Our student Mehboob - a 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack survivor

Thousands of people travel through the Mumbai local trains every day. Most of them are local residents of the city, but there are a few like Mehboob who come to the city to visit their family or for tourism. Mehboob Abbas Ansari a resident of Ranchi, a city in the state of Jharkhand went through a traumatic experience when he had once visited Mumbai.

He stayed with his family in Ranchi and had completed his formal education until the 10th grade. His father had a garments shop in the city and he provided a helping hand in his father's business. His father had spent a few years in Mumbai and had shifted to Ranchi permanently when Mehboob grew older.

Once Mehboob had come down to Mumbai with his family to meet their relatives.

They were waiting at one of the railway platforms in Mumbai, and unfortunately that platform was one of the targets for a horrible terrorist attack. The bomb went off and before he could realize anything he was unconscious. He was rushed to the hospital and was unconscious for the next few days. Later, when he recovered and wanted to meet his parents, he asked the hospital staff about their whereabouts. Until a month after the incident he was told that his parents were just fine. But one day he called his relative and was informed that his parents as well as his brother-in-law had passed away in the same accident.

This shattered him completely and his life had come to a stand still. He had many people in his family and his elder brother was the only earning member. His family and himself had to go through a very difficult time. But soon the staff of Tata group, an elite group who helped the 26/11 victims, took notice of him and enrolled him at Pratham's PACE Hospitality Centre at Aurangabad. The place and the people was new to him and he took some time to acclimatize as he had never traveled or lived alone before. Initially he felt very lonely but found a couple of friends in a few days. He soon got placed at Taj Hotel, Varanasi and is happy that he is now an earning member in his family.

He found the staff at our PACE centre very helpful and cordial and speaks highly about them. He says they helped him learn computers and groom himself. He believes joining the PACE hospitality centre was a turning point in his life, as it helped him get employed.

He says - "If you have the will to do something different

 in your life then the course and the people at Pratham will definitely help you!"