Amazing story of two Indians -- the saviour and the saved – who are an example of how to face adversity and emerge victorious

"The desire to become an IAS officer came after I read inspiring stories about some IAS officers. I thought I would be able to do the work Papa is doing more effectively if I were to become an IAS officer. What Papa does is help the abandoned and the poor; I just want to follow in his footsteps. I want to dedicate my life to others. If Papa had not picked me up from the dustbin, I would have died, choking in the bag. If I can do at least a fraction of what he does, I would consider my life worthwhile. I don't want this life given to me to go to waste!"

March 7, 1994. 20 years have passed since that day, but Vidyakar, the man behind Udavum Karangal, still remembers the day vividly. It was in the morning that a stranger called to inform him that a bag had been found inside a dustbin near a drain in Anna Nagar, Chennai. It was not just any bag, though -- it was a bag with a baby inside.

Such calls come quite often to Udavum Karangal. So, without wasting any time, Vidyakar rushed to the spot on his scooter. But as he couldn’t locate the bag, he went back home. In no time, the same person called him again, as if he was watching from somewhere and wanted Vidyakar to rescue the baby. 'I know you came but couldn't find the bag.' He gave some more landmarks so that Vidyakar wouldn’t miss the bag.

Vidyakar went back to the same spot and this time, he could find the bag. It was closed.

When he opened it, he found a newborn baby gasping for breath and frothing. The umbilical cord of the baby was not tied and there were ants all over its body, feeding on its tender skin. He rushed the baby to a nearby hospital, and in two days' time, the baby was ready to go back home; home for the baby was Udavum Karangal, as it was for countless other abandoned babies.

One thing that struck Vidyakar then was the clothes used to drape the baby, and even the bag used. "From the look of it, it was clear that he was not from a poor family. The towel used clearly gave away the fact that he was from an affluent family. The location also was quite affluent. Though I have rescued many babies over the years, it is always a painful experience to see abandoned babies," Vidyakar went back in years.

Vidyakar named him Abhilash Vidyakar (all abandoned babies at Udavum Karangal have the surname Vidyakar, as he is 'Papa' to all of them). "What I name a child has to do with what the child means to me when I find him or her. There is always a reason behind the name I choose. Even after thirty years, the name should remind me of our connection. Abhilash means a wish, a desire..."

In no time, Vidyakar noticed that Abhilash was an exceptionally brilliant and creative child -- a "special child".

When he was 10, Abhilash learnt that Papa Vidyakar had picked him out of a dustbin.

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