| Akhil- Football is his passion |
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Name: Akhil
Age: 11 years ( approx)
Home town: Ernakulam
Family back ground : His mother, Mini is a daily wager and his father, Kunjumon is falsely implicated in a petty case and is behind the bars. The family's financial condition does not allow them to engage an advocate to contest the case. Both his younger brothers of Anish and Nikhil are in santwanam poor home.
How he reached here: His mother who strives hard to make both ends meet, left all her three sons in charity homes as she had no other option.
Akhil eats, drinks and breathes football. I could sense the excitement in his voice as he talked in detail about the gifted football player from Brazil, Ronaldinho and the English soccer star David Beckam. According to him, not many players can match the sheer pace and elegance of these legendary players. I was awestruck to note that he closely follows the game and has all the facts and figures right at his finger tips.I decided to change the topic when I found that our conversation was veering off target.
What is your favorite subject? Pat came the reply ; 'I like English and Science and I want to be a successful break dancer when I grow up'. I was astonished by his rather quirky choice. You are good at studies and you could easily be a successful doctor, lawyer or teacher. I opined. Then why do you want to be a dancer ?
He justified his choice effortlessly. 'I believe in doing what I love the most. Break dancing is my passion and I love to make it a profession' The confidence in his eyes and the optimism in his words was very much palpable in the air. I was happy for him and his personal choice, which came straight from his heart. 'Just follow the instincts and do the right things, success could be yours', he added. He might have gained these words of wisdom from his own experience. As they say, life is the ultimate teacher, and Akhil seems to enjoy every moment of it.
As I was getting ready to move on to the next kid, I decided to put my parting shot to him- What is your biggest dream in life? 'A roof over my head'- without batting an eyelid he told in a soft and muffled voice. 'We don't have a house of our own and hence cannot live as a family'. He mumbled to himself as he gazed to the vast backwaters behind us.
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