This real-life story shows how a small intervention can change a life for the better

From a college dropout living in the slums, struggling to make ends meet – to a millionaire. This is not the storyline of a fictional film. This is the story of a real-life hero, Durgadas Pawar.

He was living in a shanty in Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune, with his parents and three siblings. At the time, he and his father worked to make ends meet and the family was living hand-to-mouth. While Durgadas worked in retail as a sales executive, his salary was as low as a stipend in an internship. It wasn’t enough to support the family, let alone finance his higher education. Without a Higher Secondary Certificate (12^th grade), he struggled with securing a job in a BPO. But, he was determined to change the course of their lives. And –
“Mahindra Pride School came to my rescue at the right time. I learnt about the school through a road show. They asked me to invest three months, and I completed training in voice and US culture. I graduated to start a job in a BPO with a five-figure salary. Those three months changed my life forever. I’m eternally grateful to Mahindra Pride School.”

The 90-day training in ITES (IT enabled Services) at the Mahindra Pride School helped him with hands-on training and skills that made him job-ready – he credits the course for equipping him to easily crack the interview, and to perform at his job. His first role involved the US banking process, and the training he received for language, communication and interpersonal skills, prepared him for it.

“We received training in voice and accent, and held a lot of group discussions and mock interviews. That really helped.”

In a little over three months, his salary shot up by almost four times the money he was earlier making. But the story doesn’t end there. With his new job, he could now fund his own education. He passed his 12^th grade and signed up for graduation.

He reminisces that the training itself was pretty comfortable, included meals, and the sessions were very interesting. The constant guidance, mentorship, and encouragement from the MPS trainers, helped him to continue to make smart, professional decisions even later in his career. As a result –
“I’ve earned three promotions in five years and currently work as Deputy Manager in one of India’s leading Business Process Management companies. A team of 5 members currently reports to me and I get the exposure to work with global teams. My family is elated; we’ve come up from living in a slum, to a house of our own!”

Durgadas is an inspiration for his siblings and for other students at Mahindra Pride School. His message to the youth is simple – “Keep improving and upskilling with time. It’ll help you achieve your goals and rise in life.”

He is now paying it forward by going back to school as an alumnus and speaking to and inspiring the new batch of students. We couldn’t be prouder of him, for leveraging our youth skilling initiative to build a stable life for himself, and for taking it a step further and helping others through the same journey.

If his story resonates with you, and you would like to know more about Mahindra Pride School, click here.

Like Durgadas, over 3,26,697 youth from socially and economically disadvantaged communities have received training through the Mahindra Pride Program. At Mahindra Pride Schools, besides the domain specific training in one of the four verticals – IT enabled services (ITES), Organised Retail, Hospitality and QSRs, and the Automotive Sector, the youth are groomed in spoken English, grooming and soft skills. This has had a transformational impact on their lives and has equipped them to navigate the challenges of the professional world with ease. 100% of the students have been placed in reputed companies and are excelling in their careers. The Mahindra Pride Classrooms have trained 2,87,417 youth from ITIs, Polytechnics and Arts & Science Colleges across 18 states, through 40-120 hours training modules covering spoken English, Life Skills, Aptitude, Interview Preparedness, Group Discussion and Digital Literacy. Mahindra Pride Schools & Classrooms are enabling the country to reap its demographic dividend and is an example of Mahindra CSR driving positive change in the lives of its stakeholders and communities.