Orphan writes success story with willpower

His name may not be well-known, but Dr Kishore Arya, a Junior Resident at the Lady Hardinge Medical College, has the willpower to make his life a success story. It is also impossible to visualise the man who speaks confidently in English with no grammatical errors was brought up in an orphanage.

With focus on children in a private-run shelter being sexually abused for the past few weeks, the story of Dr Arya brings new hope that if authorities are willing to provide cheap education and an individual is inspired, then children from orphanages too can become assets for the country.

Dr Arya’s mother died when he was three months old. The second marriage of his father, a constable in Delhi Police, led to his isolation from the family. His father sent him to a private orphanage so he could continue with his studies. Since then, Arya has been on his own.

“It was tough to study in a dormitory where all kinds of children stayed, some committed to studying, most not interested. But the authorities were helpful towards those who wanted to study and provided decent material to do so,” said Dr Arya.

Having cracked Delhi Government’s medical examination, he became the first child from his orphanage to enter the University College of Medical Sciences, GTB Hospital, affiliated to University of Delhi.  “Had I not got admission in a government institution, it would have been impossible to pay the fees. My institute paid the fees which was a few thousand rupees a year. The money for books on medicine came through donations. I managed my personal expenditure by giving tuitions to kids,” said Dr Arya.

During two years of post-MBBS period, he worked for a few months and saved money to prepare for post-graduation.

“Now life is settled. As a junior resident at Lady Hardinge, I get enough stipend to lead a comfortable life,” he said.

This also means start of a new inning for him. “I wanted to specialise in community medicine. Due to some unfortunate reason, I could not. But I am committed to serving marginalised people and my nation. I am going to work for society once I finish my course here,” said Dr Arya.