True Story – Sheer Grit

May 25, 2018

In the series, ‘True Story’, under Insights, I bring out human stories that will help us pause and reflect, stories that are certain to give us insights.

In this edition, I introduce you to Revanna Marilinga.

Revanna ran away from home at the age of 10 and discovered a world of his own through sheer grit and determination.

Today, every year, he works towards changing the lives of over 5000 young people coming from difficult circumstances. He is a facilitator for teachers, has represented India at Brazil and is invited to address audiences in the country.

Here is a story of sheer grit.

Right from childhood, I never felt like going to school. I would go to my class, throw the bag in and run away into the village. I played the whole day for a full year. When the school authorities did not allow me to appear for the examinations due to my poor attendance record, my mother was summoned. Much to my disappointment, my mother allowed the school principal to take any action the school authorities deemed fit to ensure I attended school.

When I was 8 years old, I began working at a small hotel in Mandya, helping in cooking, serving and cleaning the dishes. I was paid Rs. 300 per month. I worked there for about 2 years. At the hotel, when I began interacting with people, I gathered that Bangalore was a city of opportunities.

I was 10 years old when I ran away from home. I landed at the Bangalore Railway Station with absolutely no idea of what I would do. I roamed around the city, asked for work and begged for food. My idea was to get a job, earn money and make my family happy. Nothing worked in the city and I returned to the Bangalore Railway Station. I was with many boys at the station when the staff from BOSCO (an NGO engaged in rescuing children) came and rescued us and took us to BOSCO Mane (‘Mane’ pronounced ‘manay’ means ‘home’ in Kannada).

BOSCO Mane is a Shelter for boys under the age of 15 years, engaged in non-formal education. At BOSCO Mane, the boys were separated into Free boys & school-going boys. The school-going boys went to school from 8 AM to 4 PM. They participated in sports, dance etc.. Since I insisted on not wanting to go to school, I was a part of the Free boys group. The Free boys had nothing to do the whole day. After a point, I grew bored and for the sake of playing sports, decided to go to school.

I was admitted to Grade 3 at Model Primary School Chamarajpet, Bangalore. I was good at Math and not good at other subjects. I was a part of a special intervention for Reading & Writing. I was very good at sports. I participated in athletics, both inter and intra class. It was at this point that I was introduced to Dream a Dream, an NGO that was running programs on Life Skills. My contact with Dream a Dream changed my life. More of that later…

I had joined swimming because I could escape studies for 3 hours every Saturday. I was doing so well in swimming that by the time I was 11 years old, I had been selected for professional coaching in swimming at the Basavanagudi Aquatic Center (BAC). For 5 years, every day from 4 PM to 6 PM, I trained professionally. I won several medals. By the time I was 15 years old, I was participating in zonal-level swimming. In running, I won a gold medal in 400 meters and Rs. 50 as award. My feat got recognition for my school.

Over these years, I had seen families coming to my school, interacting with their children. As a part of BOSCO, we went to villages and did some work around sanitation. Interacting with people in the village, I suddenly longed to be with my family. It had been years since I had left my village. I had forgotten the way back. However, with the help of some people at BOSCO and the police, I was able to trace the route to my village.

When I reached the village. I learnt that my mother had passed away and my father had turned an alcoholic. I was with my uncle and aunt. In the initial days, I felt very good spending time at the village. However, with passage of time, I felt discriminated against. My relatives expected me to begin earning. I realized that I should go back to Bangalore.

I came back to Bangalore and took up a job at a hotel. But when I saw children with school bags, I felt like going back to BOSCO. BOSCO wanted to send a rescue team to fetch me. But since I did not want the hotel owner to get into trouble, I reached BOSCO on my own.

Back to BAC. At BAC, I saw children coming from mainstream schools in their fancy costumes and shoes. We were in rubber flip-flops. In the practice sessions, when we ran, the flip-flops would make such embarrassing sounds, I can recall them even today. We had no choice. However, some of the coaches pooled in some money and got us canvas shoes. The children coming from such mainstream schools used to be accompanied by their family members. When I saw their interactions, I thought of my village but then if I had stayed back at the village, I would have never got these opportunities.

The coaches contributed from their Summer Camp allowance and got us the right costumes. I began participating in national championships across India.

Meanwhile, I appeared for my Grade 10 examinations and passed. I entered Pre-University. As per the rules at BOSCO, they could no longer support me financially. I was expected to sustain myself. I was expected to pay for all the supplies received from BOSCO.

I was an adult now. This was the time when the Sunfeast Marathon came up in Bangalore. I decided to participate in it. My belief was that I will find someone who will support and mentor me. As luck would have it, I met a person who changed my life forever. At the event, I met Vishal Talreja, co-founder of Dream a Dream, a not-for-profit organization based in Bangalore. Vishal offered me a job at Dream a Dream.

I was interviewed and selected. I was, technically, out of BOSCO but the salary from Dream a Dream had not begun coming in. It was a tough month. I walked 20 kilometers every day to and from work because I had no money to pay for the bus ticket. I survived on the food brought in by the Dream a Dream staff. When I received my first salary of Rs. 2075, more than joy, it was relief. The first thing I did was make my Bus Pass. Once I began receiving my salary, I used to spend it on my friends who were in the same financial state as I used to be. I was happy to see them happy.

At the Round Table School where I was assigned as a Dream a Dream facilitator, children would be happy seeing me and their faces would light up. As I spent more time at this school, even those children who were not a part of my class would smile at me and call me by my name. I used to wonder why can’t the other teachers be like me?

Fast forward…

In 2014, I represented India as a Young Leader at the Football for Hope Festival in Brazil during the FIFA World Cup. I proudly led the contingent holding the Indian tricolor.

Today, I work as a Manager at Dream a Dream. I am responsible to impact 5500 young people every year. I manage 45 staff members. I am a Master Trainer in Life Skills. I train teachers across Karnataka to become Life Skills Facilitators – some of them are twice my age. I helped 16 people become Community Leaders in the areas of Rugby & Football.

Recently, I was the Keynote Speaker at the Quest Alliance Alumni Meet. I presented our work on Impact Assessment at the International Conference for Well-being at Lucknow. I also presented at the Dream a Dream’s international conference, Change the Script.

My insights based on my experience:
• It doesn’t matter where you come from. It matters where you are going.
• Everyone has the power to do whatever they want to do.
• I have fully accepted my past. This has liberated me to script a new future.
• Believe in yourself and chase your dreams, not someone else’s.
• Life success is beyond academic success.

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