76 YO Oxford Graduate Living On Delhi Streets Now Has A Home, All Thanks To The Internet

Social media has in so many ways changed the way we look at the world. It’s blurred distances, got us closer to people living in other halves of the world and made the world as McLuhan said a “global village.”

In another win for new media, this 76-year-old man living on the streets of New Delhi finally has a roof over his head all thanks to the internet. He has been been living on the streets for four decades and claims to have been a professor at Oxford University.

It was a Facebook post that made Raja Singh Phull’s life story known to everyone. The moving story of living a “nomad’s life” at the New Delhi Railway Station has touched hearts all over the internet.

He returned to India after his brother insisted that he do so and together they ran a motor parts business in Mumbai which failed after his brother’s demise. He was even abandoned by his two sons.

Talking about his tragic life, he said,

“I did lot of hard work and sent two of my sons for studies abroad”

The post says that Raja Singh even took loans for his children. Today they are in UK and the US well settled with wives don’t have time for their father who is living by the roadside in the National Capital!

Because begging wasn’t an option for him he makes ends meet by helping people fill up forms outside a visa centre in Delhi. He earns somewhere between zero and a hundred rupees from that.

On days when there is no work, he relies on lungars at the Gurudwara for food. The post ended with asking for contributions to help the elderly man and possibly find an employment for him.

See the Facebook post here:

The post has received over 5000 shares and has gone viral. People are generously offering help to the man and he has since moved into an old age home, according to NDTV. He even understands that his story has reached so many people and wants to understand the concept of going viral.

And once again, the immense power of the internet has saved a life and restored our faith in humanity!