I don't remember anything that happened in my 2nd standard except for two things. My cycle and my mother's suicide attempt. We were not poor of money then but of my father's love. He was addicted to drinking and we were out of hopes. And I still smell that kerosene on her body which I smelled back then. I didn't go near her , I was so scared. But yes, we were not poor of money then.
3rd standard:
Things changed. The company in which my father was working was flooded. We were left with what we had. We shifted from Hyderabad(we were living there in hyd back then) to our native. But the only thing I remembered from then was that we are moving to a new place. I didn't knew that I'm never going to have my tri-cycle again, that my special room will be gone forever. It was 2000 or 2001 if I am not wrong.
Last few months of 3rd standard: We came here, to our native. Now, the 2 bed room 2 hall house was turned into a two room house. I remember there was one hall and one kitchen where there was bathroom attached. But those were good days, I would say, all of us used to sit at same place and eat once(as there was no other choice).
I still remember the day when I asked horlicks in the evening and I'd seen my Mother crying. It took a little time for me to understand. My father doesn't have any job and because it is our native , my mother got a job of a teacher in the same school as we were studying and because she was a teacher in the same school, we didn't have fee.( we here is me and my brother, he is 15 months younger to me).
But you know, you get mocked by every one when you study in a school without paying fee. Every single one sitting around you mocks you. But as I started to understand things, I hold them . But my brother, who was younger needed time. He used to cry at home and which caused whole family to do the same.
Feb 6th, we shifted there. My mother's salary was around 1200 and where everything comes under that. we used to eat thrice a day (we means me and my brother, for sure, my parents aren't). Then, after 2 , 3 months, it was like we used to eat twice a day. And they reduced it from there but I see , My mother not eating for 2 to 3 continuous days.
4th standard:
My father used to work for daily labouring jobs(he got a MA degree) some where and finding a job. Things were changing lightly.
Feb 6th, next year. I went home from school, I still remember the smile on my dad's face, and we still discuss it sometimes.
He got a job in IVRCL (Yes<, I remember the name and I remember it for life time). His words were " It's exactly an year, I was unable to show my face to your people".
We still discuss it some times about that day.
And the first thing I've seen the next month at home "Horlicks Bottle" .
5th standard:
So, he got a job but not that luxirious to drink. so , he was away from those for more than an year now. My mom got a promotion from a teacher to an office clerk. Things were changing again.
6th to 10th standard:
We were into middle class then, we shifted into a new house (not with 2 bed room, 2 hall but with single bedroom and hall). My father got a 2nd hand scooter from my uncle. then, we bought a TV when i was in 7th, fridge and bike in 9th and tv was turned from 21 inches to 29 inches in tenth(those days, 29 inches was a big deal).
I got 540 in tenth, so, the next step is of course, sri chaitanya or Narayana. As I got some reduction in the fee because of merit, I joined there.
'Interm'ediate:
Intermediate turned me into an "interm idiot" , As we were getting a little better, I started enjoying , not as spending money but I didn't concentrate hard on studies. What I didn't knew then was that my father's job was gone when I was in 2nd year. In fact, the company was closed.
B.tech:
My parents are still big fans of Y.S.Rajashekar Reddy, why not. Had not been for the fee reembursement, I would have never done my B.tech. My dad was jobless for 5 more months but that never troubled us as he had contacts with the old company traders(He worked as a Raw Material Incharge). But we didn't have much money to do what we like. The scholarships I used to get went for homeneeds. It was sad when your friends enjoy in K.F.C with the scholarship but you are not. But when you get home a new stove , that feels good. I used to compare and compensate things like that.
4th year B.tech: I need to particularly mention this as I got placed. This was the first news which made my parents cry(call them happy tears but they are not. They let out their grief). My father was like, Half of his life-goal was completed.
Current: I am working in an M.N.C and my brother has finished his b.tech recently. And My father is earning almost the same as me.(He started drinking back but occasionally).
So, I want to say :
1.Being poor gives you hope, it's like you still have a lot to earn, lot to get. (My Mom used to say that, now we are poor so we can be back rich again. Even though, we won't , we know how to live).
2. Being poor sometimes leads to good things like my father quitting bad habits.
3. Being poor teaches you life. (If you can survive the world when you are poor, you can survive anything, anywhere).
4. My father still says me the same. You know what to be a poor so always think of them. There are 26% of people who are still under poverty line in India.(He actually wanted me to be an I.A.S, so all these statistics were under count then, I someday want to make it true). He is , I should say , a great man. He helps within what he had and an animal lover.
5. Poverty teaches you the power of money. People say, money won't matter , it's a lie. Money matters, matters a lot. There might be(there are) many better things than money but money has it's role and importance.
6. Poverty teaches you how to treat the people around you the same way.When I was a kid and I never used to go to play with my maid's children(i don't remember this , my mother says me). But during that phase when my father was a daily labour, I understood then, that maid is a mother to some one like me.
7. Poverty taught me that all poor are not illiterate, are not useless. Many of them are betrayed or opportunity-less. All it takes is a chance.
8. Poverty taught me how to understand people , how to make friends, how to look at relatives, how to remember deeds, how to forget needs, how to change luxuries to neccesities, how to wait, how to have patience, how to respect people.
As a finishing note,
Being poor sucks, unless you learn from it. But it is the reason What I'm today.
Shared by - Santhosh Namballa
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