Sixteen-year-old Ashish Kumar lives in the slums of Haidarpur, north-west Delhi. He wants to study but was forced to drop out. Having discontinued going to regular school due to lack of funds, Ashish took the initiative to find about open schooling and enrolled in it.
When we met Ashish in September, he had changed three jobs, one of them included working in an acid factory. At present, he works at a call centre. The 9 to 5 job gets him Rs 6,000 a month. “I get Rs 15 commission also, for every booking I do,” he told us proudly.
This young call centre employee is a poet. He loves to write. As the day draws to a close, he sits to write.
I started writing poetry first. Now I write shayaris, jokes, stories, everything. I listen to songs and replace them with my own words. I like it.
Ashish’s story is truly inspiring. So this Diwali, as part of The Quint’s #SpreadTheLight campaign, we decided to make a small difference to his life.
Ashish is a talented writer and feels very passionate about poverty, education and substance abuse among kids his own age. The Quint decided to give him a platform. We have asked him to write for us regularly and his work is going be featured on The Quint and The Quint Hindi.
There was a small hurdle. With no internet and phone, it was difficult for Ashish to write for us. The solution came in the form of a laptop. He is all set to write for us.
So whose life are you going to touch this Diwali? Take The Quint’s #SpreadTheLight challenge and exhort three of your friends too. All you have to do is upload your videos and photographs on Facebook and twitter or write in to spreadthelight@thequint.com. Don’t forget to tag The Quint.
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