” The smart room needed a fresh lick of paint and I was voicing my thoughts out aloud when our Sr. Faculty, Faris Kandoth Sir, remarked “why don’t you handover this task to our Sidhique who should be able to do a good job.” “Sidhique who?” I queried. “
“The young lad from Kommeri poised to scale dizzy heights”
“There is a young multimedia student in first year BMMC who is an enterprising fellow and does part time work to pay his fees here” Faris said. This moved me because I’m aware that life is tough and if there is someone amidst our student folk who is willing to offer his services for money to remit his tuition fees, then he definitely is the person I’m assigning to get the job done. Very soon I got to meet Sidhique and his close friend Danish ready to take up the task I was entrusting. “Sidhique, I would also need the services of an electrician, if you know anybody?” “No problem sir, I can handle that one also, myself” he replied brimming with confidence. Couple of days later we had our smart room ready with two coatings of cream colored paint and elegant electrical fittings replacing the worn out switches. I immediately call up the youngsters and am profuse with my appreciation.
I am curious about this lad and decide to trace his footsteps from whence he came. Sidhique is the second child born to Jaleel, a construction worker, and Sulekha, a homely housewife and along with his sisters Raihana and Najma live in Kommeri, Calicut. “I learned how to cook from my mother. I can cook anything except ‘biriyani’”, Sidhique explained about one of his multifarious skills.
He completed his +1 from Azchavattom HS and +2 from JDT High school, where he befriends his close pal, Danish who was to influence the way Sidhique’s life was headed. From an early age, Sidhique developed the habit of organizing his own finances and rarely depended on his father, Jaleel (a construction worker and sole earner in the family) for money. He had gathered a little knowledge of plumbing courtesy his father and he remembers the one time when the Corporation pipe broke down right in front of his house disrupting the water supply in the region. Typically no one bothered to repair it until young Sidhique took it upon himself to mend the damage and restore availability of water. Needless to say, word got around about his prowess and soon the neighborhood began to depend on him for any small time painting work, plumbing assistance or electrical repairs. The young lad began to enjoy small streams of money flowing into his pocket and practically learned to look after himself.
Sometime in 2013, a technology wave surged the markets to bring on the smart devices revolution and young Sidhique was no exception to its influence. He wanted a smartphone like anybody else, but the problem? No funds, and Sidhique was not in the habit of touching his father or mother for money unlike the youth of today whose parents pump in money at the smallest request of their progeny. The solution to the problem Sidhique faced lay in the neighborhood. He approached the workers running a local industrial in the vicinity who agreed to teach him welding – an art he mastered within a short time span. The new skill fetched him work at the same unit and he soon became part of the crew completing a four storey structure. He also successfully raised the sum for his smartphone from the venture. The youngsters of today would profit hugely by taking a leaf out of Sidhique’s practical approach of seeing things.
Sidhique’s home nestled between palm and banana trees.
When Raihana (Sidhique’s elder sister) got engaged, the whole family sat around to discuss the matter of impending marriage expenses and on overhearing the ongoing dialogue, young Sidhique stepped in and offered to paint the house and redo the electrical lines. It took him a little over a month to do a decent job of it toiling late into the night after returning from school, often sticking to the job until the early hours, losing precious sleep, and then getting ready for school all over again. The boy was focused.
” Boxed in by his close ‘feline’ friends, Danish (left) and Kunju (right)
“How did you learn about Vismayam College and seek admission here?” I pried. “My friend and mentor from my JDT days, Danish, had attended a counselling session about a multimedia course that he mentioned to me that, in turn, prompted me to do the same. That’s how I happened to meet Faris Sir” and the rest is history. Not only did Sidhique live life on his own terms, but his academic achievements were always above average right through his school days and he took to the multimedia course (BMMC) like a duck to water.
Sidhique is twenty years old and talks about great dreams for the future and his story is posted here to touch the lives of other youngsters like him who seek the silver lining in clouds to lift themselves out of the mundane and stifling lives they are lost in.
