As per the United Nations, “Fundamentally, poverty is the inability of getting choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having a school or clinic to go to, not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living in marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation.”
This scenario described by the UNO is familiar in our cities – witnessed on roadsides, slums and public areas like railway stations. Only, most of us tend to pass by them or treat them with indifference. Having grown up in poverty, my heart tugs when I encounter such scenarios. Besides having had a frugal childhood, I struggled hard to make a livelihood as a teenager and subsequently when I served in the Army. I have borrowed heavily on several occasions – during my wife’s illness and for pursuing higher studies, which had further added to my financial burden. This financial starvation which continued into my adulthood, lasted for nearly two decades. As a result, I have developed a tendency to share whatever I have, in the capacity that I can, with those who are similarly unfortunate.
For example, when I was once going on my annual pilgrimage to Lord Venkateshwara Temple in Tirupati with my students, I saw 50 to 60 beggars sleeping in a row, as I entered the Pune Railway Station to catch the train. I was carrying cash worth a few lakh Rupees on me to offer in the hundi (donation box) of the temple. Beggars sleeping on the railway platform are not an unusual sight, but that night, I said to myself, why not make them happy for a short while - they can eat well and live well for at least two days, if I give them some money. So I asked my students to wake up each one of them and give a `1000 note to each beggar, but not before telling each one the value of the note, as they might not have held one such, in their lives. I handed over a bundle of notes to the students and they did the needful. The beggars’ delighted and surprised expressions made me extremely happy.
Beggars sleeping on the railway platform is not an unusual sight, but that night, I said to myself, why not make them briefly happy. So, I asked my students to wake up each one of them and give a `1000 note to each beggar, but not before telling each one the value of the note, as they might not have held one such, before
Right from the day I started Sri Balaji Society, I have been giving free education or fee concessions to poor candidates who sought admission for the MBA courses. During one such admission process in Coimbatore, one young couple (who also had a child) desired to pursue our PGDM programme. They were above-age as per our set college requirement, so the selection panel rejected their applications. The panel opined that since the young man was doing well in a reputed company, his expectations for a job after the end of the course would be very high and the institute would be unable to meet his expectation. However, the couple persisted and the man said that he was ready to run the risk of not getting fruitfully employed.
I put certain conditions – that they must leave their child at home and both of them should forget that they are married for the two years. That they should reside in the girl’s and boy’s hostel, respectively. I explained to them that it didn’t mean they could not meet each other. I jocularly said it was fine if they were caught romancing in the campus. They happily agreed to all my terms and conditions.
Seeing their spirit of wanting to pursue the course, I exempted one of them from paying the fees. In the subsequent year, the lady brought her cousin for admissions. He had done his BSc Computers and insisted on being in the Systems batch, which is purely for engineers. We advised him about the toughness of the course and the campus placement trend where the minimum qualification expected of a person from the Systems batch was graduation in engineering. This may adversely affect his chances of employment. However, he insisted on taking the risk.
I always believe that I am not any Supreme Power to write anybody’s destiny. So when he insisted, we allowed him to join the Systems batch. As predicted, at the end of the course, he did not get a campus placement. His biggest weakness was communication, as his spoken and written English was poor. Besides, he had low morale and lacked leadership qualities. So when he approached me about the prospect of his future career, I advised him to go back to his home-state Tamil Nadu, where this language issue would not be a problem.
However, that is not what he wanted to do – his ambition overrode his capability. He wanted to join us as a lecturer, which obviously I couldn’t have accepted, as he lacked in communication.
He had done his BSc Computers and he insisted on being in the Systems batch, which is purely for engineers. This, we said, may adversely affect his chances of employment. However, he insisted on taking the risk. I always believe that I am not any Supreme Power to write anybody’s destiny. So when he insisted, we allowed him to join the Systems Batch.
I have seen a post at Balaji Society Alumni Page, for the position of Assistant Professor, Applied in the field of Marketing at given mail Id’s, kindly consider my profile too sir. I keep on waiting for opportunities from Balaji, even if I get an opportunity after 10 years, I would be willing sir.
I am really passionate about working in Balaji, I am really not because of salary asking sir, I am ok for 10 Thousand Rupees per month also, I can work tirelessly under the guidance of management, whatever work being assigned to me. My words are not lie sir.
Bala sir just told me that your communication was not good, Here there is no opportunity at Balaji, Better you go Chennai and try there by struggling for some days and hit, All the best, but I said, I am nervous, I can speak well, but nothing happened sir.
Sorry sir, I could not able to meet you on that day, I was disappointed, so left home, Thanks sir, for backing me all these days.
The matter did not end at just asking for a job and going back to his hometown, disappointed. He told me one day that he had decided to commit suicide on one of the full moon days. I got worried and asked our director of Information Technology (IT), who was his professor-in-charge, to reach out to the boy and counsel him. I also said out of sympathy and compassion, that if necessary, we could give him some financial help (a hint about which he had thrown in one of the emails – see below). The aim was to save him from ending his life. To this gesture, he sent a mail, asking us how much we would pay him. We communicated to him that it could be about a lakh of Rupees, just to meet the current problem. He replied stating he should be given RS.Three lakhs, only then would he not commit suicide. Thereafter, he sent another email stating that he would be committing suicide by jumping from the 13th floor of a building, in Delhi.
