NEW DELHI: This is a story of Salman Sayyed who born and lived on the footpaths of Mumbai.
A son of a garbage collector, Salman dropped out of school in the 2nd standard to help his mother.
Later, to make their ends meet, he began selling books at the Haji Ali traffic signal, not knowing that it will be become a turning point and would change his life forever.
He then met Caroline didi whom lovingly called his ‘angel.’
While selling, Salman honed unrefined reading skills which impressed Caroline who urged Sayyed to join school once again.
In a video made by writer-filmmaker Ram Subramanian (Voice Of Ram), Sayyed narrates his life journey and how he cleared his exams,
“I appeared for 10th standard exams in 2011. It was the first exam of my life…and I failed in style. But I did not give up. In 2012, I reappeared for the same exam and I cleared it this time. I scored 91% in my 11th standard and 81% in my 12th. After that I never looked back.”
In the video, Sayyed says,
“I realised that I am no different from anyone. Most of us na are stuck at some crossroad or the other. I too was…for most of my childhood until I decided to move on. Today I want to help other people like me who are also stuck at some crossroad in their life. I realised that’s the meaning of my life. That’s the moral of my true story.”
He studied sociology from Mumbai’s KC College. He also worked as a tour guide in order to fund his education. He is presently studying in Houston, Texas.
Ram Subramanian posted a twitter update about Salman showing wonderfully his life changes.
https://twitter.com/VORdotcom/status/941508739168919552