He Studied Under A Streetlight In Noida Until A Simple Social Media Post Changed His Life

13-year-old Harendra Singh Chauhan is a class 9th student in a school in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. He was spotted by a metro passenger outside the Noida City Centre metro station, at night, studying under a streetlight on the pavement. He had a weighing scale along with him. The scale was his only way of making money to fund his studies.

The metro passenger, Vikas Sharda , decided to take a picture of the boy studying there and posted it online.

“I picked up my father’s weighing machine and set off for the station. I took my books along as I did not want to waste my time waiting for customers.”

“My father lost his job in 2013. After that, he bought a weighing scale and would sit where I did at the station to earn a living. In June, both my parents went to our village in Etawah and I realised I had to complete some projects for my holiday homework. For this I needed to buy some paper, colours and files but had no money. So, I picked up my father’s weighing machine and set off for the station. I took my books along as I did not want to waste my time waiting for customers. The first day I earned Rs 60, and slowly I was able to save about Rs 200 for my project work,” he told TOI.

After the post went viral, Harendra has been summoned by CM Akhilesh Yadav. And now, his education will be sponsored by the government.

And his father, who has polio, will be given a government job.

“But I will not give up at any cost. This is what I have learnt from my parents,” Harendra told TOI in the end. The kid certainly understands the ‘weight’ of those words.