My parents are hail from a small town in Uttar Pradesh. They got married at a young age and moved to Mumbai to earn their livelihoods. When they arrived in the ‘city of dreams’, they had little money and began their life from scratch. In the initial days, they struggled to have a roof overhead. Sometimes they stayed in makeshift bamboo homes and often slept without food at night. After much struggle, my father secured a job at a factory. However, their happiness did not last very long. In an unfortunate accident in the factory, my father lost three of his fingers within a month of working. Post the accident, and he was fired from the factory without any compensation.

Around this time, my elder brother was born. His hand took time to heal, and therefore, he could not find another job quickly. So, my mother took whatever jobs came her way to fend for the family. After my father lost his fingers, my mother’s family became very bitter and advised her to leave him. They would say, “Leave the ‘disabled man’ since it has only been two years to your marriage’. Undeterred, my mother had a different plan. She stood by the man she loved and nursed him back to health. Soon, my father also became healthy and started selling accessories to earn a living for the family.

Life In The Chawl Was Full Of Struggle

As always, things did not change overnight. Still, my parents would starve and sleep on an empty stomach so that they could send us. Their constant sacrifices and savings made things a bit better, and we decided to shift to a chawl. We had thought that now our troubles would lessen, but unfortunately, this was just the beginning of constant meddling, taunts, and cheap tricks to bring my family down. My neighbours in the chawl would often taunt my father. Since things were looking a bit better, they sent their sons to an English-medium school. They thought it was foolish of the couple to send their sons to an ‘English Medium School’ when they didn’t have enough money to buy food!

When my parents decided to ignore what people had to say, the neighbours would constantly pick petty fights and create problems for our family. On some occasions, they would play loud music and talk loudly to disturb us when we had exams. Our neighbours’ jealousy against our family was evident. According to our neighbours, disturbing us would eventually lead to our failure in academics, further leading to dropping out. Their very intent was the driving force for my brother and me. They made us want to work hard night and day. We would stay at the library for long hours to study in peace. As a result, we constantly performed well in our exams.

My Mother Sold Off Land For Our Education

My mother had bought a piece of land from her savings to put use in future. Despite having cleared the exam and securing a seat in the medical college, she had to sell it to pay off our college fees. Both of us completed our education successfully. I am currently working towards Cancer Research in Tata Hospital after briefly working as a Research Associate for COVID-19. Meanwhile, my brother has completed a bachelor’s in dental surgery. He is pursuing a Master’s degree in Government Dental College in Mumbai, the prominent institute in India for dental education.

While many privileged children take their studies and future for granted, my brother and I strived hard every day to achieve our dreams. Despite coming from an unprivileged place and struggling with uneducated parents, we left no stone unturned to be what they are today. My parents’ consistent effort, sacrifice, and love have given two successful medicos to the world. My mother has finally proved to all the relatives who told her to leave her husband that – with love, effort, and understanding they can even raise two bright medicos – The Future of India!

We still live in the same chawl, not as a student or son of an uneducated father but as a successful medical scholar! This feat of us is the best answer to all his relatives and neighbours. I hope to buy a flat soon. We, as a family, are still saving money to buy a flat and move there.

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