Anup Sengupta had a unfortunate childhood on Kolkata street. Denied by the society for contracting TB. Prior Mother Teresa handed him new life.
Mr Arup Sengupta chose to face the battle. He endured his misfortune without complaint .Mr.Arup Sengupta journey began in the year 1968.Death of his father changed his life. To tide over his father’s woe mother turned to alcoholic and his sister started earning bread to support his family. He met adversity when he contracted Tuberculosis. When his neighbours discover about his disease they sabotaged Arup childhood and thrown out of his locality . He shunned by his neighbours just like dalit’s was avoided years ago. Hopelessly left on paths rejected by the society .Until one day, helping hand of Mother Teresa retake his responsibility .Mother’s care bring his morale and hope back after 2 months , he stepped onward to build a new life.
Arup Sengupta had lost everything except his hope in life , he never give up .He did mundane jobs to pursue his education. He toiled himself , after finishing his college he went on to work in the corporate world for more than 45 years across India. 20 years later after his retirement when he come again to his hometown only to see poverty and lament on the streets of Kolkata. He was seeing his childhood on streets.
He envisage to do something for children who are oppressed and abandoned by the society the day he saw them on lanes. He was once there and able to empathize with the children . He decided to take a step for their future . He had a mother Teresa to get him out of ordeal situation now it is his turn to become mother Teresa in someone’s life . On the New Years Eve, 2016, while the world prepared to welcome the forthcoming year, Arup was out on streets, for he had different plans. Along with his wife and few colleagues, he distributed 200 blankets to the homeless kids sleeping on the pavements. A personal wish took the form of a closed group campaign that night. Furthermore, in no time, it ripped into the organization we now know as Notun Jibon. The NGO became a Trust in Feb 2019 and registered in Kolkata. Initially, the primary aim of the organization was to teach destitute kids.
He put a stop to hurdles which came across in path of children education . Arup started visiting selected roadside slums kids and started educating them. Day-to-day, he would get out in the morning and look on all these streets where he would find homeless children. He would guide them, listen to them , teach them, play games with them and feed them. In the last 3 years, Arup has enlarge its relief network to several slums all over the city and has served over 3,991 lives.
Furthermore assisting poor children and unfortunate kids staying on streets of Kolkata , his team have extricate several sex workers from Kalighat . Not only rescued them also set up an evening school right in the centre of Kalighat teaching of hundreds of children of sex-workers. The school starts with evening snacks, followed by sports, academic classes, art space and concludes with wholesome dinner. The organization has employed eight rescued-women mentioned as the Nari Shakti team who manage Notun Jibon and work in various roles. Besides team Nari Shakti, nine men work with the organization voluntarily. The organization has worked on building self-help groups for women in distress in the area.
Notun Jibon perpetually carry out work, bearing in mind the safety standards. Children who are unable to attend classes they provides them a weekly assortment of three kilos of rice, potato, dal, and mustard oil. Beside , their loving wings have spread open to the Sunderban region, distributing food to the ones in distress. Arup would say, “We have fed 35,000, not helped.” Sunderban women are taught how to make mosquito net by Team Nari Shakti, and beneficiaries are widows of fishermen who lost lives to corona.
As luck would have it, people have always been kind enough to fuel the engine of charity and empowerment. Arup has accomplished to earn many well-wishers over the years. His friends come forward to graciously support him, along with his corporate friends and CSR funds. All his life savings have gone into this organization. Life is excellent, as per Mr Arup. Though, sadness struck when he lost his wife on 23rd December 2019. Not to our surprise, he carried on and resumed working the very next day. Arup believes God does not want him upstairs as he fears he will bully God. Thus, the legend lives to serve, and the ones he helped his legacy live life rather than survive.
