Krishan was 16 years old when I first met him. He had just entered grade XI. He was small for his age, clearly malnourished, and caught every bug that went around. I mentored him twice a week, and he always wore the same red shirt, perhaps the only one he owned. His father was an impoverished, illiterate auto driver, and the entire family lived in a small hovel in a dark, dank alley in Malviya Nagar. His name is Krishan (Name changed for confidentiality.)

The first thing that struck me about him, was his value systems. He had a very strong sense of right and wrong. He quoted often from the Gita, or from Gandhi’s writings. He would not play with other children because they were not ‘good’; they used bad language. He would not participate in any class parties because they served unhealthy foods like Coca Cola, chips, and deep-fried samosas. He would spend a large part of the evening praying at the local temple. He was a misfit in the rough and tumble world of teenagers. Even more so because of the socio-economic disparity between him and the others. He was very alone.

Here I was, with this brilliant, but reticent, stubborn, supercilious but courteous young lad who would never look up; he spoke little, and when he did, he was barely audible. My primary focus initially, was just to get him to speak to me and trust me with his feelings. I worked hard to help him understand the reasons for his isolation, so that he could be better adjusted to his environment. Slowly he started to accept that stereotyping people was a limiting attitude, flexibility was necessary, friends provided a support system, sports added to a feel-good factor, and, most of all, that he was not always right!

Gradually he thawed, he spoke with more confidence, and made a few friends. He improved steadily until the lock down in March 2020. Economic compulsions forced the family to move to their hometown in Uttar Pradesh. We stayed in touch on the telephone whenever he had access to a network. My biggest challenge was to continue working on his personality development via pep talks on the phone.

Lockdown eased and Krishan was back in Delhi. When I called his number, his mother, most distressed, told me that Krishan was not willing to take his board exams. When I spoke to him, he was depressed and tearful. He had been in his village in Jaunpur without his new textbooks, with negligible access to the internet and was just not prepared for the exams. An otherwise academically bright and diligent student had lost his confidence completely. I would call him almost daily, prodding him to make up for lost time because he had extraordinary retention and grasping power. He had to believe in himself! I took it upon myself to be the voice that would remind him of his worth. It was a daunting task for both of us, these times test faith. Then there was a miracle. The exams got postponed! He got more time to prepare! This time he had all his books and I could hear him smile on the cell phone. It warmed my heart.

It has been an incredible journey for him, from loneliness to acceptance; from the depth of despair to a determination to succeed; from a forced break in his studies, to incredible hard work. From almost certain failure to a grand finale, a CBSE score of 96%! He was deliriously happy and asked if I was happy, too. I am! I have shed many tears of joy!

He tells me constantly, that mine was the voice in the dark that encouraged him, gave him hope and finally pulled him out of the pit he had fallen into. Walking this path with Krishan has been an invaluable learning for both of us. There is no substitute for hard work and perseverance, but in testing times, one’s faith in the Supreme and belief in oneself is the anchor that holds us! (Neelam Kapur)