Standing against a pillar, his head lowered, he slips the pink duck-faced puppets into his hands and waves weakly. The passers-by don’t notice. The Delhi Walla meets PM Sahay one evening in B Block, Inner Circle, Connaught Place, Delhi’s Colonial-era commercial district. A pavement hawker, he is 74.
“At this age shouldn’t you stay home?” I ask him.
“I can’t.”
Mr Sahay is a saritorialist’s man. His ironed bluish-white full-sleeved shirt is tucked into his pleated light-brown trouser that has a black leather belt. His brown shoes are polished. With his white hair and brown-rimmed glasses, he looks like a retired bureaucrat.
Mr Sahay walks towards the next block. Taking each step is an effort. “My legs ache,” he says. “The doctor says that tests are needed but that’s expensive.” The Inner Circle corridor is lined with thick round pillars. Mr Sahay draws energy by supporting himself against these columns, as he walks past them one by one.
“I come everyday from Rohtak,” he says in his frail voice, referring to a town 50km from Delhi. “I’ve a wife, a married daughter and her children to support.” Mr Sahay has a rail pass that enables him to commute daily to Delhi for a monthly sum of Rs 160. He leaves home at 2.30 pm and returns by 11 in the night. At (old) Delhi railway station, a wholesale trader gives him 20 pairs of puppets, which he hawks in Connaught Place, where he reaches by the metro. Each pair is priced at Rs 40. “I’ve sold just two and now it’s time to leave.” The puppets are stuffed in an orange cloth bag hanging from his left shoulder.
Mr Sahay’s neighbours in Rohtak are ignorant of his salesmanship. “If they discover that I sell toys in Delhi’s streets, we’ll be disgraced.”
It’s getting dark. The mannequins at a Levi showroom are bathed in orange glow. The corridor’s lamps have been lit. Mr Sahay walks out into the open. He sits down on a stack of manhole covers placed beside a rubbish bin. A man emerges from a jewelry shop and gives him chai without exchanging greetings; it seems a routine service. Mr Sahay takes out a packet of Parle G biscuits from his trouser pocket.
“I retired as a bank manager. We had a son. He had done chartered accountancy. A few years ago I spent all my savings for him to start his office in Delhi. But he moved to Bahrain without informing us. Two years ago, we heard that he had died in an accident. We could not even see his body. Now, there’s nobody to earn so I must work.”
Mr Sahay dips a biscuit into the chai and looks at the shopping crowd. After emptying the plastic glass, he gets up. “My train will leave in another hour. Goodbye.”
___
This is for all Delhi guys,
Can we help this guy?
This is for all Delhi guys,
Can we help this guy?
He will be an awesome maths teacher to kids.
If he is ready then find some kids/parents who want a good tutor, I can say he is an honest man.
Suggestions in comments please.
hey ...i m from andhra pradesh...i can help him with some money...buying all his puppets.....can u help me to get his details....thank you......doddapaneni.sri@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThis just really breaks my heart. I saw the photo on Facebook and couldn't stop thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteIs there anything us in the United States can do to help Mr. Sahay?
@srinivas: It is good that, you are thinking about him. You can meet him daily on CP circle delhi
ReplyDelete@Lauren Hall- Stigerts: You can share this information on your facebook account.
ReplyDelete@vivek...i have to travel long distance...when u planned to meet him... contact me i can help through you
ReplyDelete@vivek sry 4 asking that...if u rying to help him...once contact me...i ll join with you..thank u
ReplyDeleteI found the original post of this article from August 2011: http://www.thedelhiwalla.com/2011/08/25/mission-delhi-%E2%80%93-pm-sahay-connaught-place/
ReplyDeleteThat was a while ago. Do we have any updates on Mr. Sahay since then?
@Lauren: Well we are trying to help him, our team will surely help him and going to start our mission from tommorow
ReplyDelete@lauren https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151206212369158&set=a.412194189157.189040.100256329157&type=1&ref=nf
ReplyDelete@vivek
ReplyDeletewe have to think of one thing as well...what will happen to the daughter and her children after he is gone ( his age is 75)
What can be another solution is we can help his daughter do some vocational course ( sewing, ladies parlor work) so that she could earn and help her parents and children.the course will not at all be expensive to contribute
I saw a post on facebook but no info on his direct contact. So tried googling, ended up here. Does anyone have his info / can suggest how to provide support to him?
ReplyDeleteWish to help. Need his contact info.
ReplyDeleteTripti
Nivedita Kandpal,
ReplyDeleteI learned about him in facebook yesterday night. Since then I failed controlling my thoughts, I searched more for him but I couldn't extract any contact for him.If anyone has any contact info kindly send me to sarkar.nivedita1@gmail.com. Although, unfortunately I don't stay in Delhi, for him I would definitely come. I want to help him not because he is in need but to respect his fight for life at this age.
Please let me know his contact details.....Definitely ready to help....Please mail the details to girishgnair83@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteIf anyone living in Delhi can try finding his contact details, it would be of great help to all of us. This gentleman truly deserves our bottomless respect and I would like to help him in the best possible way.
ReplyDeleteHi. I am from Pune. I would like to help him in any possible way needed. Please let me know any kind of information you have to contact him. Or please let me know if I can help him through anyone over here.
