Medical student from Erode turns ‘nungu’ seller to help family amid pandemic

Coimbatore

Flocked by customers, R Shiva, sells ‘nungu’ daily on the roadside in Mettupalayam, to help his uneducated, needy parents. However, the 22-year-old would soon become a doctor to serve in rural hinterlands.

Over the last one month, his day starts as early as 4 am, when he accompanies his parents in a vehicle loaded with palm fruits from their native village in Chettipalayam near Nambiyur in Erode district to reach Mettupalayam Road.

“By 6 am, we start selling palm fruits procured directly from farmers in our village. Nevertheless, the sale has been dull like never before due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Being a seasonal business, the sale has been adversely hit during the peak months of April and May due to the lockdown,” he said.

“Usually, we make a profit of Rs 1,000 per day, but the pandemic has slowed down the business. Now, making even Rs 500 has become a tough task. With the season also coming to its fag end, we would then switch over to farm work,” he said.

For Shiva, it has been a dream nurtured from his school days to become a doctor.

“I desired to become a doctor as people in our village had to travel 4 kilometres to visit a nearby hospital. I studied in a government school in Sathyamangalam and scored 484/500 in Class 10. As I scored well, I was offered a free seat in a private matriculation school, where I secured 1179/1200 marks and joined Government Vellore Medical College in 2016 on merit. I was lucky enough to have not had NEET as it would have been difficult to spend for my coaching with my family situation,” he said.

Shiva, who is staying in a two-room house on a minimal rent with his parents, Raj Kumar and Selvi and elder brother Mahendran are all working as daily wagers. “I don’t have any qualms in assisting my parents with any work they do. I have been selling nungu since my childhood,” he said. With a decent score of over 60 per cent in the college, Shiva has decided to try NEET to pursue a postgraduate course.

“I haven’t decided on the field of specialisation as it would be based on my NEET score. I am planning to begin my preparations for it soon,” he said.