Ever thought about the true purpose of life? Ever thought above earning money, getting married, having a promising career, and luxurious life? Maybe never! At least not everyone thinks beyond it. That’s what our so-called society has told us. However, it’s not true.
‘Because the purpose of our life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.’ That’s the true purpose, and our today’s narrator Mr. Arup Sengupta will prove it to you. So let’s hear his story from him.
I’m Arup Sengupta from Kolkata. Currently, I’m working as a social worker and activist. It’s my story so let me give you a brief about my life.
I grew up in Assam and had a very safe childhood. My parents were from mixed cultures. My mother was an Anglo Indian, whereas my father was a Bengali. Since my father worked in a tea garden, I was privileged to go to one of the best schools in Darjeeling. I went to St Joseph’s School North Point, Darjeeling. Though I was an average student on the education front, I excelled with extracurricular activities like music and sports that added more to my overall education.
Back then, life was so smooth until my father expired in 1966 in the tea gardens. Post his death, we shifted to Kolkata, and I took admission to Xavier School, which was one of the premium schools of Kolkata. My father’s early and sudden demise was a blow to our hearts, but the real battle came when I was diagnosed with Tuberculosis at 18.
Once I had coughed blood, I went to the hospital, where I was tested positive for Tuberculosis. This news tumbled our world upside down as in 1968, TB was a hazardous and incurable disease. There were no medicines and treatments available, so patients would hardly survive, and society’s reaction added more to their plight. It was what Covid-19 is right now. Back in that time, people used to boycott TB patients the way Corona patients are boycotted now. Today’s treatment is still soft and supportive, but in 1968 it was unbearable.
Similar things happened to me. Our neighborhood and other people in the area forced us to vacate the house. I, with my mother and sister, had to leave it. We went to the church, and they suggested we go to meet Mother Teresa. In those days, she was called Sister Teresa. We visited her, but she didn’t have space. So she pointed towards the footpath where patients with Leprosy were lying down. We spent three-four days on that footpath.
Later, she gave me a railway ticket and asked me to proceed to Kurseong, a government hospital meant for Tuberculosis patients. I was there for two years, put up in a room with 15 patients, but only two of us survived. I dodged death each time I was on the oxygen cylinder. I grew up in a privileged background where I was given everything, but I was fighting for my life. I didn’t even know I’d survive or not.
Two years later, I came back to society, but people never accepted me back. I resumed my education, but it became impossible to live without money, so I used to play drums and guitar in a nightclub to manage our finances. My sister and mother also contributed by working.
Things changed when I got married in 1972 as I had fallen in love with a beautiful girl. I left sports and started working in Sales and marketing. My job paid me a fortune, and I had everything in my hand.
4-6 years in it, I retired from Telecom as a Vice President. Whenever I went back to Kolkata, I would go to visit my mother’s house. Mother Teresa was the only one who helped us out during that time. She would say to me, ‘You will do the work I’m doing right now.’ I would laugh and say, ‘I don’t even know I believe in God or not,’ then she would smile in return and say, ‘Hold my hand. you will do it.’ I can still recall her words in my mind. Blessing from these people resolved my issues, and that’s how I felt the need to become a social worker.
Whenever anyone shivered, I’d offer a blanket to them, and these things naturally came to me. I used to give whatever I had in my pocket, even if it was a note of 10 rupees.
My wife always scolded me for these things. My wife didn’t understand what I was up to.
Arup Sengupta – Journey back to Kolkata
In 2016, I suddenly left my successful career in Delhi. I just came back to Kolkata and decided to do something. I started working with street children. Then my wife and our friend Jhumki Banerjee joined up.
On the 31st of December 2016, I purchased 200 blankets and loaded them in my car. We saw some people shivering at midnight, and we covered them with a blanket. We finished the task in four hours.
Then my wife said, ‘We should involve more people’ I considered her suggestion and posted it on social media. You won’t believe that at 2 am we got money for 500 blankets. One blanket cost was 150. At that time, there was no Paytm, so I used my account to collect money. We bought 500 blankets with the money, and that’s how we started. We wrote on Facebook, and again we got money. We would purposely set out at 10 pm so the help could reach the right person—someone who needs it.
When help started coming, I decided to expand things that we were doing for others. Summers arrived, and we began working with street children we’d feed and teach them. Kolkata is the home of many Bangladeshi migrators, and they come to our country with nothing. We provide food and other facilities for them.
People around me criticize my action, saying, ‘You are promoting illegal migration,’ but I think from a different perspective, seeing them as humans. I’m just helping a human being without judging him based on nationality, religion, and caste. They come with children, and a month-old baby can’t be at fault. So my take is to target humanity. That’s it! Not everything is political.
People used to judge me when I had severe health issues, but nobody helped me. Only Mother Teresa was there to support me, and she taught me that we have to look at the human side. I am doing good work for my society and feeling proud of it.
I lost my wife suddenly in late December 2019, but Jhumki still works with me, and she is a Trustee, as is her father, Barin Banerjee. There are other people on my team as well. One of the social media websites did a story on my life that went viral on the internet. Now, we are a registered NGO working in different fields.
I’ve encountered ups and downs throughout my life, like when I was young, I saved a girl who was being pushed in a brothel forcefully. I got stabbed twice, but my doctor friend treated me. Then TB reoccurred, but I dodged it again.
At the age of 70, when I look back at my life, I find it very beautiful. I’ve done all the things possible, been through many phases. They have made me a better person. I left money to serve our society as I believed serving humanity is the real purpose of our life. We are not born to earn and enjoy that money but to use it to better our society. No one should sleep hungry at night. Each One Feed One and these two things is my message for you.
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I am very proud of Arup Sengupta and he is really a great human being working only for the poor. Very difficult to see such people on this earth. Let’s together wish him good health. This earth needs him.
A noble man working with a noble cause.
Humanity is a religion which every one should follow.
Best wishes for success in his working.