“Once when I was 5 years old, my mother said she wasn’t hungry and served us dinner. She watched us eating with a big smile on her face and went to sleep after drinking some water. I knew she was hungry, but there wasn’t enough food for all of us — that was the first time I decided to start working. Since then I’ve sold books and flowers at the signal because I don’t want to see my mother go to sleep hungry ever again.
I realized slowly that I can’t spend my whole life selling things at the signal and the only way to move forward was to try and educate myself. I joined Signal Shaala and started attending classes for the first time in my life at the age of 16. I work 8 hours a day at the signal, attend school for 4 hours and then go home and do my homework. It’s ironic that I’ve sold books all my life but I couldn’t even read the titles. Now, late into the night I’m trying to read more than just a few pages of these books…and I can’t explain the feeling of finally understanding letters and words. Someday I dream of becoming a teacher — I dream of the day when there are no children working at signals, but they’re all in classrooms where they can finally dare to dream.”

Source: Humans Of Bombay