Shobharam Parihar with his son Aseesh Parihar cycled towards exam center / News18 image.
The story of Shobharam Parihar cycling his son 105km to exam centre went viral across social media on Thursday. Now, business icon Anand Mahindra has stepped in to fund educational expenses of the kid.
- News18.com
- Last Updated: August 24, 2020, 12:57 PM IST
The sheer power of social media has proved its massive influence time and again and it did yet again as noted business icon Anand Mahindra has come forward to fund educational expenses of a student in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh whose father recently was in the news to bring his son on a cycle to exam centre around 105 km away from home.
Social media was all praise for the man who cycled for over 100km just to help his son continue his studies. The inspiring story had gone viral on social media winning praises from the internet and none other than automobile giant Mahindra Group’s chairman Anand Mahindra was one of the admirers of the man’s grit and commitment.
Mahindra who remains active on the microblogging website Twitter and often associates to social causes was quick to these news reports and tweeted, “A heroic parent, One who dreams big for his children. These are the aspirations that fuel a nation’s progress. At @MahindraRise, we call it a Rise story. Our foundation would be privileged to support Aseesh’s further Education, (sic)”
Soon after the tweet has been bringing praises for the top business head and UP’s senior IPS officer Navneet Sekera was among those heaping praises on Mahindra for his move.
The officer claimed that he had recently shared the story of the boy on his Facebook and wished to help him. I thought of extending help in such cases in the past but there is some constraint being a government servant, added the officer. “I thank Anand Mahindra Ji as he not only helped the boy pursue his dreams but also fulfilled my dream as well.”
Sekera in an earlier post had linked the story of the boy to his own life when around three decades ago, his father had taken him to an exam centre in Agra (UP) on a borrowed cycle for IIT exam and he was awestruck to see other boys coming in cars carrying fancy books. However, his father had encouraged him saying it all depends on hard work and not pretence in life. Only two boys including Sekera had cleared the exam in Agra’s exam centre.
Also Read: Madhya Pradesh Man Pedals 105 km on Bicycle to Take His Son to Examination Center
Meanwhile, Shobharam, a labourer by profession and native of village Baidpura in Dhar, last week, had taken his son Asheesh to an exam center, around 105 km away from his village in a seven-hour gruelling journey.
I had no choice but to take my son on a bicycle as buses aren’t plying in my area since lockdown was imposed and are yet to restart operations. Besides, no one helped the family in the village. The labourer had started from his village on Sunday night, and stayed at Manwar in the night and reached Mandu at 4 am. He reached the exam center in Dhar barely 15 minutes before the exam was to commence.
Asheesh who could not pass class X exams is appearing in re-exam under the Ruk Jana Nahin scheme of the MP government which gives students another chance to clear exams.
Asheesh had thanked his father for his hard work and ensuring he did not lose his chance in the exams.
Not having money to stay in a hotel or lodge for three days, Shobharam had brought a bed and three days’ ration with him.
However, Brijesh Pandey, the Assistant Commissioner of Tribal Welfare department was inspired by the story of the father-son and had made arrangements for father-son to stay in Dhar and also arranged their return to their native village.
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