Woman seeks Rs 500 assistance from son's teacher, gets Rs 51 lakh

Left with no other option, a woman in Kerala sought an assistance of Rs 500 from her son's teacher to buy food for her three children.

Moved by the plight of the family, the teacher posted it on social media and sought assistance. In around 48 hours Rs 51 lakh reached the bank account of the hapless women as contributions from philanthropists.

Forty-six year old Subhadra hailing from Koottanad on the suburbs of Palakkad district had sought assistance from her younger son's Hindi teacher Girija Harikumar last week as she was left with no money to buy food for her three children, one of them bed-ridden with cerebral palsy.

Subhadra's husband Rajan, who had been eking out a living for the family by doing casual jobs, died in August. Afterwards the family had been under severe financial stress as Subhadra could not go for work as her bed-ridden son Athul Raj always required attention.

Her eldest son Abhin Raj is doing a technical course and youngest son Abhishek Raj is an eight-standard student at the nearby Vattenad government vocational higher secondary school.

Girija, who is Abhishek's class teacher, used to enquire about his family. But the family's pitiable condition came to her notice only after Subhadra rang her up a few days back and sought Rs 500. After sending her Rs. 1,000, Girija visited Subhadra's house a couple of days later.

"I was really moved when Subhadra said that there was nothing for the children to eat at home. The condition at her home was really pitiable. Even the tiled roof used to leak in rain. Subhadra had no source of income, except for the meagre government assistance for her bed-ridden son," Girija told DH.

Girija shared the plight of the family on social media on Friday and sought assistance. Subhadra's bank account details were also shared. By Sunday the contributions reached Rs. 51 lakh and Girija and Subhadra thanked all those who contributed.

"I am not sure what could have been our fate unless Girija teacher turned up to help us. I have no words to express my gratitude," said Subhadra.

Girija is being widely appreciated for her initiative to help the family.