Should leave plumbing, study and become a teacher; Story of migrant worker Manoj who went viral on social media

KANNUR: The assembly was being held at Govt Higher Secondary School in Mathil of Kannur district. A migrant worker, who was doing plumbing work in the school, came in front of the head teacher PK Bhargavan with folded hands.

His request in Hindi was to give him a chance to talk to the children. The headmaster agreed. In those words which were filled with the literature and poetic fragments of Maithili Sharan Gupt's, Jaishankar Prashad's and Mahadevi Varma's works, the sadness of a student whose further studies were stalled could be seen. A round of applause from teachers and children followed. Appreciation poured in as teachers CV Unnikrishnan and N Suresh posted a video of the speech on social media.

The man was Manoj Rajput, a 21-year-old from Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, who was brought in by Vinod, a contractor who took up electrical and plumbing work at Mathil School.

75 percent marks in plus two

Manoj shared his grief with the teachers that despite passing plus two with 75 percent marks, he could not find a way to go for higher studies. He came to Kerala to help his family financially. He wanted a better job but ended up in the construction field. Manoj's father Amal is a farmer. Mother Jananti is unemployed and his brother Umesh is studying in Plus Two. Father's farm work is the only source of income. There are buffaloes in the house. Manoj used to go to school after giving milk to neighbouring houses.

Manoj wants to continue his interrupted studies and wants to become an English teacher. It has been a year since he came to Kerala. He was very impressed with the learning environment in Kerala. This young man is hoping that someone will help him to continue his studies.