A picture of a vegetable vendor, named Ashok Singh, slumped on a road divider with tears in his eyes went viral on the internet yesterday (6th August).
The 45-year-old, Bhendi Bazaar vegetable vendor was forced to shut down his shop due to the Mumbai floods. He could no longer hold back his tears as he lost all hope.
But, as his photograph went viral he was flooded with phone calls. He also received 2 lakhs in his account from Mumbaikars, who were moved by his plight.
Ashok was thrilled and overwhelmed with all the love and support he received. He says with this money he’ll get his wife Sangita’s mangalsutra, pawned for ₹30,000 back, repay ₹10,000 he borrowed from his brother and buy his wife’s blood pressure medicines.
And, he intends on putting the rest of the money into his savings account for his daughter’s marriage.
Singh is thankful for all the help coming his way and he hopes normalcy will return to Mumbai soon. He says:
I am lucky to have benefited from Mumbai’s generosity. But I am sure there are thousands of others in the city like me who are equally desperate. I hope they too can get out and start earning their living.
Twitter also congratulated Mumbai Mirror photographer, Sachin Haralkar, who took Singh’s photo that went viral.
Stories like this re-instate our faith in humanity. Heartwarming!