CHENNAI: Words would not describe the shock and pain 14-year-old Hari experienced when his parents abruptly disappeared from his life. Months after his mother died of a prolonged illness, his father, depressed with sudden turn of events, ended his life on June 25, leaving him alone.
Today his father’s colleagues and friends have come together to do the little they can for the teenager – contribute some money to sustain his education and begin a new life. Hari’s father Durai Murugan was a police constable of the 1999 batch. Over 3,000 men and women from his batch have pooled together Rs 13.91 lakh for Hari.
“Durai Murugan used to work at the Minjur police station,” recalls Vasu Devan. “He was a close friend. We have been together since our training in 1999. I was with him during his wedding, and when his son was born. Eventually, our families became friends too.” Vasu Devan says Durai was disturbed ever since his wife died. “We tried our best to help him, but it did not work.” Now, Hari, a class 9 student, is all alone. His uncle’s family has taken him in, but his financial future is still unstable.
“It takes about a year for the pension money to arrive. So we pooled in resources for the boy.” Vasu says all of his batchmates are on WhatsApp, and are scattered across some 60-odd groups. “I sent a message and everybody started sending money,” says head constable Sabari, who is the admin for all these groups. Of the collected money, Rs 12 lakh has been deposited into an insurance scheme, so that Hari will have a substantial sum when he needs it for college expenses. The balance has been handed over to Hari, for current educational expenses. Hari is not the first person. The batch has come to the help of 17 of their members so far. The efforts are not just to pool money, but also provide social support.