Shiva's Blessings

BENGALURU, MARCH 2005: Fourteen-year-old N. Shiva Kumar was delivering newspapers early one morning. The eighth-standard student was deeply troubled. It was the start of the academic year and his father, an out-of-work lorry driver, did not have `15,000 to pay his annual fees. So Shiva was afraid he'd not be able to continue his schooling. There was nobody he could ask for so much money.

As Shiva was about to toss a newspaper into a bungalow, he spotted its new resident, a kind-looking man named Krishna Vedavyasa, washing his car. In his desperation, something prompted Shiva to get off his bicycle and talk to Mr Krishna, then a 40-year-old father to a five-year-old son and manager at a brand-consulting firm.

"Sir, I also wash cars in the mornings," Shiva told Krishna, "May I wash your car?"

Years earlier, Shiva's mother had sold much of her jewellery to get him into Maruthi Vidyalaya, an English-medium ICSE school not far from their home. A good education for Shiva, his parents reckoned, was their only hope. Quite unlike his well-to-do classmates, Shiva had started delivering newspapers by age ten. He now had a route that catered to a hundred homes, which brought in `150 a month. His father Nagendra, who drove a company lorry, now bought flowers that his wife strung into garlands. Shiva and his elder sister Yogeshwari, who went to a local government school, sold the garlands at traffic signals and other places after school. Despite all the hard work, money was always tight.

"You are too young to wash cars and deliver papers," said Krishna. "Why do you do this work?"

Shiva ended up telling Krishna about his family's situation. Another day, soon afterwards, he also spoke of the school fees he badly needed. "If I don't deposit `15,000, I'll be struck off the rolls." Then, the desperate boy added, "Could you please pay it?"

"But I don't even know you!" Krishna replied, taken aback by the unexpected request.

"Why don't you check me out at my school?" said Shiva, his eyes fixed on Krishna's with hope. "You needn't give the money to me. You can give it to my school so that I may continue with my studies."

The next day Krishna went over to Shiva's school, where he met the principal and some of his teachers. He was pleasantly surprised to discover that the boy had always been a topper. Krishna paid the fees. That evening Shiva went over to thank Krishna. "You don't have to do these small jobs from now. Just focus on your studies, I'll keep paying your fees," Krishna told him.Shiva left smiling, knowing that the fees weren't everything. His family needed cash for rent and food, among other things. So he continued working-and studying-just as hard.

"My day started at four," Shiva recalls. "But I made sure I focused on lessons in school and revised them at home. During free periods, I taught students who were weak in some subjects." That wasn't for money, but it helped him comprehend textbook chapters even before they were taught in class.

Shiva topped his school in the ICSE board exams. As for Krishna, he was as good as his word, paying the fees at the start of every academic year. Krishna, who Shiva called "Uncle," had insisted they converse only in English-which Shiva did not speak at home-for more fluency. On Krishna's advice, Shiva also opted for science in college.

Meanwhile, Shiva's father hire-purchased a Canter mini truck to be a self-employed goods-transport driver. He also gave up their flower work, which spared the children the task of peddling garlands. Now, after classes, Shiva began working late into the night as a salesman in an electronics shop. With not a minute to spare, Shiva had to forego games, picnics or films that other teenagers enjoyed. Once, when his class planned a trip to Coorg, which he couldn't afford, a teacher offered to pay Shiva's excursion fee. But when Shiva happily informed his mother, she refused to accept the favour. "You mustn't indulge in anything with other people's money," she told Shiva firmly. "Enjoy yourself when you can afford it."

All along, Krishna remained his guide and mentor. "Take up either mechanical engineering or computer science. There are plenty of job opportunities there," Krishna had suggested. After Shiva got into an engineering college and chose computer science, Krishna signed Shiva's admission form as his guardian and continued paying the fees.

At one point, Shiva left his job at the electronics store and started a computer repairs service with a friend. With all this, Shiva sometimes reported late for college. Tired, he would doze off in class. Classmates giggled and teachers rebuked him. "Only I knew what was going on in my life," says Shiva, "My father's truck hardly made any money and I had to keep earning."

Meanwhile, from newspaper delivery boy in the mornings, Shiva graduated to sub agent with about 50 customers. His premises: just the footpath outside a couple of shops, where he stacked his newspapers before the shops opened. His earnings increased substantially, but the workload had shot up too. He was still delivering papers, but also had to visit homes and offices to collect payments and acquire more customers.

At one point, the computer firm Wipro selected him as a software engineer after a campus interview. "Don't get tempted by the offer," Krishna told him. "You'll have a much better career if you got into IIM, the Indian Institute of Management." That sounded like a dream!

"You can make it," Krishna kept telling him. "No doubt about that."

Shiva wasn't going to let the good man down. He began preparing for IIM's common admissions test (CAT). On Krishna's suggestion, he also enrolled in a CAT coaching class. Krishna paid the `25,000 fees. "After attending a few lectures, I realized I didn't have the time. So I kept taking their notes and old CAT question papers to study at home," says Shiva.

After Shiva cleared the CAT's written tests, Krishna called him home to conduct mock interviews and to try out "group discussions." Together, they spent hours preparing. Shiva also kept track, regularly watching the news and reading up on current affairs. He finally made it, getting offers from six IIMs.Taking a student loan, Shiva joined IIM Calcutta in 2013. By the time he left for Kolkata, handing the newspaper business to his father to run, his clientele had increased ten-fold to about 500.

MARCH 2015: In their sparsely furnished two-room house in Banasawadi, Bengaluru, Shiva Kumar, having just graduated from IIM Calcutta and back after the convocation, is telling his parents and sister about the job offer he's just got-in an e-commerce company dealing in property. "I'm joining as deputy country manager in Sri Lanka," he tells his parents and sister. "After three months of training, I will head its Lanka operations."

"Are they providing accommodation too?" asks his father. "What's the salary?" asks his mother. The six-figure pay is something they find hard to digest.

"When are you leaving?" When a dream comes true, the questions don't end.

Shiva feels this is only the beginning, although at 24, when most others are just starting out, he already has 12 years of work experience. He plans to remain an employee in the corporate world only for a few years to pay off his education loan and support the family. That's because his entrepreneurial spirit has another plan cut out for him: "I'll set up my own company and make it a global name." Whatever the business, he will also "counsel and aid students facing financial hardship." And where did the thought come from?

"Had it not been for Uncle Krishna Vedavyasa," says Shiva, "I wouldn't have reached here. I want to multiply the blessings I have received."