We have come across unfortunate stories of those who struggled to be movie stars, but have ended up begging in the streets of Mumbai. And instances of educated beggars as well, like the humble Patna man who spoke in fluent English and sang the Jim Reeves song titled ‘He’ll have to go’.
As per a report in TOI, a 90-year old elderly man, who claims to be an IIT-Kanpur alumnus was found begging in the streets of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. He identified himself as Surendra Vashisth, having done his mechanical engineering in 1969.
He was rescued by Ashram Swarg Sadan (ASS). Vikash Goswami of ASS said, “We found him in a very pathetic condition near the bus stand. When we talked to him, he left us bemused talking in English. We brought him to our ashram and are trying to contact his relatives.”
Surendra said that after pursuing mechanical engineering from IIT-K, he completed his LLM from Lucknow in 1972. His father Chedalal Vashisth was a supplier in the JC Mills that was shut down in the 1990s, Times Now reports.
The senior citizen’s condition is fine and he is said to be recovering.
A few days back, the same organization had also rescued a man named Manish Mishra, a former cop of the 1999-batch sub-inspector, who was found living like a destitute by his batchmates in the streets of Gwalior.
Akin to a movie scene, two crime branch DSPs Ratnesh Singh Tomar and Vijay Singh Bhadoria were returning from duty on November 11, when they saw a bearded and bedraggled in Gwalior’s Lakshar area. Since he was shivering in the cold, the policemen stopped to help him. DSP Bhadoria offered him his jacket and DSP Tomar his casual shoes.
As they were returning to their car, the ‘beggar’ called them out by their first names. Stunned, the policemen questioned him and he identified himself as their former colleague Manish. He was found to be mentally disturbed after having disappeared 15 years ago. He was reportedly terminated by the state police in the year 2006, after he went AWOL for 2 years, and was subsequently sacked.
“He is in a better condition now,” said Vikas of ASS. Seeing his poor condition, many of his batchmates came forward in order to help him.
What do you think of these incidents? Tell us!