ReplyDeleteContact: saakalyaa@gmail.com
I wish to help him. Please let me know his contact details. My number is +91 9907185143 and i can be reached at sanjusmenononline@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Sanjay
Hi
ReplyDeleteI would like to help him too.... is there any way i could get his contact details... would be great if you could help.You could reach me on nisham06@gmail.com
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI can imagine what he must be going through on a daily basis and can easily correlate with his situation since as a 5yr old kid me and my family have gone through the similar situation when my father expired untimely.My grand-dad did everything for us that he could and in some occasions begged to our school principal for not dismissing our names from the school due to non payment. it brings tears in my eyes.All this hardship went on for 25 years and now iam grown up living abroad and doing really good and got every thing that anyone would want and imagine in life.Thanks to people who offered us help by giving us small jobs to earn bread at least.Anyhow if anyone has his address or contacts..pls share it with me.thanx.
want to help him... please fwd the details to nadishamitra@gmail.com.... + can't people staying in rohtak and delhi help him with gettimg tuitions at home... where he'll be in the confortable interiors of his home and at the same time earing bread for his family also... hwat he faced in life is very very unfortunate and truly heart sinking... if we help him may be his life would be much better and he'll be able to support his family.. additionally his daughter too can be helped with a job wherein she can be an additional help to her father + her family... he alone would be able to pull it for very long... please send in details... and please for someone's life keep the details genuine...!!!
ReplyDeletehi... please forward his details to mallikarjunasastry@gmail.com
ReplyDeletemy heart is completely broken ..........i live in mumbai,...... i am a student and i cant help because i am not earning..... i hope i get my studies completed soon or else if by luck i get there in delhi...... i will help him by personally meeting him......... ya allah please help him please..... show him some mercy please..
ReplyDeleteTo all my visitors, Mr. PM Sahay still sells the pumplets in Connaught Place circle.
ReplyDeletewww.facebook.com/lol.lolz.lolx
You can contact with me on personal messages for more information.
I live in delhi..earning..I met dis man in CP once n I ws stuck on how to help him other dan buying his puppets...I think somebody mentioned it rightly we should educate his daughter well so dat she cud stand on her feet
ReplyDeleteI cant imagine my parents toiling in their old age.Lets all contribute for his medical treatment for his legs,and yes,educating his daughter...
ReplyDeleteMy group is going to help him selling his puppets..any one who is free on Sunday i.e., 28th Oct around 3PM can come join us and help him in selling the puppets,, lets give him a day rest :)
ReplyDeleteYou can join the group by following the link below and give your suggestions,, posting pictures,, anything :)
https://www.facebook.com/events/401971626540491/
My group is going to help him selling his puppets..any one who is free on Sunday i.e., 28th Oct around 3PM can come join us and help him in selling the puppets,, lets give him a day rest :)
ReplyDeleteYou can join the group by following the link below and give your suggestions,, posting pictures,, anything :)
https://www.facebook.com/events/401971626540491/
The Sahaya story is not genuine! Please stop donating money on wrong information. Check this link -
ReplyDeleteThe local shopowners in the area verify that he has been doing his scam stories for years to get money from people. Share the truth!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151111304670143&set=a.10151091236395143.424215.513460142&type=1
@Rajeev - Are you sure about it ? which part is not genuine ? At this age coming out to work to earn some money itself is highly appreciable.
ReplyDeletehi my name is ronald and me and my friends from office around 50 to 60 people are going to meet him on sunday the 28th this month and we have collected an amout that we intend on giving him after we buy all his puppets here is my number pls call if u want to join in 9289022125
ReplyDeleteHey Guys , whoever is going to meet him can U pls get his phone no.anything... I want to help this Gentleman too. P.S. - dont care if hes a fake or not as mentioned ny 1 poster .. he hasnt murdered/ robbed anyone .. so stop ur bull crap , cunts!!
ReplyDeleteplease mail me at - therohewalz@yahoo.com
Will try to do my best.
I was sad to hear his story and seeing someone so old working but I have hope and happiness now, to see so many people who are in delhi ready to help him ..Thanks everyone
ReplyDeleteI am In Rohtak , can some one knows where he lived .. I will be morethen happy to help him--
ReplyDeleteemail me
rohit_bhardwaj1@rediffmail.com
Thanks Ronald and group for helping Mr P M Sahay.
ReplyDeleteI am not staying in delhi else I cud have joined to help him.
Please if u all meet him collect his contact details please.
we ll be very grateful for u if u tell us his contact details so that we can also help him.
hey im from bangalore ...... i really want to help this great man.....im not rich ......bt illl try to do my best to help him......
ReplyDeletehow can i find this man......i want to help him....
please respond ...
thank you ...
my id is razr007kunal@gmail.com
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/MrSahayARealHero..... Join his fan page to spread his greatness..
ReplyDeleteHello All,
ReplyDeleteLets try to help this gentle man.
please go through this link
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=483309535023230&set=a.483309531689897.105425.483309438356573&type=1&theater
Delhi Ppl please help and let us know his details
We are ready to help him in all possible way.
Hi I am a student from USA. If this story is true I wouldn't mind helping him at all. Would you please provide me with his details. I can try sending some money. My email id is bkv_kv@yahoo.co.in
ReplyDeleteHi just wondering if anyone went there to help him? how is he doing now?? Please update
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/MrSahayARealHero
ReplyDelete