and farm on it.. My

father sent me to Mumbai so that I can earn some money.. I was 8 when I came to

Mumbai I used to live with my cousin sister and her husband. But after 2 years they

aske me to move out and find a different accomodation. So i currently live in the factory i work at...

Cleaning clothes is what my job is. I live there alone..

I had a few more questions that i wanted to ask him...

Me-When is your birthday..

Aakesh- don’t remember     

Me-Aakesh do you know how to write your name ?

AAkesh

- ‘NO’

Me-Why did your father sent you to mumbai to work at such a early age??

Aakesh- Because my father borrowed 9 lakh rupees loan for my brother's wedding and now my

elder brother and I have to work so that we can repay that amount. My elder brother

works as a servant and his wedding did not even last 2 years...

This is indeed very tragic and unfortunate...A man, just for the sake of throwing a fancy wedding to upkeep a fake reputation, caused his sons to suffer terribly...