Arokia Prabhu of Class 8 at YuvaLok dares to dream big! He wants to follow the footsteps of his role model Late Major Sandeep Unikrishnan and his focus is to become an Army Officer who will make India proud.
He says that “Major Sandeep Unikrishnan inspires the youth of India even today. And I am one of them who wants to be like him. When I heard about the brave and daring fight Major Sandeep put up with the terrorists in the 26/11 Mumbai attack and his display of courage, I knew at that moment who I wanted to be in life: an Army Officer.”
One day Arokia shared his dreams with his parents – his father is a building labourer and his mother a house maid. The amount of encouragement he received to pursue his dream amazed him. Every day since then his mother reminds her son of the dream and the hard work that needs to be put in to be that smart Army Officer in the near future. He never lost focus even though he did not know how to go about pursuing his dream. His parents could not afford to send him to school and the local government school was just not acceptable for the children and parents as there was hardly anything constructive happening there.
And surely enough, in 2009, Arokia’s neighbor spotted the smartness in this young lad and his two younger brothers. His heart went out to them seeing their poverty yet the determination and willingly he approached YuvaLok School requesting for admission.
YuvaLok School took interest in these children and on seeing the family’s helplessness but their desire to see their children educated, they were given admission. Arokia Prabhu has been studying very well each year and he is confidant of joining the Indian Army after his graduation. He says, “The only way I can return my gratitude to my Alma Mater for all that they have taught me and groomed me into is to be one of the finest officers in the Indian Army.”