“Change of heart and soul” is easily said than done, but Imran Khan and his family have gone through a complete change of heart and mind.” Whatever we are today is just because of those people send by Allah,” said Rehmani Khan, mother of Imran.
Imran two years ago was a drug addict and use to con people to shell out money from them for his drugs. As his family’s financial conditions were bad, even they helped him sometimes in coning people to get money out of them for his drugs. One fine morning, he caught one of my friends, Ranjit, in the local train and started begging for money saying,” I have a younger sister who was heaved out school because of money and he wants some 700 rupees to get her into the school again.” Ranjit really was irritated and asked Imran to show him the younger sister, and then he will get him into a nice government run school. Imran thought for a while and said yes to the offer.
He took my friend to his home, slums of Colaba and made him meet his mother and a younger sister, who was about 8 years old. His mother then started discussing her problems with my Friend and somehow convinced him to give her money rather getting her admitted to some Government school. He gave them 700 and left the place.
Days had passed after the incident, Rehmani called up Ranjit and told him, “My son is a drug addict and he cons people to cull out money from them for his own needs and there is no younger sister, the girl we showed you was our neighbor’s daughter.” Further, she added, “You gave us your card and told us that you work for people like us i.e., who live in the slums, so please help us.” Ranjit got furious knowing about all the lies told, he hung up. However, later on he spoke about this case to his colleagues and then all of them decided to help the family out. He visited the Imran’s house with a NGO personnel that works for drug addicts and spoke to the family about taking to Imran to rehabilitation centre. Hearing to this, Rehmani requested them to take Imran out of Mumbai because here, he has his rowdy friends who somehow get him sneak out of the rehabilitation or provide him drugs. “That is how it has worked for the three times we tried sending him to the rehab in Bandra, but even the peons are crooked over there and they avail drugs within the rehab itself. Furthermore, my son knows everyone of them now.”
It took some one-month for the NGO to work out the whole thing of sending Imran out of the town and collaborating with one other NGO in Indore. After which Imran was taken to Indore saying “We have a job for you, which will pay you well.” Rehmani stood strong all this while, never demanded any whereabouts of her son. Only spoke to him when the NGO people called her to speak to Imran, Otherwise she passed all the time without her only son happily waiting for him.
Imran was brought back after a year, and he had become a healthy smart young man. Rehmani broke into tears seeing her son after such a long time and that too in such a state. She had never seen her son so sober and healthy. She hugged Ranjit and thanked him for all that he had done for Imran.
Imran now works in the same NGO as a peon and helps Ranjit whenever needed. They live a happy and healthy life now.