I pressed the panic button. We called up his near and dear ones and approached the police station. We also called up the young couple who were former students and had introduced him to the institute. No one responded. The police said that they were helpless but came and took my statement. The most the police could do, they said, was to ensure protection to the building in Delhi on that ill-fated date. I handed them copies of all the emails. I wondered at this quirk of fate where neither the family nor the law enforcing authorities were of any help, but I as a third party was being dragged into the issue. I kept pleading with his sisters, brothers, parents and relatives to seek medical help for him, but all fell on deaf ears. It seemed as if the entire family was conspiring against me.
Finally, I reached out to one Good Samaritan, who I know from Coimbatore city and requested him to take him to the doctor.
I am a child from Coimbatore writing, In 2011, I came with so much hope and aspirations to Balaji, and being full confidence of my career path, my family paid my full fee though we never heard of Balaji nor Pune city before, and I studied well too, but neither lord Balaji nor Bala sir or Biju sir or lord Muruga helped me to overcome my obstacles, It would be really helpful for this child, if any of the above immortal legends help me financially. It is not right to ask as I voluntarily joined but my family is depriving or lacking sufficient money or lacking a job, and I felt asking at least once despite being shameful. Because each and every alumni who studied with me including my sister and her husband is prospering well, but my fate drives me and my family clueless.
It is completely unfair on my part asking or requesting or forcing something, just because I am suffering, so my life has come to an end, it is of purpose, so do not feel bad sir. While I am studying, my parents never came to Pune to see me or my college but just invested on me heavily, as life moves on, I could not able to meet my parents expectations. My father was working with fire to make sweets in rural part of Coimbatore along with my mother with no labours and he stopped his business in 2013 as he aged, and my younger brother is studying hi graduation. And I being forward caste, I could not able to get a job in Indian or state government. With regard to corporate, I being skill-less suffering, and I, am not blaming anyone because my college has given good education and moderate placements but I just failed. So this being my case and came back to Chennai and tried there too, but I again failed. So came back to Coimbatore and tried for six months and every feedback from company was blah blah like what does it mean PGDM? And to survive myself, took a job in BPO with Maxval IP Services with 10,000 per month and worked there for one and half years as Data Analyst till June and quit my job because there is no appraisal, for transport and food itself consumed 50% of the money. So on coming pournami, the nation must know my case as a grand failure of how it affects one’s career in India if he is skillless skillless, so I planned to commit suicide on coming Pournami in 7th floor of AICTE at Janpath or as close radius as possible. So as to complete my task and get some relief amounts from Government of India to my family.
It is not possible for me, to accept the amount of 1 lakhs, I need 3 lakhs, if it is not possible, I am going ahead with my plan, I always dream big like lord Balaji, Hence, my death also should be big, and I do not feel bad about my death because I am basically immortal and the blood of lord Balaji, My root and my existence is always with lord Balaji, and I reborn in India again easily, and I do not afraid of any police or any law or any jhumans of any form. I am ready to go jail too. The money, which I am asking is not for me, but for my father and my younger brother, I knew your institute will stop mailing me. So be it. Thanks for showing care on me.
It is my karma, it seems, so only I am suffering though all doing extremely well including my Tamil and other friends, For lord Balaji promise I will repay the amount which I am getting now, For two years my father stopped talking with me properly and my brother and mother is disassociating with me.
There will be message including Hindi translation, before 10 minutes of my death, from my end to all the B-schools in India, and to SBS debate forum and AICTE, and every Government Body including PMO office, Times of India, NDTV, UN, Students Council, Standing Committee of Parliament to justify my death and root cause behind my suicide. And if at all, if you want to give some money after my death, please give directly to my father. Do not think, I am using Balaji name to pull money from you. It just comes from within. And the rest will be seen by you with incredible pain. I am just giving conviction to myself but it affects you and the brand name “Sri Balaji Society”. I meticulously crafted this, this is not out of depression but a message to protect many parents in India.
However, subsequently, we received another email from this student in which he described the outfit that he would be wearing when he would end his life along with a scanned photograph wearing that outfit.
So, I called the committee of all directors of our four MBA institutes and discussed the matter. The committee felt that the student was only threatening, and now that we had informed every authority and his family and yet nobody seemed to be bothered, we should ignore the matter. And so we left it at that.
After a while, he sent me an email, apologising for whatever he had done and assuring me that he would not repeat it in future. I was mistaken if I thought that the matter would end there. We have now received an email asking us as to why I couldn’t pay him ` three lakhs when I could afford to give concession of fees to his cousin sister.
These are some of the questions that bother me.
Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian
editor-in-chief
