Businessman to build home for homeless girl

A Dubai-based Indian businessman has offered to build a house to a homeless Indian schoolgirl.

Aradhika, a Grade 12 student from Trivandrum, had excelled in her academics, but lived in a house with just one room along with her sister, her mom and her dad.

Her condition came to light after the announcement of her examination results.

She scored 100 per cent in all subjects, a rare achievement in Kerala, and the City's Mayor accompanied by the media had visited the girl's house to felicitate her.

What they found there was that the family not only cooked, ate and slept in the one room house, but it had no place to accommodate about 2,000 medals that the girl had won in various competitions.

The news was broadcast across various news channels in Kerala.

Kabir Jalaluddin, a Dubai-based businessman has now volunteered to come forward and build a house for the girl.

He has also promised to help the girl in further education.

Both Aradhika and her sibling have been offered scholarships for higher education.

“I first wanted to build them a house, but realised that they did not even own a piece of land where we could build it,” says Jalaluddin.

Aradhika's ambition is to pass the Civil Service exams in India and so wants to live within the city limits, for easy access to coaching centres.

Jalaluddin is in the process of buying a four bed-room house within the city limits in Thiruvananthapuram.

“We chose the place because it is close to the IAS Academy (civil service coaching centre). The academy has also offered to waive away her fees,” says Jalaluddin.

The girl's condition he says reminded him of his own state when he was a student. “We had no lights. We used to depend on kerosene lamps and even street lights,” he says.

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