In the bustling city of Mumbai, where skyscrapers rise beside crowded chawls, lived Arjun Deshpande, a 32-year-old man with hopeful eyes and a weary heart. He had once dreamed of being a successful entrepreneur, but life’s turns had left him selling outdated medical equipment for a modest commission.
Arjun’s small one-room apartment in Dadar echoed with the playful chatter of his five-year-old son, Ishan, whose laughter was the single bright spot in Arjun’s long days. His wife, Meera, had grown impatient with the constant financial strain. She had a hunger for the financial stability, for a life that didn’t revolve around unpaid bills and eviction notices.
Despite the tension at home, Arjun held onto a quiet belief: Life can be better. I just need one chance.
One humid morning, as Arjun waited in a doctor’s clinic to demonstrate his old ENT medical equipment which no one wanted to buy, he noticed a young man stepping out of a gleaming car. The stranger wore a crisp suit and carried himself with quiet confidence.
“What do you do?” Arjun asked, curiously breaking his usual reserve.
“I’m a stockbroker,” the man replied with a smile. “The markets never sleep, my friend. Hard work, sharp mind and you can definitely make it big.”
Those words struck the chord. Numbers had always fascinated Arjun. In college he often uses to advise his friends on investments, though he would never invest as he had no money to invest himself.
That evening, while Ishan dozed on his lap, Arjun researched everything he could about India’s growing financial markets. He learned of a prestigious investment firm in Nariman Point offering a rare internship program unpaid but with the promise of a permanent job for the best performer.
It was the kind of chance people waited a lifetime for.
When Arjun shared the idea with Meera, she shook her head. “An unpaid internship? We can barely buy groceries. Dreams don’t feed a child, Arjun.”
Their arguments grew sharper. Meera’s parents urged her to move back to Pune with Ishan until Arjun “sorted himself out.” Within a month, Meera quietly packed her clothes and left along with Ishan.
The tiny room now felt enormous in its emptiness. Arjun fought a swell of guilt but refused to let despair win. “It’s you and me, champ,” he would talk to his son's photo placed in a frame of the showcase. “We’ll manage, we'll fly back, we'll win one day."
Securing the internship was only the first hurdle. Days at the firm began before sunrise and stretched into the night. The office was a blur of ringing phones, market tickers, and relentless competition. Arjun had no degree in finance, but he devoured every bit of his knowledge studying balance sheets in local trains, memorising stock trends under streetlights.
Money, however, ran out quickly. Rent payments fell behind. One evening, returning from work, Arjun found the landlord waiting with a stern face. “I can’t keep you without payment. You must leave by tomorrow.”
With nowhere else to go, Arjun spent nights at CST railway station, blending with the sea of homeless families. He almost broke that night but after looking at the photo of Ishan as a wallpaper of his mobile phone something within emerged.
Yet each dawn, Arjun arrived at the office on time, neatly dressed, determination undimmed. He refused to let colleagues glimpse the chaos of his nights and CST station became his temporary house with waiting hall as his bedroom, hall and everything.
At the firm, every intern competed for a that one single permanent position. Arjun was the only one balancing his internship and his homelessness. He always looked forwards for some part time job after his office so that he can at least earn that much to feed himself.
He was almost everywhere, Arjun the guard, Arjun the taxi driver, Arjun the waiter so he did all those odd jobs during that period of time so that he could defy his own odd days and get a dream life with a dream house where he is playful with his son Ishan.
His perseverance did not go unnoticed. Mr. Shroff, the senior manager somehow got a fair idea of the Arjun's hardship but never confronted it to him. Mr. Shroff stayed late once and during leaving the office he observed Arjun reviewing ledgers. The next morning when Mr. Shroff entered the office much before his usual time or the office time he saw Arjun sleeping on his desk, his head rested on the piles of ledgers with a diary kept open beside the piles. Mr. Shroff picked up the diary and he went through small summaries which Arjun made and figured out that he was working on the financials of the client which the company have lost.
Still, setbacks came. Deals fell through, and some clients dismissed him for his modest appearance. as you need to be a classy looking guy in the finance sector. One rainy evening, after losing a crucial account, Arjun felt a rare wave of hopelessness. He looked at his son’s face which he kept as the wallpaper of his mobile phone and whispered a silent prayer: Give me the strength to continue.
Weeks passed. The internship neared its end. On the final day, interns gathered for the announcement. Arjun stood at the back, heart pounding. Mr. Shroff addressed the group. “This job demands intelligence, persistence, and integrity. Only one of you showed all three consistently.”
He paused, scanning the room. “Congratulations, Mr. Arjun Deshpande.”
For a moment Arjun could only stare, the words barely sinking in. Colleagues clapped, but the first thought which came was of Ishan, He took out his mobile phone and he whispered “We did it, champ! We did it!”
After the session got over Arjun called Meera and asked to get Ishan online. He shared that now he has a permanent job, and he will be getting good salary as well.
Ishan asked, “Does this mean, both of us can stay together again, Papa?”
“Yes,” Arjun said, eyes misty. “We both will stay together.”
With the permanent position came a steady salary and the chance to rent a small apartment. Months later, Arjun visited Meera in Pune, inviting her to see the life he had rebuilt. While their marriage could not be repaired overnight, she recognized the change in him steadfast and dignified.
More importantly, Ishan flourished. His laughter filled their new home, proof that love and perseverance could outshine even the darkest nights.