From homeless orphan to home owner in Mumbai

Mumbai: Twenty-six-year-old Akshay Sitaram Mhaskar’s story has all the makings of an inspirational film: orphaned early on, he lived in a night shelter and on the roof of a BMC public toilet while pursuing his education

Mumbai: Twenty-six-year-old Akshay Sitaram Mhaskar’s story has all the makings of an inspirational film: orphaned early on, he lived in a night shelter and on the roof of a BMC public toilet while pursuing his education. Eventually, his resilience and grit in the face of adversity paid off and have brought him to the current happy point in his life.

From homeless orphan to home owner in Mumbai

Today, Mhaskar has a stable job and has made the down payment for an apartment. He also tied the knot with his childhood sweetheart in January this year. “I am now working as a repo auditor with a finance company that provides loans for two-wheelers,” he said. “I will be shifting to a rental place in Worli in two months. I have also invested in a house in Naigaon and am paying EMIs from my savings.”

Orphaned in his formative years, Mhaskar lived with his maternal aunt for a while in Worli’s Prem Nagar. After some issues with his aunt’s husband, he shifted to a hostel after Class 8. “I did my SSC while living in a bachelors’ hostel and completed Classes 11 and 12 from joined Ambedkar college in Wadala,” he said. “I attended night classes and used to live on the roof of a public toilet near Deepak Talkies.”

When Mhaskar joined the NSS unit in college, he met a volunteer named Chaitanya who informed him about the BMC-run Vande Mataram Foundation shelter in Matunga Labour Camp which provided accommodation for free. This was in April 2018, and Mhaskar shifted there. “I lived with eight other men in one room,” he said. “I did part-time jobs in a collection and recovery agency for finance companies and even worked part-time as a delivery boy. I used to study at night.”

The night shelter is a registered NGO for orphans and aged people run in association with the BMC and National Urban Livelihood Mission. The shelter premises belong to the BMC’s estate department and water and electricity is also provided by the civic body.

Mhaskar’s remarkable story had an interesting twist after he wed Bhakti Dodke in January this year. “Earlier there was a little reluctance from her family but they eventually agreed to our marriage,” he said.

Sachin Khedekar, shelter manager of the Vande Mataram Foundation, was all praise for Mhaskar. “Akshay did part-time jobs with credit card recovery agencies,” he said. “He also worked as a caretaker for the shelter during the pandemic. Now, he is an executive with a recovery agency and doing his post-graduation at the same time.”

Khedekar said that Mhaskar knew his wife since he was in Class 7. She would bring food for him, and gradually their friendship blossomed into love during their college years. “I advised him to earn extra money and save some money to buy a house if he wanted to marry,” he said.

Asked if he had any advice to offer, Mhaskar said, “As someone who has struggled, I would like to tell kids to value and respect their parents. They shouldn’t find fault with them and should realise that they are lucky to get what their parents provide. There are people in this world who are deprived of this basic nurturing, and it is something that I personally could only dream of having.”