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“I want to play Judo for the country, but first I want to support my family, education, earn well for myself and then turn to my passion project!”
Dinesh hails from a village in Madhya Pradesh. He was all of 10 when he ran away from home to get away from a troublesome father. He intended to go to his aunt’s place but given he was just 10, he took the wrong train and found himself in Kerala, lost. And that is where the 2.0 version of his journey began.
Making his way through a police station, child line and an orphanage, Dinesh found himself amongst MAD volunteers during the weekends. At the CCI , Dinesh chose the option to study and get better so he makes his life different from what he’s seen his father live.
“I liked the orphanage, I made my first set of friends there and thanks to MAD, I began learning English and feeling cool about it also. I used to look forward to learning new words everyday!”, he said giggling coyly. Another thing he looked forward to was practicing Judo. Dinesh has been a Judo enthusiast and is so good at it that he’s represented state nationally as well.
There is something about Dinesh that stays with you. It’s possibly his positivity and solution-centric approach. Very early on in his life, he realized that one needs hard-earned, honest money to survive in this world. From selling newspapers, to being a driver, from playing Judo for money to doing many other small jobs for survival, Dinesh has been able to support himself, his education and even his family over the years, with whatever little he could.
He will soon complete his class 12th and already has a job in hand along with some savings from his odd jobs. With his savings, he is even helping build a small house for his mother and sister.
“I’ve always wanted to try to do things myself! But how could I do everything myself? There were times when I was great, and there were times I was down. In those times, I learned to seek help, and I reached out to MAD for additional support. And that extra support was everything.”
Dinesh needed support for his studies, his need and Judo, his passion. Out of the two, he chose to seek support for his studies first and parked his dream aside. Dinesh is that child who is so sincere and hardworking, that it melts your heart.
“The plan was for my studies and my own hard-earned money to help me take care of my responsibilities towards my family and my passion, Judo.”
Dinesh went to a Judo academy in Delhi for sometime and want to keep going back there to learn and get better because he thoroughly believes that “Seekhna kabhi khatam nahin hota.” (There is always, always room for learning.)
Dinesh is a resident of MAD Villa and found a home away from home there.
“Peace, comfort and freedom – that’s MAD Villa. What is more amazing is that there is no competition, only co-existence and support. All the boys happily support each other and each other’s dreams.”
