Chennai boy's journey: From begging to British varsity

CHENNAI: From begging on the streets of Chennai to becoming a student of a British university, C.Jayavel’s journey is extraordinary as much as it is inspirational to his community. After studying two years of engineering at Glyndwr University in Wales in the UK, he has now got a seat in the University of Turin, Italy, for further studies. His father Chellaiah is from Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh. They lived on the pavement near the Kilpauk water tank in Ayanavaram.

“We shot a short film on pavement dwellers, ‘Nadaipadhai Pookkal’ in 1998. We found Jayavel as a seven-year-old on the pavement,” said V.Uma, managing trustee, Suyam Charitable Trust. She and her husband R.N. Muthuram run the trust. “If it rained, we would try to find another shelter in a nearby shop until the cops came and chased us out of there,” Jayavel said. He along with his siblings and other children, begged at traffic signals. After his father died, his mother was addicted to alcohol and forced her children to beg to buy liquor. “Uma madam and Muthuram sir provided all the help for my education,” he said.

Jayavel cleared the class 10 board examination based on Cambridge University’s syllabus. He got admission in three different countries and chose Performance Car Enhancement Technology Engineering in Glyndwr University in the UK. “He is the first person from his community to pursue a degree in a foreign country. After his study in the UK, he has become a role model for his community people. Now many families are sending their children to our schools instead of making them beg at the signals,” she said. The trust also supports several other students to pursue their higher education. Will this boy from a beggar family be able to board the flight to Italy for his studies? Either state government or good Samaritans need to help him to do this.