CHENNAI: When asked for his marks, B Vignesh (15) smiled shyly and said, “I got only 233 marks.”.
Vignesh is associated with Arunodaya Centre that works with street, slum and homeless children. The organisation’s uniqueness is that they train children within the slums to make sure they stay in school. Vignesh is one of the student slum leaders and takes immense pride in it.
Even during his chat with the media he quickly takes a minute to listen through the door what is being discussed at his training session.
Vignesh lives in a Slum Clearance Board tenement and is the son of a fisherman. His family is not financially well-off as the fishing ban is still in force but the family is managing with the money his mother makes as a fish cleaner in one of the shops in Kasimedu.